The Low-Screen Road Trip, Part 2: What to Do

"So you just sit there and... wait?"

John and I overheard June’s friend ask her the question above last spring, when our families met up at our destination after a two-hour road trip. The friend had watched her iPad on the way, and was baffled as to how June had spent her time without one in hand.

I can’t remember what June said in response, but the answer, my friends, is that we do not just “wait” while traveling without screens. On the contrary — we have plenty of fun! And in today’s newsletter, I’m sharing all of our best tips, tricks, and ideas for every age in one place. Let’s hit the road!

Don’t miss part one: why go screen-free + our best general tips for every age. Affiliate links are used in this post!

Annie at the wheel!

Babies + Toddlers (Ages 0-2)

In my opinion, this age group is easily the most challenging for a road trip, period — whether it’s screen-free or not. Babies don’t understand why they’re being asked to sit still for so long, and they don’t really connect the fun waiting at the end with the ordeal they just endured. But this phase, too, shall pass. Here are some of our best tips to make it a bit easier while you wait…

Don’t take the scenic route

This one pains me, because seeking out interesting and beautiful routes is in my blood! (It’s one of my Dad’s favorite things.) But, our main strategy for a successful road trip at this age is to have the baby napping for as much of it as possible. Stopping or even changing the sound in the car by dramatically slowing our speed is something that will wake our kids up, so, when we can, we stick to the most direct highway route for long, uninterrupted stretches of road.

Consolidate stops

We try to make sure that when we do stop, we take care of everything: feeding the baby, feeding ourselves, a stretch break, a bathroom break, and a gas fill-up. That way, we don’t have to risk disrupting a nap an hour in because our tank is running low.

Bring white noise

If your little is used to napping with white noise, bring it along! We have and use this chargeable white noise machine for on-the-go, but our favorite white noise machine from their rooms also plugs into a USB in the car.

Dress them lightly

It can get stuffy in those car seats! June always got sweaty in her bucket seat, even with the AC blasting, so we’d dress her in a light outfit – usually a thin bubble. This helped her stay cool and comfy.

Picnic for meals

We learned early on that expecting June to sit in our laps or in a high chair when we stopped for meals was not realistic — all she wanted to do was roll! (And I don’t blame her.) So, instead of eating in a restaurant, we’d pack a picnic blanket, get food to go, and eat outside. Even at side-of-the-highway fast food restaurants there’s almost always a little grass and a tree for shade.

Ride in the back

When we had just one baby/toddler, we’d try to have one adult riding in the back with her, to help her stay busy and happy. We would read to her, hand her different toys, sing, make funny faces, etc. This isn’t as possible now that we have three kids, but the older kids now perform some of this function in our place :) At the very least, they’re interesting to look at!

Embrace weird toys

While our babies and toddlers have still been interested in their usual suspects on a road trip, un-traditional “toys” really seem to hold their attention: popular items in the past have included an empty water bottle, a stroller fan, an old electric toothbrush, and anything you can smack to make a noise.

Keep your schedule loose.

If at all possible, try not to have a time you NEED to arrive — that way, if you have to make extra stops because someone’s screaming or has a diaper issue or just CANNOT be in the car seat anymore, it’s no big deal. I find this is key for helping me stay patient.

Know that they won’t love every minute of it.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but despite your best efforts, there will almost certainly be some screaming and crying at some point. It’s not fun (for anyone), we don’t want it to happen, but… it’s also not the end of the world. Sometimes, if you know they’re fed and changed and you’ve done your best to engage, you just have to keep driving, and maybe put in earplugs.¹ You’ll be there soon enough, and hopefully, they’ll have so much fun at the destination that the road trip travails will fade. As my friend Ginna likes to say, “misery makes memories” :)

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Preschool + Elementary

You’ll likely see a real transition in this age range! If you’ve been at it awhile, your kids are becoming pro road trippers: self-sufficient, helpful, and probably up for anything. (Remember, 5-12 is the age where everything is fun — despite June’s expression above, ha!)

My advice for this age group is less about tips and more just a big old list of activities. Pick and choose based on your kids’ ages and interests!

In no particular order, here are things to pack that our kids have loved:

For road trips, each of our kids brings an L.L. Bean tote bag. (We have the open top Boat & Totes in size medium, though I’d consider sizing up to larges if I had a do-over.) The bags fit perfectly on the floor in front of a car seat and are easy to access with the open tops.

Also, I recommend packing a small blanket for each kid for longer road trips! They make napping easier and feel cozy, plus can be used in imaginative play in a pinch :)

• Small toys, figurines (these are portable and perennially popular — same with characters from a favorite show), and cars (this set was insanely beloved when Shep was 2-3)

• Stuffed animals

• Coloring, activity, and sticker books like this one or this one (I’ll often get them a fresh one for a big road trip — bonus points if it features a favorite character!)

• Brain Quest decks (I loved doing these as a kid! Our older two are also obsessed.)

• Paint-by-sticker books (These deserve a gold star! Shep was our toughest road tripper for awhile, and these books helped him turn the corner. He’ll do them for hours.)

• Water Wow coloring pads

• Color Wonder coloring sets (especially good for preschoolers, since they don’t leave marks)

• A sketchbook, sometimes paired with a learn-to-draw book

• A pouch or baggie of markers (Crayola, always)

• Books — board books, picture books, and chapter books, depending on their ages

• Trivia books (nothing’s more fun than being the one with the facts… the rest of the car just has to sit through them :))

• Mad Libs

• A clipboard with printables. There are tons of free options online, but here’s a highway search and find I made!

