School holidays are here and you might be looking forward to your long awaited family road trip.
Well the kids are anyway…
You on the other hand, may be excited about the destination itself but not soooo much the long car ride. Whoever said “It’s not about the destination; it’s about the journey” clearly never spent 8 hours travelling in a car with young kids.
Let’s face it, most of us have experienced the sheer joy of being cooped up in the car with kids for an extended period of time. As a once small human yourself, you may once have been forced to fight the relentless battle for personal space with your own siblings, resorting to building strict boundaries with the use of anything at hand in the back seat.
Perhaps at some stage since you became a parent, you’ve found yourself having to explain to your own son that there is no possible way that his brother has breathed ALL the air leaving none for anyone else.
Sheeesh. And we choose to go on road trips???
I get it you guys, I’ve been there many times and I’ve learned quite a few things along the way. I’ve put together the bees knees of road trip guides for you, to help you enjoy the Ultimate School Holiday Road Trip, whatever your destination.
As one of your car saviours, I’ve included watching the Monster Trucks movie on DVD (out on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital 12 April). We didn’t get to see it when it was out at the cinemas and my boys have been busting me relentlessly about missing it. Monster Trucks has all the ingredients to make it one of those movies that the whole family will love, yes even us mums. Teen love, brave heroes, awesome trucks and loveable monsters – yep tick, tick, tick and tick. This is a very good thing given that we will probably have watched it at least a dozen times by the time we travel to the Gold Coast and back.
Oh, did I mention Rob Lowe is in this movie? Yep, like I said, this movie even has something for us mums to enjoy.
Look, we make no guarantees that you won’t hit any bumps in the road on your road trip, they are just par for the course in family life, but these ideas are going to give you a pretty good shot at a smooth run. Wherever you’re headed these holidays, I hope the journey is a good one.
Monster Trucks is ready to buy on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital from 12 April.
21 Ways to Enjoy School Holiday Road Trips
21 ways to enjoy your school holiday road trip with kids.
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1. A Good Movie for Everyone
You can’t beat a movie and box of popcorn as a way to pass some time, and when you are travelling, a movie can be pretty much the 'main event' of the whole road trip.
We didn’t get to see the Monster Trucks movie when it was out at the cinemas and my boys have been busting to watch it.
Lucky for us (and you guys too) it has just been released on DVD in time for the Easter Holidays which means we will probably watch it at least a dozen times by the time we arrive on the Gold Coast for our family holiday… good thing it’s a movie the WHOLE family will love.
Image: Universal Sony
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2. Road Trip Playlist
Okay, next up, we are going to need some music.
Unfortunately, no matter how much you enjoy listening to the complete soundtrack to Les Miserables, it’s probably not going to cut it with the kids.
You need mood lifting music, music you can ALL sing along to.
My kids and I have compiled a list of 14 songs that we all agree are awesome road trip songs… after the 14th song, you are on your own. Enjoy our list!
Image: Sonia Stackhouse
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3. Car Bucks
This is an example of pure parenting genius. Somewhat Simple have made printable car bucks that you can hand out randomly as a reward for good behaviour during the car trip.
Those paper bucks convert to real holiday spending money for the kids when you get to your destination.
Cue the trumpets people and watch your money hungry kids turn into little angels.
Image: Somewhat Simple
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4. Portable LEGO Kit
I don’t know about you, but out of my three boys, at least two of them have ‘Happy Hands’.
You know what I’m talking about, right?
Hands that won’t keep to themselves, they have to fiddle with things, touch things like other people (eg. their brothers).
Keep their hands busy with this awesome Portable Lego Travel Kit from Mama Papa Bubba.
Image: Mama Papa Bubba
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5. Travel Journal Kit
What do you have when you put together a sweet little travel journal, a handful of cute pens, a bit of sticky tape or a glue stick and a Polaroid camera?
Peace and quiet from your kids is what you have, lovely people!
Kit your children up with all they need to capture their holiday adventures and all things going according to plan, they will be busy filling out those books in the backseat of the car and when you stop for meals and breaks.
Image: Getty
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6. Monster Trucks Guess Who Game
You're chugging along on day two of your road trip and the kids have probably watched the Monster Trucks movie on loop at least five hundred and fifty three times by now. Okay, maybe a slight exaggeration, but my point is that by now they should know enough about the movie characters for a good old game of Guess Who? - Monster Trucks Style.
With a sheet of cardboard, a few pictures of the characters from Monster Trucks and a couple of paper clips - you are good to go.
Taking it in turns, everyone gets to ask questions of everyone else in the car until they figure out which Monster Trucks movie character they are. This game chews up the kilometres in the most fun way possible.
Image: Sonia Stackhouse
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7. Snack Boxes
Consider this a heartfelt piece of advice from a Road Trip Black Belt - LIMIT THE SUGAR!
There is no way around the fact that the kids are going to get hungry on your trip. I mean road tripping is appetite-inducing stuff, but you definitely want to avoid the hyped up “I’m hungry” song and dance that sugar-high kids like to perform between pit stops. *Insert major eye roll here*.
Put together a travel snack box with little compartments that hold healthy choices for them.
