Last year, Jimmy and I took a huge road trip with all three kids. 26 hours in the car, 1700 miles of travel.

Needless to say, I needed to have a plan or else Jimmy and I would be victims of death by whining. So here are the tactics I used to make it a fun and successful trip.

1. Packing

I planned what each of my kids wore on each day of the trip. I made a little pile for each day that contained pajamas, outfit for the day and any accessories. I then put all those items into a ziplock bag, compressed it and labeled it with the child’s name and the date it was to be worn.

This was helpful for several reasons. If you’ve ever traveled with little ones you know how annoying it can be to try to search through a bag for one tiny pair of socks or pants. It can also be tiring to try to figure out what they will wear WHILE trying to get them dressed.

With this method, Jimmy or I could just grab a bag for each kid and then we had everything needed for the day.

It also took up less space in the suitcase.

2. Snacking

Instead of bringing a giant bag of pretzels or trail mix and passing it out in the car, I divided up the snacks into little snack bags so that whenever someone needed something we didn’t have to worry about crumbs or making sure little hands didn’t drop things.

We could just pick out a small bag and hand it to them.

For my baby, I premeasured all the baby cereal he’d eat for the trip into small bags. Before each day I put together 3 meal kits (containing the baby cereal, baby food, spoon and disposable bib) in preparation for the next day. In the morning, I’d just put the kits in my diaper bag and I was ready for the whole day.

3. Play and Presents

In addition to packing their favorite toys and books, I also went to the dollar store and bought a few new surprises. I wrapped the new items along with some old forgotten favorite ones and hid them in the basket of books and toys.

Every few hours or when they got really restless, I’d let them dig for and open a “present.” They LOVED it.

4. Stories on CD

We also had several stories on CD that we listened to and that was something everyone really enjoyed. My kids were literally mesmerized by Pollyanna and Anne of Green Gables. It was especially nice when Jimmy and I needed them to be quiet (like when their brother was napping) because they didn’t want to talk for fear they’d miss any of the story.

5. DVD Player

Now, we did bring a DVD player on the trip, but out of the 25+ hours on the road, they only watched 2.5 hours of tv. Everything else kept them so entertained that they didn’t really ask to watch videos, although it was certainly a nice option. We bought them a Hillsongs Kids video and it was neat to hear them singing worship songs in the back seat.

Well, that’s what worked for us. If you go on a road trip anytime soon, I hope some of these ideas work for you.

What’s Your Story?

If you have any tips to add, please share them in the comments.

Did you take road trips as a child?Love ‘em or hate ‘em?

(This post is a part of WFMW.)