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Road Trip Games for Kids

June 24, 2016 by Selena Robinson 5 Comments

Along with summer comes the old-fashioned family road trip. We drove to New York this past spring and, let me tell you, four kids in a minivan for 18 hours is quite an ordeal. So I thought, “We should probably bring some games for the kids next time.” You know, to maintain our general sanity.

So, I put together a list of really awesome road trip games for kids that will definitely be going on our buy list for this fall. Next year’s road trip is going to be the best yet. 😉

15 Road Trip Games for Kids - Look! We're Learning!

15 Road Trip Games for Kids

  1. Spot It! On the Road
  2. Melissa and Doug Family Road Trip Box of Questions
  3. National Geographic Kids Ultimate U.S. Road Trip Atlas: Maps, Games, and Activities and More
  4. Games on the Go: 50 Games You Can Play Anywhere
  5. Travel Scavenger Hunt Card Game
  6. Mad Libs: On the Road
  7. Melissa and Doug License Plate Game
  8. On the Go Game Pad
  9. I Spot Junior Card Game Set
  10. Ideal Magnetic Go! Hangman Travel Game
  11. Melissa and Doug Trip Talk Box of Questions
  12. The Everything Kids’ Travel Activity Book: Games to Play, Songs to Sing, Fun Stuff to Do
  13. Boredom Buster: Games for the Road
  14. Melissa and Doug Flip to Win Travel Bingo
  15. The Ultimate Road Trip Games & Quiz Book for Kids – How to Survive a Long Journey!

Road Trip Games for Kids

These posts feature printables and books your kids will love on road trips!

Tiny Turtles Prewriting Pack

Summer Books for Kids

Aquarium Arithmetic Seek and Find

Follow my Summer Activities for Kids board on Pinterest for more ways to make summer fun this year!

Road Trip Activities Roundup

This post is part of the Road Trip Activities Unit Study roundup! Read more great road trip activity posts below!

Road Trip Activities from 3 Boys and a Dog
How To Stay Busy On An RV from Crafty Mama in ME
Road Trip Games for Kids from Look! We’re Learning!
Best Children Audio Books for Road Trips from The Jenny Evolution
Alphabet Travel Tic Tac Toe from Letters of Literacy
Kids Road Trip Scavenger Hunt Game from Schooling a Monkey
How To Turn Family Travel Into Learning Experiences from iGameMom
Are We There Yet? Maps For Kids from Books and Giggles
5 Fun Things To Do On A Road Trip from The Usual Mayhem
Outdoor Breaks for Road Trips from FrogMom
Best Family Road Trip Music from Bambini Travel
Road Trip Notebooking Pages from Year Round Homeschooling
Travel Journal from Embark on the Journey
Printable Road Trip Games from Mrs. Karle’s Sight and Sound Reading
Road Trip Activities from Tales of Education at Home
Car Scavenger Hunt from Planet Smarty Pants

Filed Under: Family Life, Learning with Games Tagged With: family travel, family travel tips, games, games for kids, kids games, kids travel, travel, travel with kids

5 Atlanta Staycation Ideas for Families

May 19, 2014 by Selena Robinson 1 Comment

In the past, we’ve always tried to go on a summer vacation with our kids.

This year, though, we’re making the best of our home city with a few fun Atlanta staycation ideas for families!

More and more families are saving money by taking “staycations” rather than vacations.

If you’re unfamiliar with a “staycation”, it’s just when you use your vacation time to explore your own city instead of a different one.

You save money because you don’t need to drive to a new area, stay in a hotel, or eat out every night. Great idea, right?

Five Fun Atlanta Staycation Ideas for Families

But here’s the thing about staycations: They can become expensive really quickly if you try to visit the most popular attractions in your area.

This particularly true if you have several children (as we do). So this year, we decided to take not just a staycation, but an affordable one.

Read on to get our list of five places to go on a staycation in Atlanta. Plus, get a free printable Staycation Bingo challenge to complete with your family!

Looking for more ways to plan family trips? Take a look at our list of 10 helpful tips for traveling with kids!

Plan a fun family summer with these five Atlanta staycation ideas for families!

5 Fun Atlanta Staycation Ideas for Families

1. Zoo Atlanta

Zoo Atlanta is about half an hour from our house and we love visiting it with the kids.

Our public library system has an arrangement that allows a family of four to visit the zoo once a year for free.

Since we have four kids, we only had to pay for two tickets. Not bad at all!

Touring Zoo Atlanta

One of the reasons we love the zoo so much is that it’s a non-stimulating attraction.

When we see the animals, we’re excited but we’re not overly stimulated. It’s a much more relaxing time for our family than visiting an amusement park.

Zoo Atlanta Staycation Trip

2. Atlanta Area State Parks

As the weather warmed up, we decided to use another of our Atlanta staycation ideas and visit some nearby state parks that we’d never visited before.

