We polled staff and site visitors to compile a list of the top 30 car trip essentials. Let’s dive into the health, safety, and entertainment items guaranteed to keep road trip travelers — from infants to adolescents — in their seats. And happy.
So, without breaking the bank or loading down parents with a lot of excess gear, here’s a Car Trip Essentials Kit any parent can assemble, probably from gear you already own.
Car Trip Essentials for Parents to Carry & Administer:
- Cooler to hold drinks and snacks. Try for healthy ones like KIND bars and unsweetened, flavoried waters and juices.
- Moist towelettes or hand-sanitizing wipes
- Paper towels
- Zip-loc bags for trash, dirty diapers and car sickness attacks
- Masking tape: stakes out territory for siblings
- Roll of “discipline” quarters: start your trip with a full roll for each child; take one away for infractions or add one for good behavior (you might need dollar bills for your brood!)
- Flashlight: to reward kids who want to read after dark
- Car charging unit for all electronics
Essential Road Travel Items for Infants & Toddlers
- Cooler to hold small chew toys in hot weather
- Baby safety mirror: clip on visor so driver or passenger can view baby without turning around
- Pop-up top on sippy cup for juice/milk
- Bottle warmer with cigarette lighter power adaptor
- Pull-down, lock-in-place back window shade to keep sun away and divert vision of motion sick kids
- Plush toys
- Padded toy bar to clip onto rear or front-facing car seat
- Sports bottle caps to convert bottled water into no-spill container
All The Gear for Preschoolers to Have in the Backseat
- Sing-along recordings with book of lyrics for whole family
- Plush toy and picture book for sibling to read aloud
- Auto Bingo or “I Spy” out-the-window games on highway
- Playsets with self-stick felt pieces to place on cardboard scene, or washable crayons and pad of paper
Necessities for School Age Children to Enjoy Car Trips
- Selection of absorbing books with large type
- Favorite comics, manuals, “Waldo” search-for-clues type books
- Audio Books or Children’s Story Channel on Sirus radio (Kids Place Live at Channel 78 and Radio Disney on Channel 79)
- DVD player, iPad or mobile phone with headset (Y-jack for siblings)
- Magnetic chess and checkers gameboard
- Deck of cards
For Tweens and Teens on Road Trips to Carry on Own
- Most of the above plus:
- Spotify, personal mixtape or collection of tunes to play on car stereo
- Language Learning apps like Rosetta Stone so they can tune up for school
- Selection of books
- Portable video games
- iPad, Chromebook or small laptop with power adaptor to run off the car’s cigarette lighter. Be sure to secure the player safely with Velcro to the back of the front seat, in the well between front seats, or another convenient spot where kids can watch but not touch it.
Tip! This is a car, you can always pack in more. When in doubt, bring it along!
Tip! Here are 50 (FIFTY!) more road trip tips from seasoned family travelers in case this is going to be a really long ride.
Remember! None of these suggested amusements take the place of using car trips and plane rides to get to know your captive kids a little better, and to discuss what’s on their minds. That may well be the strongest family memory you take away from your vacation.
Anything else you think is an essential car trip accessory? Please note it in the Comments Field below.
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2 Replies to “Car Trip Essentials And Survival Kit”
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Very tasty.
Dubai is a glorious city in the world but the desert safari is most thrilling tour in Dubai since 1980 . This is a great post and great team work .
When I was reading this I realize that this is the best blog as compare to others. Its really appreciated.
Don’t stop keep posting this type of posts
Good address for ski. My daughter loves skiing very much. It will be a good option for us for the next winter holiday.
Good to know as I have a daughter at 10 YOD and she loves skiing very much.
Seems there are lots of fun for kids in Las Vegas. I have never though about a such thing there. It will be a good option to consider for our next family holiday. Thank you.
What’s a wonderful & luxury holiday. I am dreaming about it.
It’s Fantastic And Useful Blog About World Heritage Sites and There information is very informative and useful.
Thanks for sharing.
I love reading your blogs, there are many useful information for travelers. Thank you very much for sharing.
Good advices when traveling with kids. Thank you very much.
What’s an amazing trip. Thank you for sharing.
Very nice day. We don’t have it in Vietnam 🙁
Amazing hotels. I love eco-resort with nature style instead of modern hotels.
Good to read this before I prepare my family trip in the summer.
Good to know this. Thank you for sharing. I will consider this for my children.
Thank you for these tips on how to plan a family safari! I’d like to be able to take my whole family and show them the beauty of Africa. But it always seemed so daunting to plan a whole trip that everyone would enjoy. I mean there’s always the age differences, and differences in interest as well to think about. Just thinking of ensuring that everything goes well planned is stressing me out. That’s why I turned to the internet in search of tips! Definitely will use your tips on how to choose a safari.
Very good tips. We all should follow these tips for a safe road trip. Thanks for the great help.
Thankyou Mr Ralph S for giving precise information on the overland.
i will be travelling for the 1st time from adelaide to melbourne this month end. it will be of grt help.
