Today we’re excited to kick off a four part series on camping and road tripping with kids from Brittany Howell of Colorama. You can check out part two here (must-have toys and supplies for road tripping) and make sure to come back on Monday, August 31 for camping tips and a list of essential camping gear.

TRUE LIFE: We road tripped across the country with 2 toddlers and lived to tell about it. Here are the top five tips and tricks we’ve gathered along the way.

This summer when regular life basically came to a halt we ventured out in our vintage 13 ft RV and drove across the country. 5 National Parks. 13 states. Determined to make this a summer to remember for our kids ages 4 and 18 months.

I’m hoping I can give you a little hope when it comes to camping, road tripping just seizing the day in the great outdoors even when your kiddos are little. Everything was not PERFECT, there was definitely a good deal of whining (sometimes from mommy) but our adventures were epic!

ROAD-TRIPPING TIPS:

SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESSES AND BUY A FEW CHEAP NEW TO YOU TOYS. I contacted my local resale shop and snagged several things that were perfect for entertaining while in the car. My kids did not see these toys until we got in the car. I avoided buying things with small pieces and mostly gathered things they could do independently. You can find a full list of my favorites here.
USE IPADS/TABLETS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE. These were a great tool to break up the trip but I also didn’t want my kids eyeballs falling out. I pre-downloaded shows ahead of time since most places we did not have internet access. I mixed old favorites and a few new to us shows to mix things up. We rotated screen time and activity time mixed with quiet time. I didn’t physically get away from my kids for a month so we used this time to teach them the value of quiet and how we all need a bit of time to reset! We tried to think circa 1992. What did we do on road trips? We looked out the window, played family car games and listened to audio books. I would highly suggest checking out the podcast CIRCLE ROUND. Fable stories for kids. My kids loved this and it wasn’t as annoying as kids music for mom and dad.
PACK ENOUGH SNACKS FOR A HEARD OF ELEPHANTS. I opted for individually packaged snacks. This isn’t our norm at home and it’s not the best for the environment but on the go it’s a game changer. Pre-portioned, less spills and easy access. We mixed this with fruit (some we had pre cut) but mostly opted for easy on the go fruits that both kids liked. We kept a snack bag in the backseat for easy access since they wanted a snack every 4.5 minutes.
FIND JOY IN THE SIMPLE THINGS WHILE ON THE ROAD. Let’s address the elephant in the room. Restaurants, museums, kids play spaces etc are not open but the outdoors aren’t closed! You have to get a little creative while traveling during COVID-19. Kids will be excited about what you’re excited about! We prepped for our trip by watching YouTube videos of the exciting animals we might see, the natural features we might come across and made it a game to try and find these things. We had SO MANY picnics practically on the side of the road and more than once peed also on the side of the road. My kids never missed going to a restaurant and we sure saved money. They loved running through a field while we ate sandwiches. We realized it was our mindset as the parents that we needed to work on. Kids are easily amused and find joy in the small things. This trip gave me the opportunity to think like them. No fancy Instagram check in, amazing must go to restaurant recommendations or anything like that. We just did our thing.
CONNECT WITH YOUR KIDS. This seems obvious but in the pre-covid world we almost didn’t realize how much hustle and bustle we had let creep into our daily lives. I didn’t have the time day to day to really LISTEN to long drawn out stories or ideas that my kids had in their minds. I did so much listening during 30 days on the road. They asked deeper questions, we talked about silly things and they learned so much about nature and how things work naturally versus the 4 walls of our house. We tried to shift our mindset from what covid has robbed our kids of and tried to imagine that this time together is actually giving them MORE. MORE CONNECTION. MORE EXPERIENCES. MORE UNDERSTANDING. MORE APPRECIATION FOR REST. MORE ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE SIMPLE THINGS IN LIFE AND THE WAY THEY CAN BRING US THE MOST JOY.

XO, Brittany AKA “Crafty Mom”

Insta: @coloramala, web: coloramala.com