Top Tips to Prepare for a Family Road Trip
Ready for a mini-vacation? There's no better and more flexible way to see the wonders cross country than by taking a good old-fashioned road trip. Of course long car journeys with kids can be challenging,but they don’t need to be!Here are the top ways to beat backseat boredom and prepare yourself and your children for a stress-free family road trip.
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Make Plans in Advance
Start your family road trip preparation off right by making your vacation plans well in advance. This includes things like planning your route, downloading maps for the area you’re visiting, and booking your accommodations. This will help to make your trip as organized and as hassle-free as possible. If you need to rent a car for your road trip, be sure to look around for the best deal and book well in advance to get the best rates. Click here to find some great deals on car rentals.
Ensure Safety and Comfort
No one wants to have an uncomfortable, cranky kid on a long car ride. When kids sit in a car for hours, it’s important that they are comfortable, safe, and also have good head support. Make sure that kids are safely buckled in a car seat, booster seat or seat belt for the duration of the trip. To make the journey more comfortable for your kids, bring along a neck pillow and their favorite blanket or stuffed toy.
Plan Lots of Stops
Before hitting the road, be sure to map out your journey. Plug your destination into your smartphone’s map or a mapping website to get a realistic idea of how long your road trip will take. This will also allow you to plan some fun stops along the way. Make sure that you schedule a stop every few hours so the kids can get some fresh air and you can stretch your legs. Bring along a Frisbee or ball, in case you can’t find a playground or other entertainment, at least, you'll be able to toss them around in a parking lot.
Bring Plenty of Snacks
Keep your kids happy when traveling by providing lots of snacks. Things like whole grain crackers, sliced fruit, individually wrapped cheeses, and cereal bars all make excellent road trip snacks. Pack these in separate containers and give them out throughout the trip to keep the kids busy. Packing some snacks for the trip will also save you money as you won’t be at the mercy of whatever roadside food stops have available.
With kids snacking onboard, spills and crumbs are unavoidable. The dirt and grime may damage your car’s original upholstery. This ruins your vehicle’s overall aesthetic and lowers your car’s resale value. A great solution is to install a custom-fit car seat cover to protect your leather seats from stains, fading, and scratches.
Arrange In-Car Entertainment
Make sure you arrange some entertainment to keep kids occupied on long trips. You can download audio-books and films to watch on an iPad, pack chalkboards and activity books, or plan road trip games to keep kids entertained on the journey. According to Tripsavvy, there are several mobile games and apps that provide hours of entertainment on the road. Check out Road Trip Travel Games on the Google Play store for plenty of classic road trip family activities.
Family road trips don’t have to be stressful. In fact, with a little preparation and planning, your next journey could even end up being the best part of your vacation! Follow these tips to have a fun and stress-free family road trip.
Do you have family road trip tips? In the comments,tell us what has worked for you.
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Themes and Activities for Summer Camp at Home
Summer Camp Weekly Themes:
- It's all Rainbows: Rainbow Trails Song, Rainbow Snacks, Leprechaun Rainbow Skit, Rainbow Science Activities (Color and Prisms), and Get Moving Games.
- Silly Spaghetti: On Top of Spaghetti Song, Crunchy Spaghetti Recipe, Spaghetti Strength Science, Spaghetti Relays, and lots more.
- Eat Worms: Herman the Worm Song, Worm Theme Snacks, Snakes vs. Worms Game, How to Build a Worm Farm, Slurpin' for Worms, and lots more Worm Theme Games and Activities.
- Do Monkey Around: The Monkey Song, Banana Snacks, Banana Experiments, and Get Moving Games for Monkeys.
- Sharks vs Chickens: Baby Shark Song, Chicken Feed Snack, Egg Science Experiments, Shark and Chicken Hats, and lots of Games to Play as Sharks and Chickens.
Flu and Cold Season is on the Way
The beginning of the school year, can signal the beginning of colds and flu in your home. When the weather becomes cooler and the days grow shorter, health may become a significant concern. Coughs, colds, and even the flu, as well as more severe diseases, can suddenly become considerably more common. It's essential to understand some of the ways you can help your whole family stay healthy during winter so you can enjoy the time you spend together while everyone is safe and sound. The following tip will help you take care of your family during winter months of cold and flu season.
Tips for staying healthy during cold and flu season
Eat Healthily
Our bodies are amazing machines that convert what we put into them in the form of food and drink into energy and hormones that do everything for us. We are happier and healthier when we eat the proper meals. A bad diet means our immune systems don't work as well as they should, and sometimes shut down altogether, so eating correctly to get enough vitamins and minerals to keep our bodies strong and ready to fight off the numerous illnesses that attack us, particularly during the winter months, is crucial. Try this recipe for baked salmon.
Adopt Healthy Lifestyle as a Family
Fruits and vegetables are the simplest methods to get these nutrients, so getting your five a day is critical. If it's a challenge to include more fruits and vegetables into your diet, try preparing a nutritious morning smoothie for everyone. Here's a fun way to get kids to eat potassium rich bananas.
Keep Clean
The simple act of washing your hands can help to keep everyone in the home healthy, and not just the individual who did the hand-washing. The initial point of contact between you and a virus or illness is usually your hands. Giving a loved one a hug, shaking hands, holding hands, and so on can spread diseases from one person to the next. By ensuring that everyone washes their hands frequently (particularly after using the bathroom, changing a diaper, and wiping your or a child's nose), you can minimize the chance of unpleasant diseases spreading. If washing your hands causes dry skin (as it may during the winter months), then invest in some excellent hand lotion as well to keep the momentum going.