Visiting a State Park in Atlanta

Tallulah Gorge was incredible. We drove for a couple of hours and it was totally worth it.

The kids had snow cones, we went on a hike, and we learned about the North Georgia mountains.

Atlanta Area State Parks

Another one of our favorites is High Falls State Park. It’s only about 30 minutes outside of the city of Atlanta.

Visiting State Parks on a Staycation

But you can hike right next to the waterfalls! We couldn’t stop staring at how pretty they were.

Plus, we got to ride the paddleboat along the water.

3. Callaway Gardens

Technically speaking, Callaway Gardens is not in Atlanta. It’s about 90 minutes west.

But if you like the outdoors and flowers, in particular, this is one of the local Atlanta staycation ideas you simply have to try.

Callaway Gardens Family Staycation

A word: If you go to Callaway Gardens, spring is absolutely the best time of year to plan a trip.

Visiting Callaway Gardens on an Atlanta Staycation

Everything is in bloom and the entire park looks like a paradise.

Callaway Gardens near Atlanta

See what I mean? It’s absolutely gorgeous.

4. Go bowling.

I have to admit: I didn’t bowl often as a child. I think I might have gone two or three times.

But we took the kids bowling one summer and they had an absolute blast.

Going Bowling with Kids

With the Kids Bowl Free program, kids can bowl up to two games free per day over the summer at participating alleys.

Learning to Bowl with Kids

And it’s a cool way to beat the summer heat in an air-conditioned space.

Going Bowling on a Family Staycation

During the day, bowling alleys tend to be pretty quiet. So you may not even have to worry about wait times.

Finish off the afternoon with a slushy and that’s basically a perfect summer day.

5. Southeastern Railway Museum

A few summers ago, we got to visit the Southeastern Railway Museum – just outside of Atlanta.

I didn’t think that the kids would find it interesting. But they did!

Visiting the Southeastern Railway Museum

We toured vintage locomotives (which are much bigger than they seem on screen).

Visiting the Southeastern Railway Museum on a Staycation

We checked out vintage tour buses. Then we got to see a video about how train engines came to America back in the 19th century.

Southeastern Railway Museum Field Trip with Kids

And we finished with a ride aboard a vintage steamer!

It was affordable and surprisingly interesting for all of us.

Printable Family Staycation Bingo Challenge

So if you’re in the North Georgia area, those are five fun Atlanta staycation ideas you can try as a family this summer.

But, no matter where you live, you can still plan a simple and fun summer staycation with this printable Staycation Bingo challenge!

Family Staycation Bingo Challenge

There are 32 ideas here – 16 for adults or couples and 16 for families with kids!

Some of the ideas include indoor fun such as making slime, trying a scavenger hunt, and reading books.

Printable Family Staycation Bingo

But there are plenty of outdoor ideas too! Like going camping, taking an art class, or having a picnic in the park.

Hang the kids’ challenge on your fridge and let the kids check off each idea as you try it!

To get your copy of this Family Staycation Bingo Challenge free, click the image or the link below to have it sent directly to your inbox!

You’ll also get our weekly newsletter – this Sunday!

Click here to get your free printable

>>> Printable Family Staycation Bingo <<<

What are you all doing for your family vacation this year? Are you considering a staycation? Have you done one before?

If you live in Atlanta, do you have any more fun Atlanta staycation ideas to suggest? Share your plans and experiences in the comments!

This post is part of the “Summer Staycation” hop from iHomeschool Network! Click on over to see how our fellow bloggers are spending their summers at home!

Filed Under: Family Life, Field Trips Tagged With: family travel, staycation

10 Helpful Tips for Summer Travel with Kids

May 20, 2013 by Selena Robinson 7 Comments

Tips for Summer Travel with Kids

It’s almost summertime and a lot of families are getting ready for their annual vacation.

We’ve gotten a chance to go away for the last few summers. With four kids, that is no small feat.

Along the way, I’ve picked up a few traveling tips for summer travel with kids that I thought I’d share with you today!

10 Helpful Tips for Traveling with Kids

Bear in mind – these are just based on our personal experiences.

But I have a hunch that most of these will apply to all parents, even if your family is smaller or larger than ours.

Keep reading to see the full list of family travel tips. Plus, grab a free printable travel bucket list for easy vacation planning with the kids!

Want some awesome summer activities to try with the family? Don’t miss my list of 50 summer crafts for kids to make!

Make your next vacation a breeze with these helpful tips for traveling with kids!

10 Helpful Tips for Summer Travel with Kids

I didn’t grow up in a large family. It was just four of us and my brother and I are ten years apart.

So I didn’t know any tips for summer travel with kids when I started having children of my own.

I hope these can help some of you avoid the less than pleasant early travel experiences we had to deal with – since I had no idea what I was doing.

1. Bring more of everything than you think you need. 

You will run out of something halfway through the trip and I promise it will be the thing you thought you’d need the least of.

