Stress free tips for journeys with children!

My bank holiday weekend was lovely apart from the start and the finish which involved being stuck in the car in traffic with my two lovely boys. Most of the time they are angels but the sun pouring in the window, the excitement of trying to get somewhere, over tiredness, boredom and yes it was a minor version of hell!!

APH conducted a survey recently about Britains greatest travel stresses and of course children getting grumpy and upset were among the top. So what can you do to make your trip travel a little better? Well we’ve done an awful lot of travel with the kids so here’s our top ten:

1, Grab Bags. Prepack some sandwich bags to hand over at different stages in the trip. Not just for car journeys these also work great on boats and aircraft too. Make each bag slightly different and hey if you’re on a budget visit the pound shop before you go. From colouring in books and crayons through to a dvd or new card game or car it’s amazing what will distract your darlings from their present troubles.

2, DVD players. Amazing wonderful devices if you don’t mind popping them on for a couple of hours. Try and grab a couple of the cheap good deal dvds to introduce on the trip so they aren’t watching ones they’ve seen before. Just make sure you take a charger and headphones! Not all the passengers on board will be thrilled with repeat episodes of Fireman Sam.

3, Food. There is nothing worse than a hungry child. Having driven through Europe with our two it pays to keep snacks on hand. There is no guarantee that your kids will find something they like at the next services, at the shop or suddenly develop a love of pretzels on a 12 hour flight!  

4, Games. Mentioned earlier on this site there are plenty of fun free travel games that you can download and play as you travel. From car bingo to ispy there are plenty of games based around travelling about. Just make sure you take a clipboard for little hands and arms to lean on!

5, Comfort. Do remember to put to hand their favourite cuddly toys, blanket, books or even pillows if they are attached to them. You don’t want to have handed your luggage in or locked the car up and not being able to access their favourite bedtime toy for the next 15 hours!

It might seem like a distant dream but actually once sorted travelling with children can be an amazing way to see the world through their eyes! Just remember to prepare and think what they might like!