2.3K

This post may contain affiliate links. (full disclosure)

Are you planning road trips with a toddler? A family road trip with kids can be an epic adventure for the whole family if you plan it right.

Many parents are taken aback by the idea of having a baby or toddler in the back seat of the car for hours.

However, road trips with a toddler can be enjoyable and manageable.

In this post, we’ll share our best travel tips for road trips with a toddler.

We’ll cover engaging interactive activities, healthy snacks to prepare, and the best toys and books to bring along.

Additionally, you’ll find a nursery rhymes playlist at the end of the list to help make your road trip more enjoyable and stress-free.

When you’re ready to hit the road, be sure to use our interactive packing list to minimise the things you need to remember!

1. Schedule Your Road Trips Around Toddler’s Naps

There’s nothing more peaceful than having a sleeping angel in the car.

Make your road trips easier by scheduling the drive around your toddler’s nap times.

You all know by now that babies and toddlers fall asleep easily in a moving car. Perhaps it’s white noise from the road or maybe the rocking motion that puts them to sleep.

Whatever the reason is, some toddlers can sleep for up to three hours as long as the car is moving.

Others instinctively know when you are almost arriving at your destination.

Either way, scheduling a portion of your long drives around nap times can provide you with a much-needed break for your road trip with a toddler.

2. Have Regular Stops & Break Up The Road Trip

Many parents prefer to reach their destination as quickly as possible during road trips with toddlers.

However, it’s easy to forget that road trips are about the journey, not just the destination.

When you look back in the future, you’ll often find that the best parts of a road trip are the amusing family stories or the tear-inducing toddler dramas that unfold along the way.

While it may be tempting to skip the hassles of stopping for toilet breaks, taking regular breaks allows you to explore new and unexpected places.

It also gives everyone a chance to refresh, stretch their legs, and recharge.

Think of pit stops as reset buttons for the whole family.

If you’re in a hurry to get somewhere, consider scheduling extra time in advance and identifying points of interest along your route.

This can help alleviate some of the stress associated with family road trips.

So relax and break up the journey into smaller segments of about 30 minutes each.

Pit stop ideas

• Pit stop at a petrol station, perhaps reward your toddler with an ice cream if they’ve been good? Or a bathroom break.
• Check if there are any local markets on.
• Pullover to enjoy the rural / landscape scenery.
• Stop at a park for lunch or morning/afternoon teas.

Kyra often asks me, “Mummy, how many minutes more?”

Even though I know she doesn’t have a precise concept of time, I still update her with “just 10 more minutes!” or “when you finish xxx”.

Then I get her to do a final countdown from 10 right before arriving at the next stop.

This simple activity gets her excited with anticipation, and she feels mighty proud that she could do a ‘random’ countdown all the way from 10!

Be sure to praise your toddler and get excited as well when she gets to the last 1 second!

3. Bring Healthy Snacks & Water Bottle

Most parents already know this, so we will simply remind you that healthy snacks still work wonders!

Bring a no-leak water bottle, and only fill water inside! Sugary drinks will make the kids more thirsty.

Snacks are life-savers and are essential for road trips with a toddler.

Bring snacks that are low in salt and saturated fat.

If you don’t want your toddler to make a big mess in the car, dry snacks that don’t leave crumbs are ideal to bring – for example, dried fruits, fresh berries, mixed nuts, and veggie sticks.

6 Types of Healthy Snacks for Road Trips

1. Fruits: blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, grapes, apple & pear slices
2. Dried Fruits: dried cranberries, raisins, dried apricots, dates
3. Nuts: almonds, cashew nuts, walnuts
4. Whole Grains: popcorn, rice crackers, breadsticks, granola bars, dry cereals
5. Vegetables: bit-sized cucumbers, soft carrots, red capsicums
6. Dairy: yogurt pouch, little milk packs, cheese sticks, hummus

4. Our Favourite Toys & Books for Road Trips

Don’t bring your toddler’s toy box, choose just a few of their favourites.

