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Create a Fun and Easy Children's Travel Kit for Your Next Trip
by Kristine Lewis

Description: Creative ideas for keeping kids busy with crafts and activities while you travel.

What I discovered shortly after having my son is that road trips and travel soon became much more complex. Between the boredom and the frequent potty breaks, what once used to be a relaxing opportunity to chat with my significant other, read or listen to music, became a sometimes stressful and exhausting experience! And, with parents and in-laws in two different states from us, not traveling was not an option!

The solution to my travel woes… I created a fun travel kit for my son which he looks forward to using on every trip. I won’t guarantee that this will keep your child completely occupied the entire trip, but it sure does help.

First, if your child is old enough, he/she can help in creating the container for the kit itself. We had fun at my house using puffy paint to decorate a canvas tote bag to store the contents of the travel kit. You could also use paint markers to decorate an acrylic storage case! Get creative…the only requirements for the container is that it be durable, big enough to hold the contents but not too big for limited car space.

In terms of the contents of the case, use your best judgment in determining age-appropriateness. Here are the contents I suggest:

• Crayons and pencils. Here is a tip – you can save the small packs of crayons you receive when going to restaurants. Pencils are obviously not a good option for small children!

• Small activity books. Again, save the activity books you receive from restaurants. You can also create a customized activity book by printing off free printables from the Internet. See kidprintables.com.

• A printable map of the United States. You can use this to talk to your child about where you are traveling. Have your child color in the states they have visited.

• A postcard kit. Encourage your child to send postcards to family members and friends about their travels. You can either include blank postcards, collect postcards from the various places you visit, or purchase a postcard kit. Make sure to bring addresses and stamps! Fun idea…as a child, I collected post cards from all of the places I visited and store them in a binder. It was a great way to remember all of our fun family times!

• Create your own license plate game. Print out a chart with all of the states in the U.S. Have your child check off each state as they find cars with the appropriate license plate.

• Notepads & stickers. Children love to write on notepads and decorate them with stickers.

• Crafts. Bring along a small non-messy craft that your child can do in the car. Do an internet search for craft ideas or visit orientaltrading.com for some inexpensive craft kits.

• Dry snacks…think goldfish, fruit chews, granola bars, etc.

Final tip…use your creativity when creating your child’s travel kit and get their input on activities they would enjoy!

This article was written by Kristine M. Lewis, owner of http://www.dreampressonline.com. Dream Press provides stationery and gifts personalized just for you! Products include stationery, favors, labels, calling cards and more! Kristine resides in Michigan with her boyfriend and adorable 6-years-old son - Ben.