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Road Trip Must Haves For Kids

July 5, 2017 by Wifeeclectic 19 Comments

Every year, we hit the open road with our two kids and every year it gets a little easier as we find new products and create new printables to make travel easier and keep them entertained in the car. I have rounded up some of my current must have travel products and my favorite activity printables all into one place. It is everything you need for your next road trip with kids!

Products

 Hydaway Bottles– These collapsible water bottles make sure you have the water you need for your kids on the go.  You can expand the bottle full size to bring some water with you and then collapse it when it is gone. The bottle features an easy-to-use, flip-up straw for quick sips, carabiner-friendly carry handle, and a watertight guarantee. BPA-free, taste and odor-free, and dishwasher safe. Comes in 12 oz. and 21 oz. sizes and 8 colors.

 

I adore these water bottles. It means I can always have a bottle with me but not necessarily the weight if I don’t need it to be full. I love that I can stop at a drinking fountain when we are out and about, fill it up and then throw it back in my purse when it is gone.

Diono Travel Pal– This amazing cargo bin keeps everything your kids need in the car right at their finger tips. It has a large pocket for books and toys as well as cup holders. My toddler in a carseat can reach into it just fine, making it the perfect place to hold all of her toys for a road trip.

 Diono Stow ‘N Go– This organizer fits neatly over the headrest over the seat in front of your child. It has 7 big pockets for crayons, coloring books, tablets and drinks! It is the perfect way to keep your child from losing all of their stuff during the road trip.
Chewbeads Feeding Accessories– From the same company who brought you those amazing teething necklaces, these feeding accessories are all soft, BPA Free and 100% Silicone. Everything is easy to rinse and drys instantly making them the perfect accessories to take with you on the go. I love bringing the suction bowls with us in the car. I suction the bowl to my daughter’s activity tray and it doesn’t go anywhere during the trip! I fill the bowls with small things for her to play with or snacks to eat and she happily snacks and plays without her toys running away! The Chewbeads bibs are also amazing! They roll up small and are designed to catch crumbs, perfect for the car!
Wildkin Lunch Bags- These adorable lunch bags aren’t just the cutest thing to pack your child’s lunch in, they are also one of my must haves on road trips. They are big enough to store snacks like string cheese, yogurt and other items that need to be kept cool. I have a lunch bag for each of my kiddos and I fill them up with delicious and healthy snacks for the trip!
These Tiny Bites Food shears are one of the best things to ever happen to traveling with a toddler. You can easily cut any food into bite sized pieces. I used them on our recent trip to cut down pizza, chicken nuggets and all sorts of food on the go. It was nice to have something that I could easily throw in my bag to make eating on the go a little safer for my toddler!
 Janiebee Personalized Nap Mats – I am completely obsessed with these nap mats from Janiebee. I love how gorgeous and well made they are. They are comfortable made with minky on the inside for comfy naps and are personalized on the outside.
I never knew that I needed a nap mat. My kids don’t go to daycare so it is a product that I have always skipped over when shopping for baby items. We got our first this last week and my mind has been completely blown. It is the perfect little bed to put on the floor next to mom and dad’s bed for the little one who doesn’t sleep well (ahem, my toddler). It is the perfect “sleeping bag” for a child spending the night at grandma’s and of course it is perfect for day care. We recently took it on a trip with us and it was so wonderful for my toddler to have a familar place to sleep. It make the trip so much easier!

Baby Change-N-Go Diaper Changing Station–

Did you see this video when it was going around Facebook? This product is BRILLIANT! It hangs from bathroom stall doors and folds up small enough to fit in your diaper bag or stroller. No more putting your baby down on the bathroom changing table, the same place a million other babies have been changed. This is  convenient, sanitary, and safe solution for changing your little one is a necessity for crowded restaurants, airports, rest stops and more.

So many times my husband would get up to change our little one only to realize that the bathroom in the restaurant we were in didn’t even have changing stations in the men’s room. This is an incredible way to combat there not being adequate changing facility in men’s rooms.
Can hold up to 40 lbs. Available in 3 colors including Pink, Blue and Black.

Dish Drying Mats- Do you know the cheapest and easiest way to keep your seats clean under car seats? Dish drying mats. The regular sized mats work great for each seat or you can buy two XL mats to go over your whole seat. I use dish mats because they are super absorbent, wash up really well and they mold to the car seat perfectly so that the seat is positioned just the way it is supposed to be.

Printables

Long before we had kids, we love to take long road trips. We took our first road with kids when our daughter was 2 weeks old. Since then we have traveled across the country multiple times and have had a blast doing it. Taking a road trip with little ones can seem daunting, but I have compiled all of our favorite road trip printables to keep your little ones busy.

The License Plates Game– Pretty much everyone I know has played this game in some way. Simply look at the window as you drive and cross off the states license plates as you find them. I printed out this printable and then laminated it so we can use a dry erase marker to play the game over and over again. Download here.

Hangman– This is another fun and easy printable game. Simply download, laminate and then help your children with their reading and spelling by playing this grade school game. Download here.

Tic Tac Toe– This printable makes it really easy to play a best out of five game of Tic Tac Toe. Either print multiples or laminate to use it again and again. Download here.

The Dot Game– The dot game has been a favorite of mine since childhood. Each person takes a turn drawing one line between two dots. If you are the person to draw the fourth line on a box, you write your initial in the middle. The person who has the most completed boxes when the board is full is the winner! Download here.

