How to Keep Your Kids at Peace When on Long Car Trips

I have been traveling a lot over the last few years. And over that time I have figured out a few key things to keep the kids happy when they are in the car for a long period of time.

Make sure you bring some kind of activities for everyone. I like to make sure that for every hour the kids have to be in the car they have some other kind of activity to keep them busy. If we are going to drive in the car for three hours they should have at least three toys. These days my kids all have computers, so I just make sure that they have multiple games on their computers. But you obviously don't need a computer to keep them happy. They just need something interesting enough to keep their attention. You can also do this by including your kids in the navigation process, like handing them the map even if you know exactly where your going.

Another thing that I do is make sure that each one of the kids has a pillow or something they can lean against to get a little sleep. There is nothing worse then an emotional melt down because the kids are tired. So just make it easy for them to sleep. One idea that I use a lot is starting my road trips either really early or really late in the day. This way I know the kids are going to sleep at least half way through the trip. This makes life a lot easier on them as well as a lot easier on me.

Keeping their bellies full and their bladders empty is a key ingredient to saving time and keeping the peace in the car. This is simple to achieve but also simple to forget if you don't have it on your mind. So make sure the kids use the restroom before you walk out the door. Also make sure you pack snacks, lots of snacks. The key with providing snacks is making sure that no matter what... what you bring it isn't one of those snacks that make the kids hands all sticky.

The last thing I want to increase you to do is take the time you have with your kids in the car to bond with them. You can do this by simply being interested in them and talking with them about the scenery on the drive or about anything that you know is going to be interesting to them.