50 Road Trip Hacks, Activities & Tips

These awesome family travel hacks and road trip tips are sure to make your next car trip easier & more enjoyable!

Summer's here and that means road trips!  Woohoo!

When I was a kid, my parents would to take us to cool places every summer and I loved getting away from the 'ordinary days' of home life.  Travel allows for adventure, inspires us to explore new places and is a huge learning opportunity for your kids!

Seeing new places, reconnecting with the kids, trying to keep everyone happy in a small (sometimes too hot and crowded) area ;)

Just kidding ... you know I LIVE for road trips!

But man, it takes a small army to get a family ready to hit the road -- all that packing, organizing, finding rest stops along the way. 

So we want to help make life a little smoothier with these travel ideas you'll love!

40 Free Printable Road Trip Games & Activities

Grab these free printable road trip games & activities for your next car trip and keep the kids busy!

We are gearing up for a HUGE family car trip this summer & I'm on the look-out for some road trip activities for the kids.

The trip is going to be much longer than we thought -- 10 days through 11 states covering 2600 miles!! 

I know - crazy!  But we're really looking forward to it -- we believe that family travel is a great way for kids to learn all kinds of things.

This year, we'll be seeing lots of family, celebrating my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary and attending freshman orientation for our oldest who is starting college in the Fall.

It's going to be a monster of a trip with lots of overnight stops and quite a few hours in the car.

Soooo .... time to start planning on how to keep everyone busy, happy and fed ;)

23 Must See Movies Before Your Visit to Walt Disney World

Put a few of these must-see movies on your Disney Watch list for family movie night before your next trip to Disney World!

Is a visit to Walt Disney World in your future? 

Lucky you! 

My parents have retired in Florida so we have been blessed to visit the parks a few times. 

The first time we climbed into the Swiss Family Robinson's treehouse and sailed the raft to Tom Sawyer's Island, my kids were confused.  They hadn't seen either of the movies and once I explained they were 'live action', our kids were really shocked to know there were non-animated Disney movies!

So our family movie nights expanded to include some of the older, non-animated features that I enjoyed as a child and quickly became family favorites.

Before you head off to enjoy 'the happiest place on Earth', there are a few must-see movies to add to your Disney watch list that will help to enhance your visit to the Disney parks!

Family Night (or Day) Out Idea + a Giveaway!

Enjoy a family night out with classic games to play, a relaxing eating area and food everyone will enjoy.

As we head into winter, it's that time of year when parents scout out more indoor activities to do with their kids.

But we want someplace where both kids AND parents can kick-back & unwind together, right?

So when Chuck E. Cheese's reached out to us to let us know about their awesome new remodel, I thought it was the perfect time to feature a Family Night Out idea along with an AMAZING giveaway too!

10 Things to Do in Great Smoky Mountains National Park & Gatlinburg, TN

Explore all the things families can do at Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Gatlinburg, Tennessee -- a wonderful year-round location for your next vacation.

The Mountains are calling!

Whether you're looking for a quiet weekend getaway, a summer travel destination or a location for your multi-generational vacation -- you'll find it all in the Smoky Mountains.

With nature trails, wildlife, family attractions, driving tours, beautiful scenery and fabulous restaurant, there is SO much to do that you'll effeminately want to visit this Appalachian region again and again.

We are excited to be working with our sponsor, Holiday Inn & their #SmilesAhead campaign to share a detailed guide to this family travel destination along with tips for creating family memories on your next vacation!

23 Family Traditions to Start When You Travel

Tips on How to Start Family Traditions when you travel & take vacations -- with a free printable list for you!

Growing up, our family road trips where one of the highlights of my summers.

Every year, we would head off to see far-away family members or set out to explore a new destination together.

This was back before seat belt laws and car seats -- when flying a family of 5 was ‘way out of the budget’.

My Dad would pack three pajama-clad kids along with all their pillows & blankets into the back of a station wagon and hit the road by 4 am.

“When you wake up, we’ll stop for breakfast” he’d tell us the night before.

Yes, there were squabbles, along with the frequent “are we there yet” comments every few hours but isn’t that what a road trip is really all about?

When we’d reach our destination, we would all pile out of the car, put our arms over our head and do one of those big s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-s that only come after being cooped up in a vehicle for hours.

Family would come out to greet us with smiles & hugs “You made it!”

“How was your trip?”

Even now, when we take our kids on road trips, there’s always someone that utters that question – how was your trip?

My husband will look at his watch to let you know if ‘we made good time’ or not.

Sometimes one of the kids will say ‘it was long!’ or ‘so much fun! We stopped and saw (insert crazy road side trip Mom made us go on here)’

For me, there’s really only one word that comes to mind when I hear that question – how was your trip?

It was memorable.

Always memorable.

40+ Fun Places to Take Kids Near Me

Get out & explore these 40 fun places to take kids near me this weekend, over summer or on your next day trip!

