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Travel Ideas - Road Trips with Children - Keeping the Budget

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In just a few days I am packing up all four of my children (ages 4-25) and hitting the open road!  We are traveling from NY to NC to see my ailing father.  After a few days in NC we are back in the truck heading further South to SC (I was born in Charleston, SC) to visit my aunt and uncle for a week.

My husband, due to work, won't be joining us.  My oldest son will be flying home mid-vacation.  I will admit I am anxious about traveling this far with the children without my husband to help out. Especially the home trip without another adult helping. 

Keeping the children occupied (using DVD player as a last resort) is important to me. With some preplanning and forethought, I was able to put together some great Travel Containers for them!  Keeping with a tight budget is a must since the trip (gas alone) is costing us a pretty penny.  Finding a lot at Dollar Tree stores, using Swagbucks at Amazon and Target Dollar Spot helping me keep these Travel Container costs low!

I found the plastic, 3 sectioned, containers at a dollar store (although they were $ 1.29). They are sturdy and can be used for other purposes while traveling also!  (think food trays...)
I was blessed to find pink for the girls!  Filling them with fun items and useful items was my purpose!
Each child has a small pack of tissues, pencils, pen, crayons, post it notes, paper, workbooks, a pack of sugarless gum and a few other little surprises!
Over the Summer, Toys-R-Us had their Crayola Products on sale for Buy 1 get 2 Free!  I scored three of these fun Twistables for each of the kids for the price of 1  ($ 4.99).
For Zachary, 9 years old, I had to come up with some age appropriate activities.  Finding this Scrabble book at the Dollar Tree was a HUGE Score!  Mad Libs on the Road I found at Amazon, using a Swagbucks GC cost me nothing. The LEGO Chima (ruled notebook) I found at Michaels Craft store.  He is a huge geography buff so this National Geographic Ultimate Road Trip Atlas will keep him busy for a while!

In addition to the travel containers, I found a great idea on Pinterest, Border Bags!  I used paper lunch bags (found at dollar store) and filled them with a snack item and little "toy" (ie Slinky, fun sunglasses, small LEGO minifigures). These they will open when we hit a border of a new state!  

In addition, we have Ipads to fill in the times when they are just ready for some quiet time!  I plan on stopping often and bringing plenty of snacks!

I would really appreciate prayers for our travel..specifically that the children are well behaved, no hurricanes coming up the coast...and for my visit with my dad (probably my last) to be a blessed one.

I found so much inspiration on Pinterest. Tons of FREE Travel games you can print! If you are looking for travel ideas with children, I invite you to check out my Travel pinterest Page HERE!   Be sure to check out this blog post for a great Packing List Print Out by hello cuteness! (FREE and many more checklists too!)

We won't be returning home until September 5th, so the blog will be quiet!  However, I will be sharing our adventure in pictures via Instagram (MNEWELL0293)!  If you are not a follower yet, I invite you to do so!   

Until we meet again - Be Blessed!



Comments

Unknown said…
Adding a pack of tissue is brilliant. I can't ever seem to find some in my purse when my son needs them.
Melissa N. said…
Chapstick/Lip Balm also is in there...and the sugarless gum. Those are the things they seem to need and I can never find!
Anonymous said…
Looks like so much fun!! I am sure the kids will love it!
Unknown said…
Awesome idea! Wonder if I can find those totes at our Dollar Tree? We travel a lot JUST to activities! Might be kinda neat to have something already in the car with some "time fillers".

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