Taking a family road trip is a wonderful opportunity to create special memories and after enjoying two of them this summer, I’m excited to share what worked and what didn’t.
Because long drives with kids can be a challenge!
Keep reading for tips on making the drive more manageable with children including ideas for:
- Planning your route
- How much time to leave between stops
- Snacks
- Activities
- How to dress
With a little bit of thought and preparation, plus a whole lot of fun snacks and experiences, road trips with kids can become some of your most treasured family memories. Here are my 15 best tips for making your next family road trip smooth, fun, and full of happy moments.
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1. Plan a Manageable Route with Plenty of Breaks
Before you set off on your adventure, map out your drive and schedule a rest stop every 2 to 3 hours. Younger kids will need bathroom breaks more often and you definitely don’t want to be out of range of a restroom when someone’s got to go!
Kids can also enjoy some time to stretch, snack, and explore between drives that are probably far longer than they’re used to on a day to day basis. So, if you can, choose stops with a playground, short natural trails, or other kid-friendly activities.
For potty trained children 4 and under, we strongly recommend having a potty chair like this – when our 3 year old had to go and we were far from a rest stop, it was lifesaver on the side of the road, haha.
2. Make Your Longest Driving Day the First Day
Start the trip off strong when everyone is excited!
We broke up the 11 and a half hour drive from Vancouver to Calgary into a 7 hour drive to Revelstoke the first day and a 3 hour drive to Banff the next day.
For our children ages 7 and 4 at the time, this was the right number of hours to cap the drive at on day one and made for a great experience.
Since we left early, we were also in Revelstoke by around 2pm and were able to check in and explore town before we had dinner.
I really like these back seat organizers for keeping the kids books, larger toys, and snacks in order because entertainment is really important on long drives!
I also really recommend our Britax car seats for big trips – both kids find them comfortable enough to nap in and each one comes with two cup holders. Our girls usually use one for a drink (these stainless steel tumblers fit perfect and are enough for an entire day of driving) or snack and the other for storing little toys like Disney Doorables, haha.
Playtime really makes the drive go by faster for them and my husband and I get to chat too.
3. Dress Comfortably
There’s nothing wrong with letting your little ones wear pyjamas or other similar comfy clothes in the car – especially on your biggest driving day.
We also recommend simple footwear like slides or Crocs so your kids can kick their footwear off for extra comfort.
Cute outfits are fun but we like to save ours for shorter drives or change into them at the first rest stop – I keep a little tote bag in the back with spare outfits and running shoes for our girls when we’re ready to get dressed for the day.
Leaving the kids in their pyjamas (choose cotton pyjamas for better comfort and breathability, especially if you’re driving somewhere hot!) has a lot to do with the fact that we believe in early mornings and really recommend them to other travellers too – which leads us to our next point.
4. Leave Early
Plan to leave extra early on travel days, especially day one.
We usually wake the kids up about two hours earlier than their usual wakeup time on travel days and sometimes, they’ll stay up a little later the night before as well.
Both of them have learned to like sleeping in the car (these are really cute neck pillows that turn into stuffies for kids) so we time our departures for within about 30 minutes of getting them out of bed, to the bathroom, and into the vehicle.
They’re still groggy and will usually go back to sleep if we leave around 5:30 to 6am.
It makes for a really peaceful and pleasant start to everyone’s morning and me and my husband get to enjoy a quiet cup of coffee together on the road while the kids rest.
They’re always excited to see where we’ve made it once they wake up too!
If they don’t go back to sleep right away, they’ll usually fall back asleep after the first rest stop.
5. Pack a Cozy Blanket for Each Child
Getting a travel blanket for each of the kids was one of the best investments we ever made – it really helps them relax and stay comfortable in the backseat for long drives.
When they’re sleepy or just feel like having a cuddle with a stuffy, the girls will bundle up and watch the scenery go by as the relax.
6. Pack Activity Backpacks for each Child
We get each of the kids to pack their own small backpacks for road trips.
They can choose their favorite toys, stuffies, and books (field guides for kids and road trip activity books like that one are amazing for on the go!) for the trip and it helps to set a limit on how many things they can bring – my rule is if you can carry it, you can take it with you.
This prevents mom and dad from having to carry heavy and overstuffed backpacks!
I do always recommend that the kids leave small toys like Polly Pockets at home though. They know that there’s a chance we’ll never see them again if we lose them on a road trip.
7. Create a Playlist or Bring Your Favorite Yoto Cards
I have a Morning Worship playlist pre-downloaded onto my phone (in case we lose reception) but the kids love their Yoto stories more than anything!
We have a Yoto Mini player that’s great for travel and personal use (my oldest will listen to the audiobooks with volume-limiting headphones during quiet time occasionally and it makes a great addition to a homeschool morning basket!) but you can also use the Yoto app on your phone to play stories over the car’s bluetooth speaker.
