State Farm® sponsored this post about taking road trips with kids. All thoughts are my own.
Last month, we went to Disneyland for Zac’s birthday. He’d been asking to go for almost a year, and since we took Shane to San Diego for his birthday last summer, Zac’s birthday seemed like the perfect time to go.
Since our trip was in the middle of January when Shane had school and Justin had work, we made it a quick trip – just the weekend. But since we live about four hours from the park we considered it a quick road trip! Luckily we go on road trips quite a bit so our kids are used to them, and they didn’t mind being in the car for 10 hours in one weekend {especially since they were able to spend all those other hours at the park!}.
Even though our kids have gotten used to longer road trips, it’s still hard to make them comfortable when they have to sit for four hours. They can barely stay still for four minutes at home, so having to be strapped into a car seat for that long can be challenging. Over the years and over many, many road trips, these have become our tried and true steps to making road trips easy – for everyone:
1. Special snacks: Every time we need to stop for gas, I let the kids each pick one small snack that I normally wouldn’t let them have at home unless it was a special occasion. They can choose a cookie, chips, a small candy bar – I leave it totally up to them because they love feeling in charge. Not only does our quick gas trip run give them a chance to stretch their legs, it also gives them something to look forward to during the long drive.
2. An in-car bag: It took me several road trips to finally nail down our in-car packing list. So many times I would pack a sippy cup for Zac, only to realize after purchasing a milk for him at the store that it was in the suitcase in the trunk, under three other things. Have a separate bag for things you will need in the car, like healthy snacks, water bottles, sippy cups, baby wipes {which are helpful for the whole family!} and whatever else you may need for your journey.
3. Internet: This more recent addition to our road trips has been a total game changer. We often travel at night, so books and toys don’t always cut it since the kids can’t see them once it gets dark. When that happens, we pull out the iPads. Previously they only worked for offline games and would keep the kids occupied for a little while, but now we can stream shows from Netflix or Amazon Video the whole way to California, even in the desert! All I have to do is turn my cell phone into a mobile hotspot and I can connect my iPads to the internet that way. Just be sure to watch your data usage!
4. Special toys: I have a bag of toys that I keep with our luggage so that it’s always ready to travel with us. It includes some inexpensive toys that I got from various places, like sale bins and dollar sections at the store, and even though it didn’t cost a lot to fill the kids love it. These aren’t played with unless we’re traveling, so our kids always find them interesting since they haven’t seen them in awhile.
5. Check everything before you go: In some of our earlier road trips, as long as we had packed suitcases, I felt we were ready to go. Now I know better and realize you need to check the weather {at your final destination and on the route there}, be sure your car is fully prepared to go {no alerts on, recent oil change if needed, check tire pressure}. It’s never fun to have car trouble, and it’s even worse when you’re away from home.
Luckily, if you do happen to run into trouble on the road, State Farm may be able to help! State Farm Assist Patrol is a sponsorship program that runs in 15 states, with 20 patrols in all. Here in Nevada, State Farm sponsors, the Nevada DOT Freeway Service Patrol Sponsored, which roves the Reno and Las Vegas metropolitan freeways to reduce traffic congestion and enhance motorist safety by offering services like a tire change, fixing a minor mechanical problem, and even removing debris from the road! That is particularly reassuring for us since there’s mostly a whole lot of nothing in Nevada once you leave the city. It’s nice to know that the DOT and State Farm are here to help if we need it.
With President’s Day just around the corner and Spring Break just past that, be sure to learn more about the free State Farm Assist Patrol service and see if it’s located in your state before you hit the road!
State Farm sponsored this post about taking road trips with kids. All thoughts are my own.