• Blank BINGO boards with wet-erase markers (fill in the board with things you can see from the road, like a traffic cone, a cow, a church, a horse trailer, etc.)

• A very fun slide puzzle

• Animal flashlights (v. v. popular in early elementary/preschool)

• Stopwatches (you can time all sorts of things on a car ride!)

• I Spy or 1001 Things to Spot books

• The Guess Who travel game

• And our Yoto players, of course (we pack headphones so they can listen individually)

Activities and games our kids have loved:

Yes, parent, you’re probably going to be playing, too…

• A parent reading books from the front. Though it’s a bit tough on the reader, this is one of our most fail-proof activities for happy passengers.

• The alphabet game (competing to find the letters of the alphabet, in order, on roadside signs, trucks, etc.)

• The other alphabet game (choose a category (animals, foods, fictional characters, books), and go through the alphabet in a circle naming something that fits — aardvark, bat, cheetah…)

• The license plate game (work together to spot all 50 state license plates. Works best for inter-state adventures!)

• Singing songs

• I Spy

• 20 questions (not my favorite, ha!)

• Guess the Disney song (cover up the car display and have them guess the name of the song, who sings it, or what movie it’s from. You could spin this into many different variations! )

• The animal guessing game (make the noise of an animal and everyone has to guess which one it is, v. popular with preschoolers)

• A spelling or geography bee (with a parent giving out age-appropriate words to spell or questions to answer²)

• Asking civics questions from the US naturalization test³

• Asking the “Do You Know” questions about family stories

• Category questions (each kid gets a category of their choosing (dogs, colors, sports, Octonauts, etc.) and we’ll go around in a circle with a parent asking them questions that fit their category and age. For example, what dog pulls a sled in Alaska? Or, what color is a banana?)

• Playing family DJ (take turns picking songs in a rotation)

• Coloring in the route on a paper map (you can get free ones at AAA if you’re a member!)

• Listening to an audiobook of the kids’ choosing (with all of our Yoto cards loaded on my phone, it’s easy to play these through the car’s speaker)

• Listening to a kid-friendly podcast. Our kids absolutely loved On the Night Train on one of our longest road trips last year; readers have also recommended Who Smarted, Thomas and Friends, Julie’s Library, Story Spectacular, Story Pirates, and Circle Round.

• Listening to a novel playlist or artist. Our typical weekday playlist is a custom kid-friendly worship mix, but it’s fun to switch it up when we’re on the road! Sometimes we theme it to our trip (bluegrass in the North Carolina mountains!), and sometimes it’s just a crowd-pleaser: the Beach Boys, the Beatles, the Bare-naked Ladies, the Sound of Music soundtrack, Disney sing-a-longs, show tunes, the Arcade Fire (just us?), or our playlist of college favorites.

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Middle + High School

I have the fewest specific ideas for this age group, but that’s not because our kids haven’t reached this stage yet! I was once a middle- and high-schooler, after all :)

For the most part, any activities or items to pack will just be variations on the long lists in the elementary school section: listening to podcasts, audiobooks, or music; playing word games; reading books or magazines; even doing grown-up paint-by-sticker books or coloring books.

Much of the time, however, they might just choose to stare out the window. And though they might complain about this to you, I have to say again how valuable that blank space is, especially for this age group. A tween or teen has so much to think about, integrate, process, and reflect on in these years — and likely not enough time to do it in the course of her full life. A “boring” road trip might be a true gift (even if she’d never admit it to you).

My final suggestion comes from my Dad, who I mentioned in the first post in this series. When our family road tripped across the country when my sisters and I were 12, 14, and 17, he made us all sign a contract before setting out. Yes, a contract. (He and my Mom signed it, too!) It was one page — fairly simple — and laid out expectations for how we would treat each other and how we’d embrace the trip. I specifically remember something along the lines of, “It’s okay to feel grumpy, but that’s not an excuse to be rude to your fellow passengers. You can simply say, I’m feeling grumpy and don’t want to talk right now.” Ha!

This was 23 years ago, so clearly it made an impression on me! I don’t think a contract is necessary for every road trip, but if you’re setting out on a particularly lengthy one, or your kids are at particularly prickly ages, it might be something to keep in your back pocket.

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A note about motion sickness

The number one question I’ve gotten in this series is about motion sickness. What to do if your kiddo suffers from car sickness? What about a parent who can’t do anything but stare straight ahead in the car?

Friends, I feel for you! This is tough — we’ve been through it a bit with one of our kids. I’m hopeful this post helps you see that there are actually lots of options for those who can’t read in the car. Almost everything in the games + activities section is at your disposal, as well as some of the toys. (I’m thinking stuffies, figurines, flash lights, stopwatches, the Yoto, and books and Brain Quest decks if the parent can read!)

Wishing you settled tummies and interesting scenery! :)

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Whew!! It’s time to pull over. Next week’s newsletter will be fun: John is sharing his secrets to finding convenient and interesting roadside stops along the way! In the meantime, though, please add your road trip activity and game ideas in the comments. I’d love to hear!

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1. I’ve done this! It doesn’t entirely block the sound — just dulls it a bit, which makes it easier for me to be sympathetic.

2. Look, I get that this might sound incredibly nerdy… but at our older kids’ current ages (5 and 8), they’re very into showing off their knowledge, ha. And we keep the questions squarely in their wheelhouse to steer clear of hurt feelings.

3. Again! Nerdy! I’m sorry!