Road Trip Sanity Savers

Summer and road trip season is almost upon us and my family absolutely can’t wait. Fifteen hours in the car with two kids isn’t my favorite way to start a vacation, so I have put together a box of fun activities to hopefully keep the “Are we there yets,” to a minimum.

I have found in the car, it is nice to for kids to have a tray. This gives them a place to play and eat. I used a cookie sheet so I could make all of the games magnetic, allowing them to stick to the cookie sheet and not fly all over the place. I bought my cookie sheet at the dollar store and then spray painted it turquoise. While it was still wet I sprinkled glitter all over it for a fun flair.

My first road trip activity is probably one of my daughter’s favorites. She loves that you can build just about anything with these Popsicle sticks. She loves to make barns and fences for her animals.

 To Make Building Sticks You Will Need:

• Popsicle Sticks
• Sticky Magnets or Magnets and Glue
• Zipper Binder Pouch

These are really fast and easy to make, especially if you use magnetic tape. Make sure to put a small piece at both the top and bottom of each stick so your child’s creations don’t slide around on the tray.

I bought zipper binder pouches for each activity and labeled each one with letter stickers. That way they are easy to find and don’t get mixed up. You could place all of the binder pouches in a large binder if you want, but we find a basket works perfectly on road trips.

We absolutely love doing puzzles in our house, but typically they aren’t a good in-the-car activity. Simply add a magnet to the back of each piece and you suddenly have the perfect on-the-go puzzle.

 You will need for a magnetic puzzle:

• A puzzle small enough to fit on the cookie sheet
• Sticky Magnets (or Magnets and Glue)
• Zipper Binder Pouch

I found my puzzle at the dollar store where they had a wide selection of all types of puzzles. I thought a map was the perfect puzzle for a road trip.

I don’t know about your kids, but drawing can keep my daughter busy for hours. A simple chalkboard with chalk and a scrap of flannel fabric is the perfect way to keep her entertained.

 For a Magnetic Chalkboard You Will Need:

• a small chalkboard
• chalk
• a piece of flannel to be used as an eraser
• magnets

My girls are so excited for our next road trip and I think this kit, along with other magnetic printables I will be sharing soon are going to be the perfect way to keep them occupied for the long drive.

I don’t know about your kids, but if I gave my kids all the snacks for the entire drive they would have them eaten in about 10 minutes. Making these cute boxes out of wipes containers is the perfect way to ration out the snacks, and if you make one for each kid, it is a perfect way to keep fighting to a minimum since everyone has the same amount of each thing.

For a Snack Box You Will Need:

• a wipes container
• scrapbook paper
• scissors
• Mod Podge
• letter stickers

First, remove the labels from the container. I let my container soak in water for a couple of hours before I removed the labels and it made them much easier to peel off. Cut your scrapbook paper to fit the sides of your container and then secure them down with a layer of Mod Podge. Finish the paper off with a layer of Mod Podge on top to seal it. Add your child’s name to the top of the box to personalize it for each child.

I filled container with easy on-the-go snacks, like graham crackers, raisins and Tree Top Applesauce Pouches that I found at my local Kroger. My girls absolutely love Tree Top Apple Sauce pouches and I love that they are virtually mess free and are a healthy, simple snack. They are the number one snack in our house and perfect for the car. No spoon required and even my 1-year-old can eat them without spilling.

While Tree Top Applesauce pouches are the perfect road trip snack, we eat them on almost a daily basis in our house. I love knowing that my kids are getting a high quality, nutritious snack and they love the taste and my 1-year-old loves being allowed to feed herself.

For more than 50 years Tree Top, a grower-owned co-op, has delivered high-quality juices, sauces and smoothies. In effort to bring awareness to “Raising Good Apples”, Tree Top is partnering with the National Gardening Association’s KidsGardening.org to help educate kids on gardening. For every box of Tree Top Apple Sauce Pouches purchased through May 31, Tree Top will donate $1 to help KidsGardening.org to help build and grow youth gardens.

How do you keep your kids busy in the car?