This "how to wash your hands" interactive printable lesson is great for the classroom or homeschool, it explains the importance of hand washing in detail and makes it fun.
Check The Animals
If you have pets, you might discover that they are prone to sickness during the winter months as well. They, too, have immune systems, and although they don't function exactly like ours, that doesn't mean they can't become sick. It is important to take your pet to a great vet, such as exceptionalpets.com, if you suspect they are ill. In this way, you can keep your pet healthy, and everyone else in the family since some animal illnesses can spread to humans. Our pets can even catch Covid19, so if you're sick, watch them for symptoms. Our bird, a Cockatiel, was very sick when we had Covid, luckily he recovered with some TLC.
Exercise
Getting adequate exercise is another brilliant way to strengthen the immune system. This could be as easy as taking your dog for a walk or taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Park a bit further away from the supermarket's entrance, so you'll have to walk a little longer. Spend some time cleaning up the leaves in the garden. It doesn't have to be an exercise class or an hour at the gym, and the more people that participate, the better. We've got some fun PE Activities to get you moving,check them out!
Common Household Items Party Games
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Marshmallow Activities for Kids
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His, Mine, and OursOur Life as a Big Blended Family
Every parent knows that raising a family of any size and structure is a challenge. Every child has their own personality and the bigger the family,the more of a Master Schedule/Juggler you become.Then there are mixed families; couples that marry, or remarry, partners that have children from a previous marriage or relationship. This is the case for our family. In fact, in our case, things are even a little more complicated.
When I was introduced to my (now) husband, Mark, I had two young children, a five year-old son, Garrett, from a previous relationship (one of those short-lived “what was I thinking” relationships that change the course of everything), and a three year-old daughter, Ainsley, from a previous marriage.
Mark also had two children of his own, eight year-old daughter, Emma, and six year-old son, Alex, both from a previous marriage. Almost six years later, we now have a four year-old daughter, Olivia, and one more on the way, due in late September.
As you can imagine, schedules often overlap and clash and it is just something we have to work through. Sometimes it is asking for help from one of the kids other parents, sometimes it is Mark leaving work early to help, and sometimes we just have to let something slip through the cracks, which is always a disappointment but sometimes just needs to be done.
Fun, Easy, Eatable, Edible, Christmas Art and Craft Activities for Kids
We love any kind of eatable, edible art. It's the best after school snack activity for kids. You get to make it, have fun, and eat it too! These 13 easy, seasonal, holiday snack craft activities for Christmas are sure to get your kids in a happy mood. Enjoy!
13 Easy Eatable Edible Christmas Craft Activities for Kids. |
- From Disney Family Fun, these edible sugar plum gum drop penguins are perfect for the scene around your gingerbread house.
Candy Gum Drop Penguins = Edible Art. |
- From Family Fun Crafts edible candy cane reindeer are fun to make and fun to eat too. The heads are made from chocolate covered marshmallows.
Reindeer Marshmallow Pops = Things to do with marshmallows. |
- Busy Bee's Marshmallow Snowman Sippers are simple to make. Just slide the marshmallows over a straw and decorate with black icing.
Marshmallow Snowman Sippers. |
- Edible Crafts shared these adorable and easy to make powdered doughnut snowmen. In our after school program, we used candy corn for the noses and candy dots for the facial features.
Powdered Doughnut Snowman = Edible Craft. |
- Edible Stained Glass Ornaments from Kaboose (no longer exists) are delicious to eat and double as cool Christmas tree decorations. Click the link to go to our recipe for stained glass cookies!
Stained Glass Cookie Ornaments. |
- We found these edible cinnamon cookie ornaments at Completely Delicious. There are also non-edible versions which smell wonderful and last for years. Just don't eat them!
- Christmas Yule Log Roll is the perfect Christmas Eve dessert. Make some hot cocoa, start a fire, and slice up your Yule Log Chocolate Cake! We've got the recipe!
How to make an edible Christmas Yule Log Roll Cake. |
- Make an edible sleigh from candy canes like this one from One Hundred Dollars a Month. Keep scrolling to see our similar version with edible passengers!
Edible sleigh from candy canes from One Hundered Dollars a Month. |
Make a Cardboard Gingerbread House. |
- Waffle Cone Christmas Trees are perfect for landscaping outside your Gingerbread house. Covered in green icing and fun candy, they are also delicious! We found these at She Knows.
Waffle Cone Christmas Trees from She Knows.
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Sugared Marshmallow Snowman from She Knows.
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Snowman in a jar: We filled this with cotton batting, but you could use popcorn, marshmallows, or vanilla fudge. |
- Stick a small candy cane through the edible marshmallow gingerbread man seen below, and hang him on the Christmas Tree.
Edible Chocolate Marshmallow Gingerbread Man. |
- Pop some popcorn, add some waffle cone Christmas trees, a candy cane sleigh, peanut marshmallow snowmen and penguins, and you have the outdoor area at your Gingerbread Land.
The scene outside a Gingerbread House.
This Peanut Marshmallow is a Lapel Pin, but you can make and edible version for your Candy Cane Sleigh. |
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Get Edible Holiday Snack Crafts and Games on Amazon.
Turkey Peanut Butter Balls
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Book: Christmas Made Easy: Recipes, Tips and Edible Gifts for a Stress-Free Holiday
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