Some of our favorite Yoto stories are:
- The Classics Collection (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Little Women, The Jungle Book, Treasure Island, and my girls’ favorite, A Little Princess)
- The Chronicles of Narnia (this set comes with all seven books)
8. Pack Fun and Tidy Snacks
Choose snacks that are delicious but not messy – instead of shredded cheese in sandwiches, think cheese slices.
Opt for a simple turkey and butter sandwich instead of peanut butter and jelly.
This helps to avoid the need to pull over because your child’s face (or your car floor!) is covered in messy foods.
We like to keep it simple with things like nuts, crackers, apples, regular potato chips, energy bars without chocolate (these ones are my kids absolute favorite and we never have to worry about sticky hands or faces).
I also keep a small cooler with a little ice pack like this (you really don’t need more than that for a full day of travelling and you can refreeze it once you get to your hotel room) up front with me.
While my husband drives, I can put together cheese and crackers, make simple sandwiches, and pass water or juice boxes.
Explore more family and homeschooling ideas:
- How to Create the Perfect Homeschool Schedule for Your Family
- Get Your Kids Reading with this Fun 100 Book Children’s Reading Challenge!
- Inspire Your Family to Play More Often with These Beautiful Music Room Ideas
- How to Design a Functional and Organized Homeschool Room (Even in a Small Space)
9. Keep a Trash Bag or Bin Handy
The backseat can get very messy if the kids don’t have a bin to put their trash in – we learned the hard way that kids will leave their food packages on the floor, in car doors, in their seats, etc.
Invest in a small trash bin like this to teach kids where to put their garbage in your vehicle or you could even just bring a little plastic bag to keep the backseats clean.
10. Pack a “Just in Case” Emergency Kit
It’s always better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it!
Pick up a basic first aid kit for your car plus hand sanitizer, wet wipes, and an emergency water supply.
You’ll thank yourself later when you’re prepared for something unexpected!
11. Schedule Driving Around Nap Times
If your children are still napping, make an effort to be on the road during those hours.
Create a comfortable atmosphere in the backseat for your child with their favorite stuffy, a small blanket, and maybe even some relaxing tunes on your car stereo.
My girls adore Grannie Edith from Abide Kids Bedtime stories (we used a Make Your Own Yoto Card to upload this podcast)!
12. Limit Drinks
This goes for children and adults!
Take time to enjoy your venti sized coffee and encourage kids to have little sips of their drinks with snacks and meals in the car.
This will prevent stressful and unnecessary stops and/or accidents during the trip.
If need be, store your child’s juice box in the front seat with you – my 4 year old loves her apple juice and will drink the entire thing in one sip if we don’t remind her to take it slow.
Since most vehicles only have two cupholders up front, we recommend choosing these tumblers for adults so they can be stored in your car door pocket without spilling.
13. Make Stops Part of the Adventure
Give kids something to look forward to by making stops at places they’ll enjoy!
Whether its a playground, attraction, or just plain beautiful nature!
When we did our May road trip back from Calgary to Vancouver, we stopped at the Enchanted Forest in Revelstoke, BC and the kids had an amazing time.
The girls explored and played for about 2 hours before we had a light lunch in the parking lot and got back on the road again.
After that, both of them slept for around an hour!
Giving kids a chance to play and burn off some energy really makes a difference – after all, sometimes it really is the journey that’s more magical than the destination.
14. Be Flexible
Delays happen. So do meltdowns.
But it doesn’t help when a grownup has one too!
Sometimes we forget just how little our kids actually are.
Try your best to be flexible and patient with your kids because it will make all the difference on a long road trip.
Instead of getting upset about the delay, try and understand what your children are feeling and help them to overcome what’s bothering them.
Having car trouble? Take a deep breath and try to stay calm around the kids as you take it one step at a time. You’ve got this! And one day, you’ll be sharing that story with friends and family.
15. End Each Day with Something Fun
Once you’ve finished driving for the day, do something fun!
Whether that’s hotel pool time, a swim in the lake, an attraction, dinner out, or even just a short walk. Ending the day on a happy note really helps to get kids excited about the next day’s drive and adventure!
Final Thoughts: Best Tips to Enjoy a Road Trip with Kids
The right mindset and a bit of preparation really can make all the difference on a long family road trip – it can even make that journey one of the highlights of your year.
We’ve been absolutely blessed to have had the opportunity to take two road trips with our kids this year and I can honestly say, these memories will last us a lifetime.
I had a moment of reflection as I watched my girls play with my husband the other day and thought to myself “these are the best days of my life”.
But the time goes by so fast and you can never get it back.
Its bittersweet to watch them grow up – you watch the lights turn on as they learn new skills and you feel so proud that they can do it on their own now.
But one day, its the last time that they ask you for help and you didn’t know it would be.
Its the last time that they ask you to cuddle with them as they fall back asleep but you didn’t know it would be.
Kids grow so fast and although it can be challenging to balance life and travel while raising kids, homeschooling, and working from home, be sure to take a moment and just enjoy the where you’re at.
Because even those difficult times will fly by faster than you know it!
Happy travels, friend!
– Nikki
