If you follow my social media and/or my emails you would have seen that we recently went on a bit of a road trip! With 2 small kids sitting in the car for a number of days I knew I wanted to find things to keep them entertained without creating too much waste, mess or clutter!
So here are my top ideas for a family roadtrip!
- Second
h and Books! I found a local secondhand store that sold 5 kids books for $2!Honestly they looked brand new. The 2 sticker books didn’t even have any missing stickers (despite a name in the front cover). So I grabbed 10 books with enough variety for both kids. At theend we can donate any books we don’t need/want
Cost – $4
- Audio! I’m a big fan of audiobooks and podcasts! Absolutely no affiliation here – I’ll just link my
favourites !
Cost – Free! (Or $12 if you include the
- The Musical Story of Peter Pan (Note – My mum listened to this on record as a toddler and its ALWAYS been a family
favourite !)
- ABC
Listen App! (This has great options for grooving at home and for listening in the car) - Audible (There is SO much to choose from! My girls love the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Playschool and Winnie the Pooh among others)
- Music – whatever you all fancy! If you are a Spotify family the Toddler Tunes playlist and the Disney Movie Soundtracks are a hit here!)
- Mini Craft Kits! I pulled together a selection of bits from home and from the office supplies place that were car friendly. I got them each a blank notebook from the clearance shelf, a roll of washi tape, a glue stick and some crayons to share. From home I grabbed 2 little pencil cases and some scraps of tissue paper for them to stick. It wasn’t completely zero waste – but it was low waste and fun! Cost – $14
- Finger entertainment! I gathered some felt finger puppets I had made previously for the 2 year old to play with and turned a small mind tin in to a mini ‘dolls house’ for some little peg dolls to live in! I even used some old magazine images to put wallpaper in the house. All items were things I had around the house already but are fast projects to make if you plan ahead. The finger puppets I made ahead of a flight 3 years ago and are still a favourite for in my bag or travel!
- Snacks! Ever the hero with cranky kids! We took some time to get to our
bulkfoods shop and buy some travel-friendly snacks. Dried fruit and some chickpea puffs were on the girls’ list. We also grabbed a box of gluten– free cocoa puffs which is always a special treat and they love it dry! The day before we left I roasted up 2 trays of sweet potato and made some biscuits. Again – low waste not totally zero waste and easy to adapt as needed.
Cost – Approx $15 plus ingredients from the pantry
All up, we were on the road for 4 days plus a day (and 2 nights) at the campsite. I packed all entertainment and snacks into a box and just got out a few things each day!
This meant on the last day of the road trip I still had a few aces up my sleeve 😉
