Travel Tips for Busy Mommies

So, you’re going to visit family for the holidays, and you’re going to have plenty to do.  We want to help.  Here are some ideas to keep your kiddos busy in the car if you’re going over the river and through the woods this Christmas. 

Printables:

Sign Bingo: If you laminate these and use expo markers then you have a go to game that changes with each and every route you take. 

Vacation Writing Practice:  You can give these to your kiddo and let them find their way to your destination while getting in some writing practice!

Coloring Sheets: You can print off a couple of these sheets, or hit up the dollar store in your area and grab a cheap Christmas coloring book. 

Games:

Feel like interacting with your kiddos a little bit?  Try these travel games. 

For ages 3 and up:
Pairs– A Mommy or Daddy names and item, and your kiddo can fill its missing piece.  For example Mommy Says “Peanut Butter” and your tot comes up with “Jelly”.  Think things like “socks” with “shoes”, or “mommy” with “daddy”.

Animal Noises-Say an animal name the way the animal would say it!  For instance, ‘quack’ the name of a duck, ‘moo’ the word ‘cow’, and so on!

Candy Apples and Pixie Sticks– My younger brother invented this silly game on one of our infamous family roadtrips.  Every time you pass an antenna you yell ‘Pixie Stick!’ and every time you pass a water tower you yell ‘Candy Apple’.  As silly as this sounds, it keeps kiddos occupied.  It got us all the way to Wisconsin one summer!

For younger tots:
Counting-Pick an object (cows, cars, water towers) and count those items as you pass them. 

The Color Game-Pick a color and have everyone in the care find something that is that color.  Let your tot pick the color to look for and they will feel really important!

If you are traveling this holiday season, we pray you have a safe trip.  We also pray for each and everyone of you to reach your destination quickly and with as much of your sanity in place as possible!