If you have kids, you know it can be crazy to go anywhere! 

Every trip – to the grocery store, the park or the beach – always seems to require huge amounts of stuff.

But summertime means day trips & family road trips – a chance to go explore some new places and let your kids see another part of the world or have a new experience.

So today, we're going to get your family ready for adventure by sharing a FREE printable list of 40+ fun places to go with kids and some great travel tips to get you out the door quickly!

Road Trip Checklist: 10 Things to Do Before Your Next Car Trip

Get the car & family ready with this free printable road trip checklist and tips for how to prep for a long car trip! 

This week's one of those quiet times -- not too much on the calendar.

But I know it won't last long --

We're waiting to hear about college acceptances, looking into a few new attractions and counting the days until Spring Break (less than a month away for us!)

And I can smell an AWESOME family road trip somewhere in the near future.

Ahh ... I love the thought of exploring someplace new with our kids!

When it comes to taking a car trip,  I'm one of those "need to plan ahead" type of people.  I don't like to get on the road and worry about whether we might have any car problems or worse, run out of snacks before we reach our destination (heavens no!! the kids might not last until the next stop ;)

So today I'm sharing the checklist we use before heading out on our trips -- whether it's a day trip or cross-country vacation -- PLUS affiliate links to some of our favorite items & a FREE printable road trip planner to help you prepare for your next family car trip!

Summer Water Safety: A Must Read for all Parents!

May is Water Safety Month and the perfect time to talk to your kids before gearing up to visit the pool or beach this summer!

My husband & I disagree about a lot of things -- like who's the best canoe paddler (it's me ;) and whether pasta or burgers are a better summer dinner.

But the one thing you'll find us both in agreement on -- teaching kids to swim and understanding safety near the water.

Be sure to take some time this summer to talk to your kids about the ABCD's of water safety with these easy tips!

Free Days at National Parks in 2017

Woohoo!  The U.S. National Park Service has announced their FREE entrance days for all National Parks in 2017!

One of the big family travel trends for this coming year is nature-focused vacations -- unplug, recharge and enjoy being together.  We are HUGE fans of the National Park system and try to visit at least one park or historic site every year (most years, we hit 2 or 3 of them).

They are amazing places, perfect for weekend outings or family vacations and a great way for families unplug get re-connected with nature.

Enjoy an Outdoor Family Adventure {with free printable}

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Gulf County Florida. All opinions are 100% mine.

We love to go on outdoor adventures as a family!

Sometimes it's as easy as a creek walk at a local park and other times it's trying something totally new (like snorkeling) when we vacation.

No matter where we go, we always find some amazing experiences to share with our kids -- new places to hike, geological wonders -- and most important, those times that 'aren't planned but will be talked about for years' moments when we are in awe of nature.

So when the folks in Gulf County, Florida reached out and asked us if we wanted to help inspire other families to have some adventures this year, we jumped at the chance to get involved!  And also created a free printable "Get out & have an Adventure" activity for your family too!

The Ultimate Cabin Trip Packing List: 50 Things to Bring

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #FreeToBe #CollectiveBias

If you're like our family, this free printable cabin packing list is the perfect way to get you organized & out the door!

As I've mentioned before, I don't do tents (not a fan of bears & snakes) :)  But when I married my husband, I was well aware that he came from a camping-type family.  The whole tents-in-the-woods boys-peeing-behind-the-tree type of thing.

I prefer a door on my bathroom and a bedroom where I know I won't be visited by wild animals in the middle of the night!

10 Best Kids Activities & Family Organizational Tips

One of my favorite posts to curate each year is the list of our BEST kids activities and organizational tips that were most loved & read by our readers!

I love knowing that what we do at Edventures with Kids inspires families to reduce chaos, learn together and explore new places.

In case you missed one or two of these great kids activities & organizing ideas during the past year or if you've recently found us and want to dive in to some new edventures, see what's been popular with our readers as we head into a new year!

5 Tips for Stress Free Holiday Travel with Kids

Are you one of the millions of families who head "Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house" for the holidays?

Once you have kids, holiday travel takes on a whole new meaning :) 

Not to worry, we have a great group of FREE printables and AWESOME travel tips that will help you have a relaxing and fun holiday road trip!

Tips for Finding the Best Vacation Home Rentals

My husband will be the first to tell you that I'm the brains & braun behind our family vacations.

My family grew up taking trips every summer and I knew I wanted the same for my kids -- getting out to explore the world and seeing some amazing things together!

But I'm also not the most laid-back person when it comes to family travel.  I like to be uber prepared and have a good 'home base' on our trips.

When we first started traveling with kids, I knew staying in a hotel room wasn't going to work for us.  Our oldest was not a heavy sleeper and would wake up (and stay up!) with the littlest noises.  And my husband never got a good night's sleep when the baby was in the room. 

So on our first big family trip, we decided to rent a vacation home -- and we've never looked back!