If you’re planning to take a road trip this holiday season you’re in good company! The American Automobile Association (AAA) estimated over 115 million people traveled more than 50 miles from home over Christmas and New Year’s in 2023. According to AAA, 90% of those surveyed traveled by car. To help you make your road trip less stressful and more kid-friendly, we’re sharing our top 10 tips for family-friendly holiday road trips.
1. Make a Holiday Decoration Bingo Card
Lights, wreaths, inflatable Santas, and more! Keep your kids busy by giving them a holiday decoration bingo card and seeing who can fill it up first. Just look out your windows during the drive and cross off the things on your card. You can DIY this by adding clip art to a 5×5 grid or find a pre-made printable version online. Laminate the bingo cards and use dry-erase markers so you can use them multiple times!
2. Bring a Potty (Consider Using Pull Up Diapers)
It doesn’t matter how well your 3 or 4-year-old is potty trained, chances are he will have a potty emergency as soon as you’re 10 miles from the nearest restroom. Pack a training potty so you can pull over and let your child take care of business without waiting (or braving a gas station bathroom). If your little one is newly potty trained consider putting him in a pull up for the drive. It can feel like a step backward in your potty-training journey, but we promise it is better than dealing with a wet, stinky car seat.
3. Download Content Beforehand
If you plan to show your kids movies or listen to an audiobook, take some time to download the content onto your device before you leave your home WIFI. Streaming on the road may be possible, but you’re sure to hit some dead zones. Avoid buffering by being proactive.
4. Make DIY Christmas Busy Bags
Before your road trip, fill up some gallon-size baggies or brown paper bags, with small toys to keep your kids busy. Check out your local dollar store for inexpensive options like Christmas sticker books, small puzzles, and red and green pipe cleaners. The most important thing to remember with this tip: make sure your kids don’t get into the bags before your trip. They will stay busy with their bags for longer if they haven’t rifled through them beforehand.
5. Bring Healthy Snacks
Traffic, detours, and other factors mean you won’t always make it to your preferred stops at the right time. Make sure your kids can spend an extra 20 or 30 minutes in the car by packing healthy, filling snacks. Dried fruit, applesauce squeezies, muffins, and cheese sticks are easy to serve and eat on the road.
6. Keep Important Things Easily Accessible
Diapers, trash bags, wet wipes, water bottles, and snacks are just a few of the things you should keep easily accessible during your drive. No one wants to start unpacking a suitcase in a gas station parking lot just to find their kid’s special blanket. If you think you or your kids will want something during your drive, either pack it up front in your purse or diaper bag, or put it on top of your luggage so you don’t have to dig around.
7. Plan Your Trip Around Your Kid’s Schedule
Planning your drive around your kid’s schedule is a great way to get more miles from each stretch, but it can look different from family to family. Does your kid nap in the car, or does driving keep them awake? Are you planning to stop for a meal, and if so which one makes the most sense? Make sure you factor in bathroom stops, too, especially when you’re traveling with kids who potty trained recently!
8. Print Out a Map To Follow Along
For parents with school-aged kids here is a fun activity. Print out a map that shows your whole route and give your kids the map and a highlighter. Have them pay attention to street signs and highway intersections so they can follow along your progress on their own map! They can use the highlighter to mark the roads you’ve traveled. Ask them to let you know when they think you’ll make it to different spots along your route. You’ll be surprised at how well your kids can follow along.
9. Stock Your Car’s First Aid Kit
Before you head out make sure you have a fully stocked first aid kit in your car. You never know when you or your kids will need an ice pack, band-aid, or itch cream. Consider bringing a few doses of children’s medicine just in case your kids get sick. The last thing you want to do is run to a pharmacy when you’re on vacation.
10. Make it FUN
Finally, make your road trip fun by doing things you wouldn’t normally do! Get some ice cream or a slushie at one of your stops. Let them pick out a souvenir at a roadside stop. Plan a picnic lunch at a park along your route. And remember to stay positive about the experience because your kids will pick up on your mood. If you’re excited to spend 16 hours in the car they will be too! At least, for the first 6 hours or so…
Catherine Michalk is a native Austinite, writer, and mom of three. You can follow her family’s adventures at www.catherinemichalk.com
