My 11 Tips for a Kid-Friendly Road Trip with minimal Mess and Clutter

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Before I begin sharing with you our family trip to New England, I thought I'd share with you My 11 Tips for a Kid-Friendly Road Trip with minimal mess and clutter. If you've been following my blog for the past month you'll know that we embarked on a 9 day road trip from Dallas Texas through Amarillo Texas to Albuquerque and Santa Fe New Mexico, up into Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and back down to Texas with various trips along the way this past July. This wasn't our first big road trip, and I'll share adventures and lessons learned from other trips (Oregon, Tennessee, Oklahoma, California, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and more) in the future. 

I'm no expert in organization, or in childhood development, but I am a mom of 2 kids who has traveled a lot in my lifetime, and a lot with the kids. This list is based on my experiences.

1. The first, and perhaps most obvious of tips is to have toys and books. But not any toy. Certain (non-electronic) toys will entertain the kids for hours with minimal mess in the car. Here are a few examples:
   
   

   Books and Road Atlas	Oversize hard back puzzles:  Melissa & Doug Hangman Melissa & Doug Latches puzzle board Melissa & Doug Hide & Seek board Melissa & Doug License Plate Game
   Melissa & Doug Water WOW! This is paint with water on cardboard pages. Each Water WOW holds it's on refillable water paintbrush in the cover and can be painted over and over again!	Travel Games Spot it! On the Road Scavenger Hunt Game Travel Bingo Free Printable Travel Games at MomsMinivan.com or at Free-Puzzles.net

   
   
2. Snacks/drinks. Seems simple and yet we often get caught in the car without a snack or drink and succumb to a fast drive-thru to end meltdowns. It's a lot easier and cheaper to plan ahead with apples, bottled waters, dried fruit, or other snack pack.
   These reusable fabric snack bags can be filled before you leave with crackers, fruit, or any kid-friendly snack that you like. The zipper means the kids can have a few bites and reseal the package with the food spilling all over your car. And these can be reused over and over again which is great for the environment!

3. Organization. Lots of containers. Trash containers. Toy containers. Food containers. I've heard some recommendations to have one toy per hour of driving, but how does this translate to a 9 day road trip? My recommendation is to get one container per child, and fill it as much as makes sense for you and your kid, and vehicle space.
   

   Trash Container Any container, even a plastic trash bag, will work. I like this container because it is leak proof.

   One container per child. These are perfect for lap desks in the car, and when closed can stand up between the kids or on the floor of the car. The handles make for easy transport into the hotel at night.

   
   
4. Music – for when the fussing/fighting/whining kicks in. Start singing. Our current favorites:
   

   Animal Crackers by Wee Hairy Beasties	Bear Tunes by Brent Holmes
   It's a Big World	Acoustic guitar lullabies

   
   
5. Blankets. Naptimes are always more enjoyable with a snuggly blanket. Blankets will also work for impromptu picnics or toga's for late night impromptu hikes.


6. Kindle/Nook/IPad for Games and Movies. I’m on the fence about this one. Our 8 year old can handle electronics and will play games on a phone or her DS or kindle, but the 2 year old needs assistance and gets frustrated when we can’t assist from the front seat. I’d rather the kids not use electronics at all, and I try to keep these as an emergency last minute toy, or a restaurant-(let’s not disturb our neighbors)-only toy.


7. Limit restaurant and pitstop souvenirs. Do we really need MORE plastic souvenir cups, crayons, or miscellaneous paraphernalia? It all ends up in the trash at some point. Never put it in the car in the first place, and never have to deal with it later.


8. Empty trash and reorganize toys and papers at every stop. We didn't always do this, and then at night, when all we wanted to do was check into the hotel and shower, we'd be cleaning junk/toys/trash off the floors and stuffing it in our bags.


9. Drive after physical activity and plan pitstops and sight-seeing accordingly. Take the kids to the park/museum or somewhere they can run wild, and then drive while they sleep from the exhaustion. For example: during our New Mexico Colorado road trip we walked around and shopped in the hot sun of Santa Fe, then drove while the kids napped, got out at Sand Dunes National Park and ran the kids around again, then drove while the kids played quietly with their toys and rested. By the time we arrived in Breckenridge the kids were refreshed and ready to go again.


10. Driving at night. This is similar to #9 above. Assuming your kids will sleep in the car, driving at night keeps the kids on their regular sleep schedule. And if you tag team driving and sleeping with your spouse, then there’s minimal impact on the adults as well. This is hands down something we try to do with every road trip, even if it's just a 4 hour drive to see Grandma.


11. And a few more miscellaneous items that you shouldn't leave home without...
    

    Baby bottle nipples for water bottles.	Sippy Cup of any kind. Even for the older kids. Cups that contain the drink and keep it from spilling in the car.
    USB Splitter for all the phones and electronic devices	Baggu. Just an extra bag for those times when you need one. These fold into themselves into a nice little pouch.
    Food Trays I haven't tried these vehicle food trays, similar to an airplane tray, but they look pretty cool.

Well that's it. My top 11 tips for road tripping with the kids with minimal fuss, mess, and clutter. What additional tips do you have?