Road Trip with KidsWe all love visiting our relatives or returning home for the holidays, but preventing our kids from killing each other while cooped up in the back seat  is a whole other matter. Traveling with your kids can be fun, but their attention span and the need for frequent potty stops can send even the calmest parent over the top. These tips are from parents like you who love our kids, and would like to keep it that way.

The Basics

• Start with a clean car: Sounds basic, but clutter causes stress, especially when you have the family car packed to the brim with clothing, car seats and snacks.
• Adjust the car seats: after months of use, kids car seats can become entangled or even loose. Properly secure the car seats following the manufacturer directions. Your children will thank you for it.Secure the car seats
• Pack the least needed items first: There is nothing worse than needing a diaper only to discover that you packed them 1st and they are buried all the way in the back. Hold off packing the most needed items till last, this way you know right where they are.
• Pack a special backpack:  for each child, with crayons, books, toys, activity sets, stickers, hand-held games-- including some new wrapped surprises for little kids. (But don't give out all the loot at once!) Tip from http://travelwithkids.about.com
• Pack most needed items within arm's reach: Snacks, tissues, hand sanitizer and special treats. When the children start to escalate, or need their nose wiped, it is just plain smart to have the solution at hand.
• Dress the kids comfortably: loose and comfortable cloths, help with road fatigue. This applies for the adults too.
  

While on the road

• Play Some Games: kids love to play road trip games, there are so many but we all love the basics like I Spy, the scavenger hunt, count the cars by color, are all popular.
  • Here is a site that lists the top 8 free road trip games
  • This site is a great resource for car travel games for all ages
• Plan frequent stops: We plan to stop every 2 hours at a minimum. Let everyone get out of the car, go to the bathroom. We bring a soccer ball and let the kids kick it around for few minutes at roadside parks. It always amazes me how a little fresh air and running around, helps them enjoy the trip.
• Crayon Map, with major landmarksMake a kids map: Before we travel, we help the kids make a map with crayons and colored paper, with the major cities along the way listed. This way they can follow along with the road signs, so they know where they are. "When my 8-year-old asks "Are we there yet?," I hand him the map and ask him to figure out how much longer we’ll be on the road. Knowing how to read a map is a valuable life skill, so it makes me happy that he’s learning, and he’s happier that he has a job to do." –Marcy from Rome, NY
  • Use the Rand McNally Road trip planner for the older kids
  • interesting article on how Google Maps has become a fun trip planner 
  • Another fun trip planner from free trip map, this will list hotels along the way
• A Warm Car Makes them Sleepy: My mother (of six children) let the car warm up a little when it was time to sleep. Kids naturally fall asleep. when they are tired and when its warm. Just make sure the driver has some Red Bull :)
• Stay over along the way:  If it is a long trip and you can afford to stop, consider spending the night somewhere along the way. 16 hours of driving is no fun for anyone, especially small children. Many of the less expensive hotels have pools or the kids eat free. This blog has a good list of Child Friendly Hotels
• DVD players and Portable Video Games can save your sanity: they may be expensive, but a good portible DVD can make a long trip more fun for your kids, and give you an hour or two of peace. In the months before your trip, don't play the new releases at home. Save them for the road trip, because a new movie will be that much more entertaining.
  
  While we think that the free family games are great, a portable video game can really entertain your kids. Again save that new game for the trip.
  Make sure you have car chargers.

While road trip is fun and quite frankly my favorite way to travel, a little preparation can make it an event your kids will love and talk about for year. Make it fun, and you'll have fun.