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How to have a great road trip- 12+ Road Trip Hacks with Kids

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SamsungUnlocked #CollectiveBias

I just got back yesterday from a road trip with my daughter.  We drove to Philadelphia for a wedding shower.  It was such a fun girl trip, but sitting in the car for over eight hours was a challenge.  She’s 7, but it can get so boring and with no brothers in the car to help with the entertainment  Here are a few road trip hacks that made it a little more fun and helped the time go by.

Most families head out on a trip once a year. Here are some great road trip hacks to make your next family trip a success.

How to have a great road trip! 12+ Road Trip Hacks with Kids

1 word- SNACKS-  I always pack a little something special that we normally don’t buy and never pack food that messy, sticky, or crumbly.  Limit drinks or you could be stopping every hour!

Pack a picnic-  Instead of eating fast food, eat at a rest stop.  She loved running around and getting some energy out.  It’s important to eat healthy while you’re traveling too.

ABC game-  My kids love finding signs and trying to get through the entire alphabet.

Name that tune.

Make sure all electronics are fully charged.  Here’s our charging station.  (It’s empty today because all the kids are at school with their computers. 🙂 )  Charging my new phone, a Samsung Galaxy S8

Most families head out on a trip once a year. Here are some great road trip hacks to make your next family trip a success.

Make a pie graph.  I did this when I was younger.  We drove to from Tennessee to Texas every year.  My mom told us to draw a pie chart and divide it into 8 sections.  Every 100 miles we colored in a piece of the pie.  We always knew how much longer the car trip was.  You can divided yours up depending on how many miles you are driving.

Put together a small art kit so kids can draw, color, or write stories.

Download movies!  My kids get bored of playing games and talking and eating!  I usually have a movie downloaded for them to watch.  Sometimes it’s a new one and sometimes it’s an old favorite.

Download new games.  Before a road trip I usually download a couple of new games to play.  They are usually pretty excited to see something new and it will occupying time while driving.  My kids LOVE Stack the States.  It’s great because they can learn about the United States while driving around in it!

Bathroom breaks-  Make sure everyone goes to the bathroom during your stop.  My boys always say they don’t need to go, but I still make them go in and try and stretch their legs.  I made her pose for picture at the rest area!

Most families head out on a trip once a year. Here are some great road trip hacks to make your next family trip a success.

Listen to an audible book or podcast as a family.  You can do all these all your phone.

Map App-   My kids always are looking at the map and finding the towns we are going through.  They tell me what’s coming up and how much longer until our destination.  I use to do this with a real map when I was younger.  I helps a TON with learning geography too.

Make music playlists- We have a bunch of different play lists.  We have one for each child, 80’s music, music if we are headed to a sporting event, and one for when they are acting crazy and we want them to calm down a little!  Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey is our family song and must play it at least twice a day.

Apps for school work-  If the trip is long then I like to have a book downloaded and a math app.  My library offers books to download for free.  Sometimes I choose a book and other times I have them choose a fun one to read. There’s an app called Stack the States that’s fun and kids learn all about the United States.

You probably noticed that close to half the list was doing something on a phone.  I recently bought a GS8 Unlocked at Walmart and only available online.  It’s super easy and it got here really quick.  No shipping costs!  Woohoo!  My mom has an Android and loves it thought I thought I would give it a try.

Most families head out on a trip once a year. Here are some great road trip hacks to make your next family trip a success.

Information on unlocked and why it’s a good choice:

  • You have tons of options with the Unlocked GS8.  I was able to choose my carrier, data plan, services, features and apps.¹
  • Picking a carrier is huge because there are so many spotty places in my area.  I wanted to make sure I wasn’t cutting out all the time.  I also have a tween that just got a phone and love that I’m not stuck with a plan that came with my phone, I have that choice too.  Just pop in a compatible SIM card and take your device anywhere, from Mexico City to Paris and more.²
  • It comes with a standard limited warranty and guarantees your new smartphone lives up to the exceptional standards you expect from Samsung. You’ll also get extra peace of mind because all Unlocked by Samsung smartphones come with a standard U.S. limited warranty.³
  • It has fewer preloaded apps.  I love this because I have 3 busy kids and that last I need its a bunch of apps loaded on my phone, making it cluttered, with over half I won’t even use.

Most families head out on a trip once a year. Here are some great road trip hacks to make your next family trip a success.

One of the things that is the coolest is the infinity screen.  You need to watch this so you’ll know about it.  It’s a really great feature and my kids thought it was really cool.  It’s also water resistant.  Which, as you know as a mom, is necessary because something crazy alway will happen.

Do you have anything to add to the list?  What’s a travel hack that you think people would love?

Disclaimers

¹ Wireless voice, data and messaging services on Samsung Unlocked Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+, Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge devices are compatible with most major U.S. GSM and CDMA networks. For these devices, wireless services are available on GSM networks such as AT&T and T-Mobile and CDMA networks such as Verizon, Sprint, and US Cellular®. Visit www.samsung.com for more information on your device. Support for certain features and services such as VoWiFi and hotspot, vary by wireless service provider. Wireless voice, data and messaging services on Samsung Unlocked Galaxy S6 and Galaxy J3 devices are compatible with most major U.S. GSM networks. For these devices, wireless services are available on GSM networks such as AT&T and T-Mobile. Visit www.samsung.com for more information on your device. Support for certain features and services such as VoWiFi and hotspot, vary by wireless service provider.

SIM card must be compatible with area’s available networks. International calling, data services and coverage vary by network provider. Contact provider for details.

.² This Samsung Unlocked phone will work on any GSM or CDMA compatible network. For these devices, wireless services are available on GSM networks such as AT&T and T-Mobile and CDMA networks such as Verizon, Sprint, US Cellular®. Support for certain rate plans, features, and services such as VoWiFi and hotspot vary by wireless service provider. SIM card must be compatible with area’s available networks. International calling, data services and coverage vary by network provider. Contact provider for details.

³ For more information on Samsung standard U.S. limited warranty, go to samsung.com/customersupport/xxx