Some of my fondest memories as a child were the road trips with my family. Yes, I remember the fights and the “get your feet off of me” moments, but I also remember the smiles, laughter, and car games. Still to this day, I love road trips—to anywhere!
Last month I took on the daunting task of taking our five-year-old daughter on our first ever mommy-daughter road trip (dad couldn’t come along) to Arizona to see her grandparents, who were vacationing there. I wasn’t nervous about the uncharacteristically wintry weather we were going to hit (I had an emergency kit all stocked up), and I wasn’t nervous about the potty break situations (I had mapped out where all the rest stops or gas stations were along the route), but I was nervous. I was nervous about trying to get our kiddo, an only child who wouldn’t have to deal with the “get your feet off me” moments but also wouldn’t have anyone to keep her company but me, through the entire 5.5 (turned into 7 with weather and stops) hours WITHOUT being glued to a tablet or digital device.
Was I crazy? Perhaps. But I was committed. We were that silly family who did the “no TV before 2” deal and still limit television and tablet time regularly. I have to admit, however, I wasn’t so sure my luck would hold out for this trek (and truth be told, I did charge up the tablet just in case…).
Sidenote: I do not hate technology. In fact, I love that our daughter can work her way around educational games and Netflix kid shows with an ease that was unheard of for me at five. I fully understand, and am excited that technology is a part of her future, and I am happy she has access and will have some preparation for that. But, I’m also acutely aware of the pitfalls of over-reliance on technology and so try and aim for that fine line of balance. 
This road trip was going to test both our limits, I was certain of that at the very least.
I’ll be the first to admit, I was preparing myself for the moment when I would have to hand over the tablet to avoid the brutal car meltdown.
Turns out, she didn’t even ask for them. Not once. I hid that charged-up tablet away and provided her with several options to keep her busy and, from what I experienced, this was a total “technology-free” road trip success!
What did she/we do instead? Here’s a sneak peek:
Road Trip Bingo
I found these little bingo cards in a dollar bin at the store about two years ago — set them aside for a “rainy” day. While I was driving I couldn’t actually play, but she had one card in front of her and would tell me each time she found an item. I gave her the “rules” – so one game she was trying to get Bingo in straight lines. The next game, Bingo was the four corners. We played a few “whole card” Bingo games too. I did get our version at the store, but I found there’s even a great downloadable option for free here through The Travel Channel.
Colored pens and pad of paper
Turns out, if you give 6 colored pens and a blank pad of paper to a child strapped to a carseat, they will run with it. Our kiddo traced her hand, drew flowers, mountains, people, shapes, unicorns, sharks, doodles, etc. Lots of what she drew was truly indecipherable to me, but it didn’t matter, she was being creative and letting her imagination run wild. Sometimes she would ask me to give her something to draw (ok, draw the wind turbines over there! Now draw an octopus…) but most of the time, she was just letting her own imagination lead the way.
Find and See books
For children who are still learning to read and identify words, these are great books. But, frankly, I think these are great books for kids of any age, even pre-readers. The pages are filled with such colorful and creative scenes, kids get lost in the pictures. For those books that have the flaps you can lift or windows you can slide, even better! For the early readers, these books provide great cues for sounding out words accompanied by pictures. And, when they stumble, they can spell the letters out for the adult who can then help them sound it out or give them clues to try and guess the word.
Wiki Sticks
Who knew little wax sticks could keep a child occupied for this long?!? Whoever came up with these are genius as they stick to everything, but don’t leave a stain, and any residue easily wipes away. There are sets of Wiki Sticks that even come with design ideas, suggestions for what to create. And the beauty, truly, is they can create those little designs on their hands, arms, and legs, on the paper in front of them, or even on the car windows!
Spelling and word practice
Based on what she was seeing out the window, she would ask me how to write out certain words. Then, with those same colored pens and pad of paper, she would write the letters of the words out. Some words I had her sound out to see what she could get before I told her. Other words, like wind turbine, I spelled for her and she practiced writing the letters.
Now, if you are looking for a quiet road trip, these ideas won’t get you there. If you wonder if a five-year-old can talk non-stop for 5.5 hours, the answer is yes. I cannot tell you the number of questions I answered or the number of times she asked “are we there yet?” But we both had a wonderful and memorable time, there were no meltdowns (from either of us), and the only technology we used was the GPS. So, I’m going to put this one in the “win for mom” column and start planning our next road trip!