Little tackle boxes are a brilliant idea like this one here from See Vanessa Craft, there is even a printable lid cover if you want to go the whole hog.
Image: Vanessa Craft
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8. Behaviour Clips
Sometimes I am blown away by the utter brilliance of my fellow parents.
Less Than Perfect Life Of Bliss - I bow to you and your method of keeping the kid’s behaviour in check with your Road Trip Behaviour Clips.
The way these work is - every child has their own personal behaviour clip. If they are well-behaved, then their clip stays clipped to Mum or Dad’s sun visor and they will be rewarded with a small treat at the next pit stop.
If their clip is not there then… well, I don’t need to spell out what that means do I?
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9. Waste Management System
If you don’t want to have to be the official ‘rubbish bin’ during your car trip, and you don’t fancy having to dig through the mountains of back seat rubbish to find your kids when you reach your destination, consider keeping a car bin in the back seat area of your car.
This is an easy and neat car bin option from Better Homes and Gardens.
Image: Better Homes and Gardens
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10. Busy Bag
With all the bits and bobs you are going to need to corral together to entertain your kids on your car trip, a busy bag is a brilliant idea to keep it all contained.
Without one, your portable Lego box, journal supplies, snack box, drink bottle and DVDs can so easily get scattered all around the back seat of your car. We also don’t fancy having to pull over on the side of the highway every couple of kms to rummage around on the floor for pencils or Lego.
So a Busy Bag like this one from Org Junkie is a fabulous option.
Image: Org Junkie
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11. Colouring Pages
There are sooo many awesome, free online colouring in pages you can download and print.
Since the kids are probably still in Monster Trucks mode, these Monster Trucks printable colouring sheets from Highlights Along The Way ought to do the trick.
Image: Highlights Along the Way
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12. Road Map
Oh man, wind the car window up and let me bang my head against it multiple times because seriously, I think it would be less painful than being asked this question every 2 minutes for nine hours.
Take the need for “are we there yet?” out of the whole game plan by creating a road trip map like this one that Grey House Harbor made. You simply update it every half hour or so for the kids.
They can SEE from this map if we are there yet and so if anyone then dares to ask “are we there yet?” they have to give you their secret stash of Minties. That’s the rule.
Image: Grey House Harbor
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13. Busy Wallet
We all know how toddlers like to tear apart our wallets and pull everything out of them right?
Well, let them.
NO, not your actual wallet.
Make them a busy wallet like The Piri-Piri Lexicon did. Genius!
Image: The Piri-Piri Lexicon
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14. Travel Art Kit
It goes without saying that drawing and colouring are one of the easiest ways to provide a quiet and calm back seat environment... for at least five minutes or more if you're lucky.
Put together a travel pack of colouring supplies like Stacy Vaughn has. Neat, accessible and contained.
Image: Stacy Vaughn
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15. The Number Plate Game
An oldie but a goodie, each member of the family takes it in turns to make a funny sentence out of the letters of the number plate on the car in front of you.
Now, be mature you guys - YOU are the adults here so you need to keep your own contribution G-rated!
Yeah, you know what I’m talking about!
Image: Getty
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16. The Who Lives There Game
This is an all time favourite in our family and it is one to get the imagination flowing.
Taking it in turns, when you stop in front of a house at traffic lights or when turning a corner, you need to make up a story about the people who live in the house you stopped next to.
Who are they? What do they do for work? How many kids live there and what are their names? What do they like to eat for breakfast?
You have until the next house you stop in front of to rattle off as many fictional details that you can about who lives in that house.
Next house = the next person’s turn.
Image: Getty
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17. I Spy
My kids have a habit of cheating in this game.
They change their ‘object’ every time someone guesses it. Meh, at least it will keep honest kids occupied for a little while. The best thing about this game is it makes the kids notice things around them... they actually have to look at the scenery outside the car window!
Image: Getty
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18. Magnetic Travel Tray
There is nothing more frustrating than driving over a bump and whatever is sitting on your lap bounces off and disappears, never to be found again, deep into a crevice somewhere in your car.
Kids lose it at that kind of stuff happening and we DO NOT want anyone ‘losing it’ on your road trip.
Magnetic travel boards are what you need and this DIY from Somewhat Simple is how you are going to make them. Too easy.
Image: Somewhat Simple
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19. Car Bingo
Ahhh, good old Car Bingo is a tried and true backseat entertainer.
There are a squillion free printables you can download for Car Bingo. Simply attach them to a clipboard for each child and the race is on to spot the next item that you call out from your master list.
These Car Bingo cards are from The Organised Housewife and are a fun option.
Image: The Organised Housewife
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20. The Would You Rather Game
Nothing beats a good hypothetical question to get the imagination working right?
Right!
Keep the kids entertained with a game of “Would you rather?” and you don't even have to come up with the ideas for questions because The Measured Mom has you covered with a pile of printable question cards ready to go.
Image; The Measured Mom
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21. Pipe Cleaner People
This is another idea to keep those ‘Happy Hands’ occupied - pipe cleaner figurines.
I know right!!!
Do you remember making these yourself as a kid? Well, pack yourself an extra pile of pipe cleaners so that you can join in on the fun too.
Image: Getty
