Toddler Road Trip Activities

These solutions for Toddler and Preschooler Road Trip Activities will make the car time fly by on your next family adventure. It’s a scary thought to take a toddler on the road, especially when he is used to TV, freedom, and having snacks all the time. But we wanted to do a family road trip and that required more than 15 hours in the car and we survived!! Well, 52 hours total, but our preschooler was a champ and I think he came home smarter with new experiences, skills, and an expanded vocabulary

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These Toddler Road Trip Activities are the perfect solution for keeping your toddler or preschooler entertained on a family road trip with extra car time. #familyroadtrip #roadtripactivities #travelingwithatoddler #preschoolcaractivites

Tips and tactics to make your Family Road Trip with a Toddler more successful

realize that 7-8 hours is about as long as you can plan to go in one day. We pushed it with 9-10 hour days and even 15 on our way home, but that was way too long and you could tell in the behavior on the non driving days that we needed to get the wiggles out
Plan to stop multiple times where you can get out and eat at a sit down meal, play at a park or walk around. Those little people need to work off energy and stretch their legs too. Plus you’ve gotta keep their bum dry and their rashes away.
Think about leaving and arriving with naptime and bedtime in mind. Our first day, little man took an almost 3 hour nap after dinner. So, when we arrived after his normal bedtime, he was wound up and it was midnight and we were working on the “let him cry it out” stage.
Plan to spend some of your car time in the back seat. Maybe you will already be sitting in the back seat, but if you are sitting up front, plan time to rotate and sit with your kid. They will do much better when some extra attention is going their way and they are not having to navigate their activities all on their own.
Download kid albums to listen to on the road. I love podcasts like the next adult, but sometimes having a dance break or kids sing along is the best way to push past the grumpies.
Turn meal breaks into wiggle time. Make sure you find places where you can get out, run around and break up the road trip. For us, with social distancing that meant stopping at a gas station that had a big green dinosaur or taking food to go at a nearby park so we could play and run around at dinner instead of sitting still at a table. Get food for the kid that they can eat in the car in their car seat and let out of the car time for playing and running around. Both of you will be happier.
Remember you are traveling with a kid. Set yourself up for plans with this factor in mind. Don’t try to do too much. Make kid friendly activities a priority. Give them a heads up about their day. Talk to them and include them in what you are doing. Help them spot things out the window and change up the scenery and activities as you go.

What can you equip your car with to make a road trip with a toddler more successful?

Kindle fire for kids / iPad videos – Download before you leave so you don’t have to worry about service signal. When you go into the hotel each night, charge your tablet and update your downloads or delete and add new movies.
A few familiar toys from home (ball, tractor, doll) – maybe toys they don’t get often, but toys you know that occupy them.
Laptop or LeapFrog computer toy – put in fresh batteries and be ready with all the sing songs. Hey, maybe they will learn colors and shapes while you are gone. Also, pack extra batteries. Here are the options we like: Fun Phone, My first learning Tablet by LeapFrog, My Own Leaptop, Vtech Brilliant Baby Laptop.
Ball – we had 3 and sometimes he threw them out of reach. But at this stage, a plastic ball can fix near everything. And, they were all from the dollar store so I wasn’t upset if we lost them. You can also play catch together in the car for some interaction.
Blocks – I got a few stacking blocks at the dollar store. They are giant LEGO’s and were great in the hotel room in the evenings and mornings. You will need toys and distractions in your hotel room to keep them out of cords and breakables.
Pipe cleaners – this sounds crazy, but frankly, these work all the way up to grown-ups. They love exploring the feeling of the chenille stems but can make shapes. As they get older you can give them assignments or play a version of I-spy with things they see out the windows.
Stickers or foam stickers – random stickers, dollar store character stickers, or these sticky back foam shapes I got at the Dollar Store Craft section. I forgot paper but a fast food bag, donut bag, or hotel magazine could work as well. TEACHER TIP: For preschoolers, remove the paper around the stickers and they can peel the images off themselves. Something about having the outline being gone gives them space to fold the paper and pull off the stickers on their own.
I spy – if they can see out the window and identify items ask them what they see or ask them to look for something you know is coming up. You will find this activity really helps them expand their vocabulary.
Practice songs – download children’s music or Disney songs, or grab a Wee Sing songbook/CD. Our recent Apple downloads or Apple Music playlists look different these days. But we sing a lot of the same Bible, Disney, and road trip songs from our childhood. He claps a lot and we use different voices to keep it interesting. I’ve watched him start doing hand motions on his legs on his own. Also, he can practice beats. I’ll tap out something in his leg and then we clap it or pat it out together.
Age-appropriate flashcards – Dollar Tree is a great place to look for these options. I grabbed a character set that focused on colors and shapes. Those are part of our next learning stage. But you could be at sight words or animals, math, vocabulary, science, or matching. Sight word flashcards can also be a great way to practice creative writing or storytelling.
Sensory bottle or rice bottles – hidden objects give kids hours to play
SNACKS – and more snacks and more snacks – just take the foods they love and will find as a treat – when all else fails, snacks save the day – some of our favorites include Annies crackers and bunnies, fruit leather, craisins/raisins, animal crackers, fig bars, Beech-Nut oatmeal bars, or fruit pouches. I try to avoid sticky or chocolate in the car so it doesn’t melt and fruit snacks/gummies are a good idea but they are potty training incentive so they don’t get in the usual snack basket!

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Roadtrip Preschooler Activity Basket

This summer, I packed an activity basket for our family road trip with a preschooler. It made all kinds of difference. The basket gave me lots of options when a certain activity was boring or no longer entertaining. It gave me a place to organize our supplies and keep the rest of the backseat empty and project free. And, most importantly, the basket gave me all the options in one place and I didnt have to keep digging. I made it a priority each day to reorganize our basket and throw away trash so the next morning it was easy to jump in the car and hit the road for our adventure.

Our Summer Adventure Activity Basket included:

activity tray – I picked one up in the Bullseye section at Target, but a food tray or even cookie sheet could work, just test it before your trip
Melissa and Doug Reusable Stickers
Colorforms Reusable Stickers
Highlights Books – we got this as a Christmas gift last year and I just saved a couple of the latest editions to use on our trip.
Activity books and Color Pages
Twistables – Organize in zipper bags
Figurines – whatever you kid is in to – dinosaurs, horses, princes, Disney figurines – I always do a quick buy through the Dollar Store and grab some new things so they are a surprise and then if we lose them on the trip we aren’t as upset.
Fast Food kids meal toys
Flash Cards – letters, numbers, shapes
Travel games – monkeys in a barrel, Alligator Dentist, Would you Rather Silly Questions
Felt book or busy book
Themed color pages from the destinations you are visiting – for us, that meant national parks and drive-thru safaris. It’s amazing what resources are online – check zoos, museums, and company stores
LeapFrog game system – extra books
Amazon Fire or iPad with a car holder

One of the things that makes this all successful is to make the kid a priority. Realize they are not going to love being on the road. Pay attention if they need to get out, keep your plan super flexible, and just keep trying things. Make all the grown-ups and other people in the car aware of just helping make it all fun!

check out this list of some of our favorite trips!