We pack twice the amount of kids’ clothes we think they’ll use. They always end up needing it all somehow.

2. Add an extra half hour of travel time for every two hours you spend on the road. 

Remember when you and your spouse could get to your destination with just one or two stops along the way?

Those days are long gone.

Whenever Google Maps tells us we can get to our destination in six hours, we add at least an hour and a half to that for stops.

Tips for Traveling with Kids

3. Keep plastic shopping bags and wet wipes in your vehicle. 

Someone (or more than one someone) will spill something in the back of the vehicle.

Someone will also have an “accident” and will need to change clothes at some point.

The shopping bags and wet wipes will come in handy more often than you think.

4. Tell the hotel staff if you have more than two kids. 

One of the problems you run into when you have a large family is that most hotels only allow you to have two kids in the room.

I know some families just book the room anyway and double up the kids in the bed, but I’ve found it best to just tell the staff that we have four children.

They’ve often given us discounts on suites or larger rooms that had more space and better facilities.

How to Make Traveling with Kids Easier

5. Pack jackets for the kids, even when it’s blazingly hot outside.

This is one of those tips for summer travel I wish I had known earlier.

Always, always, always have your children bring their jackets with them on a trip.

They’ll end up feeling cold somewhere – in a store, in the car, in a movie theater, or a restaurant.

And you won’t have to run to the store to pick up a blanket.

6. Choose a hotel room with a full kitchen. 

On a couple of family trips, we found that eating out ends up costing more than the hotel room, especially if we’re gone for an entire week.

We wised up a few years ago and started booking rooms that have full kitchens and refrigerators. The money we save on eating out more than covers the cost of the larger hotel room.

7. Make a grocery store run as soon as you get into town.

Since you’ve chosen a hotel room with a full kitchen, you’ll have room to store actual groceries.

We stick with simple, low-cost meals like spaghetti, salads, cereal and milk, tuna sandwiches, and snacks.

They’re affordable. I know the kids will eat them. And they don’t take much time to prepare.

At least once during the trip, we go out to eat at a nice restaurant. But most days, we just have what the kids would normally eat at home.

Bonus: They can make most of these meals themselves.

10 Tips for Family Summer Travel

8. Choose a hotel that has on-site attractions.

If you go to a family-friendly destination (think: Orlando, Myrtle Beach, Pigeon Forge), you may think you have to add tickets to a popular attraction like Disney, Dollywood, or Ripley’s Aquarium.

And those are fine.

But if you’re on a budget and your kids are fairly young, you can get a lot out of the on-site attractions at the local resorts.

We usually choose one that has a splash pad and a water park. Then the kids can just walk down to the park and we can hang out by the pool. Win.

10 Helpful Family Travel Tips

9. No matter how fun the trip is, expect the children to complain at least once per day. 

This is one of those tips for summer travel with kids that I didn’t pick up on until our second family vacation.

On that trip, we had taken the time to put together an itinerary that we were sure the kids would love. We even booked a room that had a themed kids’ suite with bunkbeds.

They still found a reason to be unhappy with it. (I think it was that the room wasn’t big enough to play in or something.)

But that’s just kids being kids. If you can weather their initial complaints, you’ll probably end up having a great time. We did.

Helpful Travel Tips for Families

10. Center the trip on a kid-friendly attraction.

And, to round out our list of tips for summer travel with kids, try to visit at least one kid-friendly spot while you’re away.

There are a ton of low-cost and even free places to visit in the United States that are definitely worth a visit and may even be on your way.

Need some ideas for kid-friendly attractions to visit in the U.S.? Pick up our free U.S. Landmarks and Attractions travel bucket list!

U.S. Landmarks Family Bucket List

This printable is packed with 250 different sights to see in the United States (five for each state).

Choose a couple in the state you plan to visit and let the kids check them off as you tour them all.

You may even come up with some new vacation ideas along the way!

Printable U.S. Landmarks Travel Bucket List

To get this printable family travel bucket list, click the image or the link below to have it sent directly to your inbox!

You’ll also get our weekly newsletter – coming to your inbox this weekend!

Click here to get your free printable

>>> U.S. Landmarks Travel Bucket List <<<

Family Tips for Summer Travel

Do you have any tips for summer travel with kids? Feel free to share them in the comments!

And if you need some learning activities to keep your kids happy on the road, check out some of these printables for kids!

These shark themed counting to ten puzzles are wonderful for use at early math centers!
Use these printable solar system coloring pages for a fun astronomy activity for early learners!
Use this printable rescue the shark game to help kids have fun play time indoors!

Filed Under: Family Life, Parenting Tagged With: family travel, family travel tips, summer, summer activities for kids, summer travel, summer travel tips, summer travel tips for families, travel tips

Hi! I'm Selena, a veteran teacher and homeschool mom to four. I'm so glad you're here!
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