Soon I’ll be planning a trip to Dubai. Thanks for the information about what’s worth visiting.
Hello Lansdell family! This is a great place for a long weekend of outdoors exploration and a beautiful park. In late May, a new business is opening = https://www.floattheriver.net/ = which will run float trips on inner tubes on portions of the river. I asked some locals and they suggested that after biking and hiking and riding the train, your kids might enjoy day trips to nearby Canton, Akron or Cleveland. Each has lots of Metroparks (the public system of urban parks) and museums, etc to do and see. With some planning, all your days can be as full of variety as you would like. We hope you have a wonderful trip.
How did you get around the Darien Gap?
Very good
Thank you for sharing these warm and touching thoughts of yours! I’ve only been the Belarus once, but I wish I read it before going, something in my experience would definitely be different then. I did use some advise – from the telegram channel for foreigners https://t.me/Belanews but I guess your opinion would be great to consider and embrace too.
Thanks for all the info. We are planning on going in August, and are trying to find a nature-centered vacation for our family of 4, kids ages 7 and 4. We are from Southern Ontario, Canada and we came across this national park. Would you recommend this place for 3-4 days? Is there enough to do (hiking, train rides, exploring etc)? Somewhere else? We also looked at the Smoky Mountains but its about a 11-12 hours vs the 5-6 hours to Cuyohoga. Any advice would be helpful.
That place is really amazing. I want to spend my vacations on this beautiful place. Thanks for sharing this nice information.
I've been there last year. If someone is looking for a nice hotel I can highly recommend to take a look at the Hotel Rappen Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
Such a good information.Nice work.Very useful for us.
The gardens of Suzhou are absolutely beautiful and something that you don’t want to miss while you are there.
Traveling with your children in s Suzhou is super easy and safe. My family had a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed there time there. One thing they really loved was going down all of the canals. Here is some great information on all the beautiful canals that you can explore.
It looks like a beautiful experience. Turkey is a wonderful country -and the fact that it’s not that expensive compared to other countries makes a visit there even more tempting. Thanks for sharing.
good tips, safety comes first so that our trip may be remembered as a happy memoir when we went to see and explore new places and have fun. and not as a terrifying night in the ER. god bless you all , be safe
Thanks for your insight for your fantastic posting. I’m glad I have taken the time to see this.
Great tips for road trips!
Thanks for posting, very valuable information .
Being visiting is one of the best experiences of my life. Being there and enjoying every bit of time is wonderful. Personally, my best experience is an underground aquarium and desert safari. One visited Dubai must go for these two activities.
Would love this for our family!
We’ve always wanted to go and now they are old enough to enjoy it.
Thanks so much for doing this!
The beaches, the weather, the food, the attractions and the activities- everything was perfect.
I think parents should focus more on preparing or educating their children about the proper etiquette and behaviors before the flight to avoid being a nuisance to others. I don’t know much about kids but as a first-time mom, that’s what I will do.
Hi,
You have explained the timeshare information for Spain country very well.Share more blogs which will we helpful for people like us in future.
Thanks
Seeking for your positive reply.
Hi,
I would like to travel out of the US with my son. I understand that I would need his father to sign and notarize a letter. He had not been a stand up dad to take care of his responsibilities so he left and I can’t find him. What can I do in a situation like that to travel with my son?
happy you enjoyed the story. This park is in Ohio where the climate can be capricious! It’s hottest between late April and November, however even April has the danger of some snow. In case you’re enjoying the great outdoors with children, the most secure wager is June to August, since it’s hotter and there’s little downpour. Make the most of your trek.
Wonderfully informative article!
I want to go travel with kids but I was not decided where we go. Your post is helpful for me. Thanks for sharing.
Tenerife is SO stunning! I love this volcanic landscape, sometimes you feel like you traveled to the Moon. This place has it all – great views, pleasant weather, awesome food, wine and laid-back people. Thanks for sharing ideas, I’ll use some of them on my next trip 🙂
Very nice article and msg we likes so much
I automatically think the word “gumbling” when I heard Las Vegas. I never knew that Las Vegas has something to offer for youngsters. Will bring my children here soon.
Nice Article, it is very helpful to me.
There is no Doubt, Dubai is most popular destination among tourists from across the world and have gained high popularity in last decade. If you are in Dubai and dhow go for dhow cruise, there is some thing missing on your list. There are Dubai dhow cruise, Musandam Dibba dhow cruise and Khasab Musandam dhow cruise. Try some of them and you will love.
Istanbul layover tour is a great service to use the best of your time in Istanbul Airport. However if you like to have a private attention and flexibility, you can check private tour services of ISTANBUL LAYOVER TOURS. They are offering the layover tours from Istanbul International Airport.
Great article! Wanted for Christmas again. Do you know anything about this place ? It is very interesting to know the opinions. How much advance it is necessary to book a hotel and various entertainment before the holidays?