Traveling alone with your children is never easy. Whether you're driving in a car or waiting for your flight at the airport, you'll want to plan in advance how you're going to entertain your kids while traveling and what you're going to bring. Here are some tips to help you get started:
1. Bring Your Own Snacks
This can save you quite a bit of money. For each day that you'll be in the car, pack snacks in plastic Ziploc bags. Keep them in a small cooler or bag within reach of your oldest child. That way, you won't be turning around for pass out the goodies while you're driving!2. Entertainment
Your kids will need some things to do to occupy their time while you're driving. If you have a DVD player for the car, it may be tempting to pop in the kids' favorite program, but keep in mind that watching TV for six hours could put your kids on overload just in time to arrive at your destination! If you do allow screens in the car, make sure you break up their use with other activities, like puzzles and books.3. Toys to Play With While Traveling
A few weeks before your trip, walk around your house and pick up a bunch of small, handy toys that your kids will play with in the car. You don't have to go out and buy something new; if you have "Kids' Meal" prizes laying around, they'll work great. Store these items out of sight until the trip. This way, they'll seem "new" when the kids see them again.4. Picture Books
Have plenty of picture books on hand for younger children to look at and "read" on the road. You may even want to pack a few titles that your older children can read to the little ones while you're driving.5. Chapter Books for Older Children
Chapter books are great for traveling, because they allow kids focus on short snippets of the story. Consider Junie B. Jones or The Magic Treehouse for children in the younger grades, and look for the old Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books for middle and upper elementary grades. You'll be surprised at how they can hold your kids' attention!6. Books on CD
Another great option is audio books. Children love to listen to stories, and audio books provide a great opportunity to strengthen your kids' visualization skills - something that is key to school success. Pick a classic like Charlotte's Web or The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and discuss it together as you drive.7. Activity Pads
This is another great tool for occupying kids' time during a long car ride, or while you're waiting for a flight at the airport. Pick something age-appropriate so that your child can work the activities independently. You can find some great inexpensive activity pads at your local dollar store. For something different, look for activity pads that use invisible ink or write-on, wipe-off pens.8. A Variety of CDs
Plan to bring several different types of music to listen to in the car. Even very young children can get the concept of "taking turns" choosing a CD to listen to while you drive. And it's not a bad lesson in equity for you, as the parent, to have equal air time. You don't really have to listen to the kids' favorites the entire time!9. Portable CD Players
If your kids don't have ipods already, consider picking up an old, portable CD player for the car. It's fun for them to have control over "their own" music for awhile. And if you have two children, consider picking up Dual Headphone Adapters, which will let you listen to two headphones at once.10. A First Aid Supplies
Nothing spoils the fun faster than someone getting sick or hurt! So before you leave home, make sure you have an up-to-date first aid kit in your car. This should include a stash of band-aids, an instant cold-compress, first aid cream, pain reliever, and - if your kids tend to get car sick - Dramamine.Come talk about your travel experiences in the Single Parents Forum. Find out what's worked well for other parents like yourself, and also share the wisdom of your experiences with others.
