Traveling with children doesn’t have to be synonymous with horrendous, grueling, pull-out-your-hair bad days. With a little planning and foresight, young children can learn to amuse themselves and be great traveling companions. So, it’s time to put plan “B” into action. Think ahead and plan for those “worst possible moments” so you’ll have an alternative to swallowing half a bottle of pain relievers with the cold dregs of this morning’s left-over coffee.

First, the bag. Use a child-sized backpack in a bright, pretty color. It’s important to get something the child likes and recognizes, something the child could carry. Don’t get an adult backpack, and fill it with so much stuff that you need a dolly to carry it out to the car. Children are funny, in that more isn’t necessarily better. A few great toys will amuse a child longer than a hundred cheap toys, which are generally just dumped onto the floor and trampled on.

Your travel bag is ONLY for in the car. Do not use it for rainy days, sick days, doctor visits, or even in church. If you want, you can create separate “play bags” for each of those situations. But the trick to a successful travel bag is that it stays fresh. The more you use it, the less it will work for you. If you are only going to be in the car for ten minutes, then don’t even bother to get out the travel bag. The travel bag is for that half-hour commute, or when you will be running errands all morning.

Second: the toys. I’m not a big fan of fast food, but those silly little toys that come in kids meals stay in our car. I never bring them into the house. It doesn’t matter if the toy gets lost on the trip, because I would probably just throw it out anyway. This sounds like I’m contradicting myself, as I said above that a few good toys were better than a hundred cheap ones! But I won’t keep a hundred freebies from the fast-food chains, as we just don’t eat there that often.

Get a toy that has moving parts attached to a bigger part. Sometimes a smaller version of the tracking toy will work – the wooden beads on a curved metal bar that you push around. They aren’t that much fun compared to how much they cost, but if someone gave you one, you can keep it in the car. Another good car toy are lacing cards. You can buy them or make them yourself. Cut out a variety of shapes from bright colored cardboard and punch holes around the edge. The child then “sews” it up with a shoe lace. This is great small-motor control practice, developing finger dexterity that is so necessary before learning to hold a pencil and write. When your child graduates beyond lacing cards, then get plain plastic canvas, strings of yarn and blunt-tipped darning needles. You’d be amazed at what your child can create!

Other toy suggestions include: Etch-a-sketch, Magna-Doodle, colorforms (these stick to car windows, too!), magnetic puzzles, stringing beads. You can try crayons and coloring books, or get a stack of blank computer paper and a clip board. You can even pack your “junk” mail, and let your youngster tear it open, scribble it up, and rip it to shreds. We survived a lengthy traffic jam through Chicago one trip just ripping up junk mail. Sure, it made a mess, but it was harmless, and my granddaughter had so much fun doing it!

The car is the perfect place for electronic toys. I don’t like such toys, I don’t buy them, and I don’t keep them in the house. But someone gave my granddaughter a “leap frog” learning toy. This can amuse her in her car seat or a half hour or so, when she would otherwise be bored. I don’t think she’d play with it that long if she were in the house. The noises most electronic toys make can be quite annoying, but they aren’t as bad as listening to a screaming child.

Third: the music. Pack a collection of children’s tapes or CDs, like Raffi, Sesame Street, or whatever your child enjoys.  When the toys are no longer working, pop in a tape and sing along with your child.

Fourth: your imagination.  Your child really just wants your attention.  Most temper tantrums are attention-getters, even if the attention they get – in the form of discipline – is not the kind of attention they really wanted.  When your toddler or preschooler is getting fractious and the toys aren’t working, the snacks are gone, and you still can’t just return home, then it’s time to play a game.  This can be really challenging if you are also driving!  Be very, very careful!  But especially if someone else is in the car with you, engage your child in any sort of “look out the window and what do you see” game.  You can play “look for something red!”  or “count the cows”.  Or “find an airplane”.  Older preschoolers can play games involving the alphabet – finding certain letters of the alphabet on the billboards.  We used to play that you had to find an A, then a B, and so forth – the first one to get to Z wins!  I can remember always getting stuck on “Q” until I learned to read and could spot a liquor store at a hundred paces.  But if your preschooler is too young to find all the letters of the alphabet, just find the letters that are in his name.  Or if you’re doing the lesson plans, you can just look for the letter of the week.

Fifth: the snacks. Keep something available in your car that won’t spoil and isn’t pure sugar. Granola bars, G.O.R.P., raisins, pretzels, and animal crackers are good ideas. Keep a supply of snacks somewhere – in your house, your purse, your glove box, whereever. Then pop ONE into the child’s travel bag before the trip. You don’t want to stuff your child so that he won’t eat his next meal. You just want to take the edge off his hunger so you don’t feel compelled to go through a drive-through for some fast-food junk. You might want to keep bottles of plain water in the car, as well. Juice and soda are sticky when they spill. Water is the perfect travel beverage.

Sixth: Clean-up. Keep a package of wet-ones (commercial or home-made) in the car at all times. You probably do already, but even if your child has outgrown the need for a diaper bag, he will never outgrow the ability to get dirty. I try to keep wet-ones, a plastic bag for soiled clothing, a change of clothes, and a sweater.

At the end of any trip, have your child help you put everything back into the travel bag and zip it shut for the next trip. Don’t forget to restock it – if you used the change of clothes, or ate the snacks. Keep it ready, and keep it out of reach.

Safe, and happy traveling!

Photo Credits:
Top: http://www.flickr.com/photos/phalen/ / CC BY 2.0
Middle: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dweekly/ / CC BY 2.0
Bottom: http://www.flickr.com/photos/neeta_lind/ / CC BY 2.0