My Best Tip for a Road Trip with Kids

What if a family road trip had your kids actually excited to be stuck in the car for hours upon hours?

Can you imagine a cross country trek where the hours just fly by, and it’s actually enjoyable?

Maybe you are filled with dread just thinking about taking a long drive with your toddler – or worse yet, a silent road trip because all teens are on their own devices.

Or, maybe you’re one of those blissed moms who is 100% optimistic it will go great… but then the whole ride kinda crashes and burns?

Perhaps you’ve taken a road trip with the kids, and it went well, but you just want some new ideas to shake things up?

Every year, my family and I ditch the daily summer routine and take a road trip that usually takes about 11 hours, and not only do we survive it, but we enjoy it.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I do not enjoy road trips on principle. I’m one of those people who don’t sit still very well, so sitting for an entire day and a half? Not my thing.

But over the years, we have settled into an awesome road trip rhythm. (There I go with systemizing and routine-izing everything!)

In this post, I’m going to tell you my number one secret to making a road trip with kids enjoyable.

I’m not even kidding, but the number one thing that helps us all enjoy our road trip is a Road Trip Scratch Off Game.

It sounds completely ridiculous.

I tried it one year just thinking maybe it would get us through at least a couple of hours of our road trip, and I was shocked that our kids were completely obsessed with it.

You’ll see why they love it so much.

Road Trip Scratch Off Game

• A couple of days before the road trip, create your scratch off card (free printable – see instructions below).
• Prep your kids that you’re going to play a game on the road trip.
• Teach those kiddos the rules:
  • Every 50 miles, one kid gets to scratch off a spot on the board. (We go youngest to oldest and rotate.)
  • If you start to scratch a spot, you have to scratch the whole thing.
  • Every kids gets the “award”
  • No scratch offs during screen time.
  • Scratch offs can be paused if kiddos are having trouble with behavior.

Variations:

• If children are older and like to do their own thing in the car, you could set the miles to 100 or 250. For a car full of young kids, you might start with 25 miles for a bit so they can see how it works. Then increase it to 50. (Prep your kids for the change.)
• Parents can veto and just choose to do a movie whenever they decide! We try to hold off as long as possible, and sometimes the scratch offs choose a lot of movies! (And hey, no judgment from me if you decide to movie it up all the way to your destination. I’m just here to give you options.)
• Even though our scratch off card (free below) includes things like movies, snacks, gifts, coins, and candy, you can re-assign these items. For example, you can say the candy picture will represent a free non-candy snack at the next gas station. The movie spot can represent a favorite podcast or musical album. Gifts could represent special toys from home that you’ve packed just for the trip. We have done chocolate coins in the past.
• I only use this scratch off card for long long long trips because I think it would lose its luster if I use it for a 3-hour trek every month. But if you only road trip rarely, I would totally go for it!

Side effects:

• It’s unbelievable, but my kids will ask, “How many miles until scratch off?” and then patiently wait!
  • Of course, if they are pestering us, we tell them, “We are done answering that question, but we will let you know!”
• Children may enjoy actual activity books or podcasts or healthy snacks or books instead of just whining! Gasp!
• Children may quit asking you, “Are we there yet?”
• Children may quit begging for snacks. (In our game, we don’t get snacks unless it comes up on the card or at a pre-set time.)

I have a free scratch off printable with instructions plus more amazing road trips tips, hacks, and tricks that I’d love to share with you. To get them, just subscribe to this Summer Road Trip with Kids email course (keep reading for more info).

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How to Make Your Road Trip Scratch Off Game

• Print the free printable on letter size paper. (Get the printable by providing your email, above.)
• Laminate the printable (please see note below).
• Mix together one part gold acrylic paint with one part dish soap, like Dawn. I usually do 1 Tbsp. of each and have plenty.
• Paint the mixture on each of the scratch off spots.
• Let dry. I like to let mine dry overnight, but if you create it right before you drive off, it should be ready in a couple of hours!
• Make sure to have a quarter on hand for scratching – bonus lesson for the kids on money!

Note on laminating

I use my laminator for all of my routines and printables. A laminating machine is well worth the cash for something I use so often. The kids have even used it for school projects and memorization facts. Here is the laminator I use for printables as well as refill laminating sheets. (<–That is an affiliate link.) I’m assuming that using sticky contact sheets would work as well, but I haven’t tested that yet.

An alternate to laminating is to cut the pictures out and put them in a hat to choose from. However, my kids really love the act of scratching off!

Note on gifts and snacks

Yes, yes, I actually bring a stash of gifts and snacks for our road trips! I think of things that are inexpensive, consumable, or are items our kids can use at the destination. I would love to share specific items ideas with you! I have tons!! Make sure to enter your email in the box above.

I truly hope this road trip game helps you as much as it helps me. What a blessing to have time with our family. Let’s start our treks off on the right foot…er tire.

Also, I am always looking for new road trip ideas! What’s your favorite? Spill it!