Traveling with a large family in one vehicle, for a long time... what does that look like?
We just got back from driving to upstate New York from down south and had much success with entertainment on the long car ride.
I prefer to raise my children screen free, so on this trip, like most every trip I’ve taken them on, screens were not even an option I had to fall back onto. There are numerous studies on the use of screens to pacify and entertain in regards to their effect on growing minds. This is a no judgement zone, but if you haven’t already looked into that thought, I would highly encourage you to.
For this 16 hour trip I had planned out a bag of activities for each child to be given to them 3 times throughout the day. I put them in paper lunch bags & labeled them and then gave each child their surprise in a gift bag like the ones pictured. They each have their own “color” that I will talk about in another post and their bags reflected that.
Some of the items in the bags included, their favorite little plastic animals (like littlest pet shops), matchbox cars, a little skipper Barbie type doll to dress up, these magic markers (that won’t ruin anything) with fun these fun coloring pages, and also blank paper. I took a trip to Party City and paid VERY little for all sorts of little trinkety toys that the little ones loved. For some of the older children, they got a small LEGO set, a sketch pad or diary and origami ideas.
We began the trip with the 1st bag containing a book (or books for the youngest ones) and had quiet reading time. Some of the bags would contain a snack of fruit gummies or something with no crumbs. My goal was to end up in NY in the sub freezing temperatures with a clean car interior, which as you know can be nearly impossible. Especially after 16 hours in a car! So we ate out for most of our meals. I am happy to report that we were miraculously successful in that endeavor! The car basically looked like it did when we left.
When it became dark, the children had those little screen-less iPod things that had music or stories loaded on them. We also had an audio book they were excited about in the que ready to go. It's called The Warriors, by Erin Hunter.
In years past, a huge hit was a little toy I found at a gas station stop for a few dollars. They were called squirmels and had the little ones entertained for HOURS and the older ones laughing for quite a while at their reactions of delight.
On the way back from NY we drove 16 hours straight. If you've ever done that before you know how crazy things can be. Normally the car actually looks like a bomb exploded inside and it would take a good 2 or more hours to give the inside a good cleaning.
However with proper planning and just a little more work before we left, I'd say this is the best road trip we've ever had! Try it for yourself next time you take a trip and let me know how it goes! Also feel free to comment below any success stories you've had in the past! I'm always looking for great ideas.
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