We recently had this grand idea to drive from Texas to Florida, not so crazy right, did I mention that we had a 13 year old and 3 year old in the back seat?? What should have been a quick-ish 12 hour drive took us 16+, but we survived and I’m here to help you do the same.
Teenage traveler-
Let me tell you, she by far was the easier child, all she required was her zebra print pillow, her 2 in 1 computer loaded with videos from Netflix and Youtube, and some teen romance books she is good. In order to help her trip so smoother we purchased a travel lap desk, took her to Half Price Books for some new chick flicks, and added in a $10 Starbucks card for emergencies.
The Toddler traveler-
AKA the Never Sleeping, Consistent “Are we there Yet?” questioning, regular screaming due to his tablet misbehaving… Cough Cough…
I mean your angel is waiting patiently to arrive at your destination.
Here are the top 5 tips that I can recommend for helping your trip go smoothly
Plan Stops every 2-3 hours for your little one to get out and run around- Map out ahead of time zoos, jump parks, battleship monuments (our 3-year-old loved exploring The CSS Alabama!), big parks, major towns to explore, and food places that have playscapes.
Kid Lap Desk is a must-have- our Little one loved his desk. It had a place for his cup, twistable crayons (so they didn’t break), and two additional plastic compartments on each side for him to stuff his toys. He used this desk the whole way, whether it was to hold his tablet up, play with play-doh, or just to color, it was definitely worth the money!
A tablet loaded with kid-friendly games and movies. My wife is a teacher, so when we were pregnant with our kiddo we always said “My little kid will NEVER have a tablet!” Ha! Well, we were definitely naive, they are a parent lifesaver and can be extremely educational when the parents are in charge of what is on the device! We highly recommend the Amazon Fire Kid version. O-M-Goodness, we purchased this about 2 months ago and we absolutely love that he has access to all of his favorite PBS Kids and Nick Jr shows. I downloaded the episode of Daniel Tiger goes on a Road Trip and he was quoting the show realizing the relationship between us taking a road trip and the show!
Interactive Books stash- We are Usborne Books fanatics, their books are educational, durable, and interactive from infant to middle school. Our personal favorites are the lift the flap books and the dry erase books.
SNACKS!!- snacks, snacks, and more snacks. I don’t know about your kiddo, but mine loves to snack all day long. Have pre-portioned crackers, gummy snacks, oatmeal pies, and heck, even their favorite candy for emergencies!
This is definitely the short list of items that could help to keep your trip pleasant. For more ideas don’t forget to hit up your friend
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