 I Spy List– Print out this list and then give your child the task of writing down something they see that starts with each letter. Download here.

Travel Bingo– This fun and colorful Bingo is easy for everyone to play, even your non-readers. Look for all of the the items on the sheet and the first person to get a Bingo wins! I love bringing small prizes to give the winner. Download here.

For the dino lover in your life, print and laminate this cute, free printable mat. Pack a few of their dino friends and you have fun way to foster imagination. Find the Printable Dino Play Mat here.

This Barn is perfect for playing with your farm animals!  Download here:Printable Farm Play Mat.

This Ocean Play Mat really brings your fish friends to life! Download here: Printable Ocean Play Mat

A couple of match box cars and this printable mat is a match made in heave, Download here: Travel Car Play Mat

 Travel Snack Boxes

 Magnetic Building Sticks.

 Magnetic Puzzle for travel. 

 Magnetic Chalkboard for Travel. 

These fun and creative printables really made our trip enjoyable. How do you keep your kids entertained while on the road?
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Filed Under: Travel

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Alli Smith says

    July 12, 2017 at 10:06 am

    These are all great road trip must-haves! That portable baby changing station is my favorite. I wish that had been around when my kids were babies. The printable games are awesome too.

    Reply
  2. robin rue says

    July 12, 2017 at 11:01 am

    For us, the biggest thing we NEED to have are snacks – and lots of them. My kids have some car games and things, but if we don’t have snack options -forget about it.

    Reply
  3. Jeanette says

    July 12, 2017 at 11:02 am

    There is so many things that has change since my kiddo was a baby. I could’ve used a lot of these things when he was that size. I think my favorite is the collapsible cup. It makes it so much easier to bring something with without it being bulky.

    Reply
  4. candy says

    July 12, 2017 at 11:52 am

    We don’t have little ones to travel with anymore all of these would have been nice to use when we were traveling with little ones. Those little bite scissors would have been my first purchase.

    Reply
  5. Sarah Honey says

    July 12, 2017 at 12:15 pm

    This is a great list of must haves. Love the tray idea with all the activities. That would keep my son busy and keep him from asking every 5 minutes are we there yet!

    Reply
  6. Doria says

    July 12, 2017 at 1:53 pm

    Those collapsable cups are genius! Also, I have never thought to use dish drying mats for under the kiddos. My youngest, a notorious mess-maker, has one of those special car mats under him, but when it needs to be replaced I’m going this route!

    Reply
  7. Gwendolyn M Mulholland says

    July 12, 2017 at 4:33 pm

    These are really great road trip must haves when you are traveling with littles for short or long road trips. I like the collapsible cup/water bottle because it is easy to store and use when needed.

    Reply
  8. lisa says

    July 12, 2017 at 6:25 pm

    These are all awesome items for road trips! I remember packing tons of stuff to keep my kids occupied when we took road trips.

    Reply
  9. Jenn says

    July 13, 2017 at 12:58 am

    This is a great list of suggestions. It’s been a while since our girls were little, but that travel pal would have been nice to have.

    Reply
  10. Liz Mays says

    July 13, 2017 at 1:03 am

    The Diono Travel Pal and the Stow n’ Go would be very handy. Things just end up under the seats if you don’t have a storage system.

    Reply
  11. Pam says

    July 13, 2017 at 2:02 am

    Those personalized nap mats are awesome. I need to get one of those for my granddaughter. I like the food shears as well.

    Reply
  12. Christy Maurer says

    July 13, 2017 at 2:04 am

    These are all great suggestions for traveling with kids! I know you have to have a lot of entertainment for them!

    Reply
  13. Cacinda says

    July 13, 2017 at 11:50 am

    I love all of these tips! The dish drying mats! Such a different way to keep the seats clean! I love all of the printables.

    Reply
  14. Amanda says

    July 13, 2017 at 3:15 pm

    You have found so many great ways to keep kids happy and busy while on road trips. I love those cups/bowls too. It would make my car much cleaner when snack time rolls around!

    Reply
  15. Carin Kilby Clark says

    July 13, 2017 at 3:24 pm

    This is such a great list of road trip must-haves! I love the collapsible bottle. And the games – perfect for the on the road. I have been steering my kids back to games like this rather than their electronics because we don’t have to worry about constantly recharging them.

    Reply
  16. Jenn @ EngineerMommy says

    July 13, 2017 at 5:32 pm

    We take a lot of road trips throughout the summer time. These are great essentials to keep on hand for all those car trips.

    Reply
  17. Jenny says

    July 14, 2017 at 3:45 am

    oh my gosh, i love your dish mat for the seats! I will have to get this pronto since my daughter and niece are always spilling and staining up the seats.

    Reply
  18. Our Family World says

    July 14, 2017 at 9:42 am

    You know really well how to prepare for road trips! I love all you ideas, especially the dish dryer mats. I also love the printables. I am going to have a lot of those printed out the next time we go on a road trip with the grandchildren.

    Reply
  19. Kimberly @ Berly's Kitchen says

    July 16, 2017 at 11:26 am

    Oh, man! I wish these things would’ve been around when my son was little. We traveled a lot and I would’ve been happy to have just one of these.

    Reply

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Welcome to Housewife Eclectic

Debra Hawkins - Housewife EclecticHi, I'm Debra. I am a craftaholic photographer married to a web-programming amateur chef with two sassy littles keeping it interesting. It gets crazy around here. Read More…

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