Road Trip Tips to help your vacation go smoothly without a ton of money, time, or stress. No screens required! This post is sponsored by Walmart+ – all opinions are always 100% my own.
Summertime is HERE and that means we’re in prime road trip season! We’ve stayed on the East Coast with our kids, but have done a few road trips over the years. When they were really little, it was stressful with interrupted naps, nursing, and potty training. Now that they’re older, it’s SO NICE to not have to stress about those components of traveling as a family!
However, we’re not exempt from the “I’m boredddd” or “how many more minutes?” that comes from the backseat. While these ideas might not help those things be completely eradicated from your trip, they can significantly help!
Another note: we choose not to do screens in our car. We don’t have a fancy van with a TV in it, and we don’t do handheld devices for our kids either. So these ideas are all things that don’t include screens. For right now, my kids don’t know any different and we’ll try to keep it like that as long as we can 😂
Don’t miss my money saving tips too – especially how to save on gas with a Walmart+ membership!
Screen Free Road Trip Tips for Kids
I know it’s hard with alllll the other things that come with vacation prep, but preparation is KEY when it comes to a successful road trip! When you do a little foresight and planning, you’ll reap the rewards later!
- Snacks!
- Our kids favorite thing for long road trips (4+ hours) is to pack a paper baggie for every hour of the trip. I add a (small) snack into each bag and it REALLY helps them mark the time that’s passed.
- Optional: add a little note onto the bag for each hour! Ex: “Almost there!” “You’re doing a great job!” “This is going to be such a fun trip!” “Love you so much!”
- Audio Books
- Audio books are the true hero of our road trips! We own a few but the public library is the BEST place to get new audio books without spending a dime.
- Tip: Always bring 1-2 more than you think you’ll need. Sometimes getting CDs from public libraries means they might have scratches on them, and then you have to abandon the book in the middle. So frustrating! But best to have extras a backup.
- Audio books are the true hero of our road trips! We own a few but the public library is the BEST place to get new audio books without spending a dime.
- Activity Books
- For younger kids: we love Water Wow books. They have reusable water “pens” and they dry out so they’re reusable.
- For older kids: my kids love hidden picture & Mad Libs.
- Have the kids help:
- Give your kids some say too! They usually come up with some super creative ideas that I would not have thought of.
- Random things to pack that have worked for us:
- Dry Erase sleeves
- pack a few worksheets/activity pages and have them stacked inside a dry erase sleeve. Just wipe + reuse throughout the trip!
- Road trip bingo boards
- Stickers + paper on a clipboard
- Window clings
- Small stuffed animals
- Magnetic games made for travel
- Dry Erase sleeves
Organize the car:
Another thing I’ve learned (from experience … AKA from doing it the wrong way) is to keep things contained and organized in the car. It will help save your sanity and your kids will be happier to have things in reach too!
Use organizers that attach to the back of your seats – they can hold so much and keep it off the floor.
For kids that don’t have a good spot for an organizer in front of them, consider using a lap desk. We had these growing up for road trips and it really helped keep the mess off of the floor and helped us have a large enough surface to use while driving.
Another idea: buy a small insulated pouch that attaches to the back of your seat so you can keep fresh or cold items at the ready.
Find ways to save:
We love to find places to travel that are within driving distance (flying with a family of 5 would add up super quickly 💸) but gas prices are crazy high right now! We are always looking for ways to save money while traveling, and just recently discovered that we could save on gas with our Walmart+ membership!
Here’s some details about how it works:
- W+ members now save up to 10¢ per gallon at Exxon and Mobil gas stations, and at select Walmart and Murphy gas stations*, in 48 states across the country. *Fuel discount varies by location & station, subject to change. They also still have access to member pricing at more than 500 Sam’s Club locations.
- Claiming the fuel savings is easy! Just head to any Walmart, Murphy or ExxonMobil station, sign into your W+ account in the Walmart app, follow the instructions, select your grade and begin fueling. 🎉
We’ve been Walmart+ members for almost a year now. In case you were interested in how it works, W+ members get free unlimited grocery delivery from Walmart stores ($35 order min. Restrictions apply.), free shipping on Walmart.com with no order minimum (Excludes most Marketplace items, location & freight surcharges), Scan & Go, and more for just $98 a year or $12.95 a month.
Click here to see all the benefits that come with having a Walmart+ Membership.
I hope that these road trip tips help to save your money, sanity, and help you all have FUN together on road trips this summer (and all throughout the year!)
Looking for another travel idea? Here’s some tips if you want to try traveling in an RV!
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