Road Trip!

 

A long road trip can be long and boring, but also, great downtime to play! We've gone on plenty, and, so I thought it'd be fun to share the things that we love best when traveling! The kids have gone with us, on 20+ hour trips, since they were itty bitty. They've always been really great in the car, whether they napped, snacked, or sang at the top of their lungs. As they've gotten older, those things still apply, but the naps don't last as long. This post is more for what works as teens. 

What I have shown here are things that they keep by their side to do in-between daydreaming out the car window, or snoozing with the pets by their side. 

(following the image above)

1. Pouch- You can find these STUFF styled bags at almost any craft store or amazon. This keeps all those device cords in one spot.

2. Device- The kids don't have smartphones, so on trips we allow them to use our iPad or old iPhone (without wifi).

3. Nintendo Switch- or any portable game system that your kiddo might love.

4. Camera- The kids use a Polaroid that takes both instant pictures + saves them on a Micro SD card to be uploaded on their computer. 

5. Book light- for those late night, dark rides where they need some light to read or search for something in the backseat.

6. Games- The kids bring a WordSearch Puzzle book, along with their Nintendo Games and Favorite App games (more on that below).

7. Books- Normally, the kids are already deep into a novel and bring it along to finish it, but sometimes they'll start a new one on the ride. Right now, they're really into Judy Blume books.

8. Sketchpad- Another book they bring along is their sketchbook. Often times, they'll just sketch whatever comes to their imagination. They'll bring their pencil pouch to keep their art supplies handy, too.

9. Gas Station Snack Money- It's exactly what it says, a little cash for them to spend on a snack on the way there, and back. It is a fun, little thing to keep morale up when the ride drags out.

10. DVD's- We have a portable DVD player, and back in the day I used to rent new movies that the kids had yet to see from RedBox (not sure they exist still), but now, the kids give me a few selections and I buy them for keeps. This last trip they chose Moonrise Kingdom, The Anne of Green Gables Mini-Series, and Turning Red. 

11. Travel Bag- Lastly, we invested in these transparent bags that are the perfect size for storing everything inside. The fact that they're see-thru makes it easier to dig through and find exactly what they're looking for with ease. Also, the zipper helps with everything not falling out, and yes, everything listed fits into it, nice and neat.

I asked the kids to tell me their favorite apps, currently, and this is what they shared:

1. Crossyroad - an updated version of Frogger

2. SongPop - Guess that tune!

3. Good Pizza, Great Pizza - customers order the pizza, you make them, and if you do well you earn points.

4. HelixJump - A strategic game where you have to smash, bump, and bounce through revolving helix platforms.

A couple of my favorite apps are:

1. 

2. 

3. 

We all love Spotify! If they aren't listening to their own playlists, we take turns playing our favorites on the car radio. To make it even more fun, we bring our microphone for a little Car-a-oke. 

We're pretty picky about Podcasts, but some we've listened to and enjoyed are:

1. 

2. 

If you have any Podcast recommendations, please share :)