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Traveling at any time can be stressful, but add in traveling with little ones and the stress multiplies. We want to help alleviate some of that stress. The first step is to work with one of the Family Traveling Tips recommended travel agents. Working with an agent will give you a sounding board and someone else to worry about the details.

Once the trip is all planned and the bags are packed, it’s time to start thinking about how to occupy the kiddos on the trip to your destination. Plane, train, or automobile – the problem is the same – what will keep my kids busy for all those hours???

We are Here to Help!

Movies

One of my daughter’s favorite ways to stay busy is to watch movies in the car. We have a portable DVD player and headphones that she can use on her own to watch movies. We try to pack movies that are about places we’re traveling. So, if we’re going to Disney World we watch Disney movies, if we’re visiting family in Atlanta, Georgia, we watch movies that are about Georgia. If you have more than 1 mini-traveler, there are DVD players that are dual monitor so they can each have a screen to watch the same movie or play their own movie.

Link for single screen portable DVD player: https://amzn.to/2KEB6Eg

Link for dual screen headrest DVD player:https://amzn.to/3496rXt

Car Games (that won’t cost a dime)

Growing up, my brother and I were masters of the car games. Here are a few of our favorites:

• The Licence Plate Game – the goal of this game was to try to locate licence plates from all 50 states. The person that spotted the most states by the end of the trip was the winner. You can easily print a map that they can mark off or color each state as they find one.
•  The Alphabet Game – each person looks out of their respective window and takes turns looking for items for the alphabet. This is great to play when you start hearing “He’s touching me!” over and over again. You can also do this in various forms, such as everyone in the car names an animal for each letter of the alphabet, and so on. Another version is to play it like a Memory Game, so one person starts with the letter A and says Apple, then the next person has B and has to say A for apple and B for banana, the next person has C and has to say A for apple, B for banana, and C for coconut – the first person that can’t remember one of the previously named letters or can’t add something for their letter loses.

Plane, Train, or Automobile Items

• Travel LapBoard – This board is a lifesaver!  The kids can use it when they’re coloring, snacking, reading, watching movies, anything you need!  You can find it from Amazon at this link: https://amzn.to/349LKuw
•  Wikki Stix – These are a tried and true kid-crowd-pleaser.  (Heck, I’m an adult and I still play with them!) Wikki Stix are little wax sticks that can be shaped into a multitude of things.  They are reusable (and don’t make a mess all over the place). They are easy to pack in ziploc bags to bring small portions on a plane or to divide a larger pack up among multiple kids. You can purchase it from Amazon here: https://amzn.to/2XyyT2m
•  Headphones – Headphones are great for letting kids watch movies on the plane or in the car.  They’re perfect if they have a device to play games on and you don’t want to hear all the sound effects.  I always recommend the volume control headphones for littles (I know my daughter would raise the volume as loud as she could while watching movies, so I liked knowing that the volume was always at a save level.) There are lots out there, but I prefer to purchase the lower price point option (mainly because my daughter always lost hers or broke them). You can find a great option from Amazon here: https://amzn.to/2rcSMQE

 Snacks!!!