Car rides with toddlers can be challenging, especially when it is a long one. A road trip with a toddler doesn’t have to be something to dread though, especially with these tips to help you!

A road trip with toddler is inevitable. It will happen at some point because we all like vacations, right?

And taking kids can be an awesome adventure if you are prepared for it.

I’m going to share with you some things I have used and implemented to make car rides a bit less stressful.

First, some things are going to be things you may decide you want to purchase and others will be free ideas that you just need a bit of imagination for.

DISCLAIMER: links may be affiliate links meaning I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. This allows us to stay up and running with support from you!

Lets start with the purchase items:

Snack Trays.

These ones in particular are great because it goes directly into the cup holder of the child’s carseat or the built in car cup holders.

Plus they won’t actually take up the cup holder. They have a space for your toddlers (or your own, I even have used one in the front seat to store my drinks and snacks too) drink and extra side room for snacks or even small toys.

This is truly a great item to have, read more about my full review of this item here.

Crayola No Mess Marker Book.

This item is so a moms dream item! This book has special paper and marker so the marker can only color on the paper.

The colors will show up only if the special marker colors on it.

This is great for toddlers learning how to color and learn that markers are only for paper and not the car side panel.

These are great because the learning toddler can just scribble around and the colors will show up and they will have a pretty picture they “colored”. Plus this means no mess in your car either!

Toys.

Now this is a given, you definitely want to bring some toys in the car for long road trips with toddlers.

This is a no brainer, but what my tip is, is to have one bin to put all the toys in after they are done.

This one bin can sit in the center console of the car that way the kiddo can reach easily and you won’t hear screaming and yelling when they want to switch toys because they will be able to easily grab and put back!

Read here for more tips like this in my car organization hacks.

Tablet or Old Phone.

Some of you may feel a certain way about this item, but speaking from experience nothing will give you a small (or long, your choice) break like a tablet or phone.

If you are worried about your toddler breaking your phone or getting into things they don’t need to be into, then I suggest taking an old phone and wiping it clean and only putting educational or kid friendly games on there.

This way you know they are playing with safe app friendly games.

Now a trick about no wifi or shows and apps is this; I will connect the old phone or tablet to my personal hotspot on my phone.

This way the kids “phone” or tablet will use my data instead of screaming because they have nothing to see or play because of no wifi available.

Now some apps don’t need wifi so you could always choose those if you don’t have unlimited data or just don’t want them on wifi.

Pacifier Clips for Toys.

This tip works wonders if you have young babies or toddlers.

I used this tip when my youngest was little and it worked like a charm. I would take a toy that could be looped through the pacifier clip loop.

I would clip it to the carseat strap or their bib and then if they threw the toy, it wouldn’t go all over the car.

Then you avoid the screaming and crying because they did in fact want that toy they just threw. We’ve all been there, am I right?

Books.

It is amazing what a good book (or multiple) will do.

Books can be good even if you toddler cannot read yet. Mine love flipping through the pages and creating their own stories based on the pictures.

Plus they are fun to look through and play with if you have little little ones.

Storage hack, these also fit nicely in the pocket behind the seat and they don’t bulge out the seat pocket.

Crayons/Markers & Paper/Coloring Books.

These are more for your older toddlers or kids.

For younger ones see above tip about the no-mess markers.

But just having the ability to draw what they see outside or create their own stories or just mindlessly color could be enough to give you some quiet time in the car.

Now for the FREE Car Ideas

Car games

These are a great way to pass the time on road trips with toddlers. Having them find letters or numbers out the window as you drive by will keep them occupied.

Or if they don’t know all their letters, you could do colors or shapes even. There is plenty to look at outside.

I Spy.

This game is good for occupying toddlers on road trips as well.

This is great to have siblings play together too because they can say “I spy something green” and the other has to find something green that they see.

Now to make it more challenging, they have to guess the exact thing the spyer was looking at.

Alphabet license plate game.

This game requires your toddler to know their alphabet or you could help them.

You go in order from A-Z and try to find the letters in order on license plate and you cannot go forward until you find the letter previous.

This game can last for hours depending on where your road trip leads you.

Creating stories about what is around you.

You could have your toddler point out things they see and create/make up a story about it. This helps with creativity and building story telling/reading skills.

There are a ton of things to do on a road trip with toddlers and I hope this list gave you some hope so your next road trip won’t be so daunting.