The best types of toys to bring on road trips with a toddler are the ones that don’t create a hot mess and can erase, rebuild, or take a long time to figure out.

We love these little library books that are perfect for our toddler’s little hands. Kyra loves to draw, so we brought her a sketchbook, washable markers, and a magic sketch boogie board, which she can erase with a press of a button, and redraw.

Road Trips with a toddler alone?

If you’re alone with a toddler at the back, the only safe interaction with her is through music and sounds.

This is why toys with sounds and noises are the best type of toys to bring when you’re road tripping with a toddler alone.

We recommend Usborne sound books.

These books have a variety of sounds to keep kids entertained for a long period of time.

You can join the conversation or story-telling while keeping your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road.

Our toddler is currently a die-hard fan of Peppa Pig, and she couldn’t get enough of her new Peppa Pig sound book with colourful buttons, music and story-telling!

When we finally pulled up at our destination during this road trip, I cheered, “Yay, we’re here.” and Kyra creatively pressed a button, and Daddy Pig mumbled, “That’s good.” in a very silly voice.

We both had a good laugh and started our holiday in a lightened mood.

Use a car backseat organiser with a foldable table tray to keep snacks, bottles, toys and little things in place.

5. Avoid Technology on Road Trips

We don’t encourage technology in our family, especially in a moving car.

Watching movies or using an iPad while traveling can lead to headaches for kids and focusing on a screen for a prolonged period is also detrimental to their eyes.

Besides, do you really want to be on a family road trip where everyone is doing their own thing?

Handing your toddler an iPad takes away valuable family time, which is one of the main reasons we go on road trips in the first place, right?

After long hours of screen time, toddlers often become mentally exhausted and, as a result, more emotional.

From our experience, our toddler tends to get really fussy after extended periods of screen time.

While nearly every family travel blog recommends bringing an iPad loaded with your toddler’s favourite movies and apps, we advocate for a different approach: minimising technology.

6. Best Activities for Road Trips with Toddler

One of our favourite road trip interactive activities is playing the scavenger or I Spy games with our kids.

You can either purchase the scavenger hunt card games or do some DIYs at home!

We encourage DIYs to boost family bonding. Your toddler will be far more likely to stay engaged and look forward to the upcoming road trips where they can put their artwork to use.

Create your own games

Perhaps get the kids to count the number of motorcycles, cyclists, or red cars on the road.

Draw some vehicles at home and cut them out.

Bring the cards with you on road trips and ask your toddler to spot these vehicles on the road!

You can teach her to count, recognise colours and imitate the noises the vehicles are making.

Ask your toddler to describe what she sees and improves language skills.

This activity not only keeps your toddler busy and entertained on the road but will also teach her different types of vehicles, shapes and colours.

You could turn up a notch for the older kids and challenge them to find plate numbers with xxx or street names that start with xxx, etc.

Kids often need parents to guide them through games and conversations, so don’t forget to be involved in the activities!

Set a goal, and give them lots of praises when they reach a goal.

If you’re travelling in rural regions, get your toddler to spot some farm animals on either side of the road.

If they have siblings, start a friendly competition!

7. Compile a Nursery Rhymes Playlist

Toddlers have an abundance of energy to unleash, so of course, they will not like sitting in a car for hours.

So get your toddler to clap their hands, kick their legs, wave their arms, and wriggle along as you turn up her favourite nursery rhymes.

You can jazz up the atmosphere in the car by downloading your own nursery rhymes playlist.

If you have the time, download two playlists:

1. A compilation of lullabies, for when you want to put your toddler to sleep
2. A compilation of sing-along upbeat nursery rhymes

To help you with some ideas, here are 36 nursery rhymes that we have on our playlist.

36 Nursery Rhymes

Last Notes

There you have it! Road trips with a toddler can be enjoyable and memorable with a little preparation.

By packing engaging toys, healthy snacks, and DIYing some fun activities, you’ll keep your little one entertained and happy throughout the journey.

We hope you find these road trip tips helpful, and we wish you a memorable and stress-free journey with your toddler!

Safe travels!

---