Holiday Travel With Kids
62 Ways to Ace Holiday Travel With Kids
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If your holiday plans involve planes, trains, or automobiles (with baby on board), there may be a little — or a lot — of stress in anticipation of your journey. While we can't prevent flight delays, traffic, or bad weather, we can arm you with everything you need to be prepared. From the best on-the-go snacks and apps to how to hire a babysitter away-from-home, consider this your one-stop destination for a smooth trip for all.
Keep Them Busy: Get Crafty With Clothespins
Who knew you could get so creative with clothespins? Let kids make their own creations using mess-free yarn.
Keep Them Busy: Build With Legos
Learn how to make a Lego travel box, and your tot will get so much use out of it.
Keep Them Busy: Play I Spy
Whether you play the book version or point out objects when you're stuck in traffic, searching for hard-to-see finds will keep them entertained.
Keep Them Busy: Name the States
If you're on a road trip, play the classic game where you call out all the license plates you see — even better when you have a map and can color in different places.
Keep Them Busy: Play a Magnetic Travel Game
Many kids games, like portable Hangman or Bingo, come in compact magnetic form so kids can enjoy hours of entertainment no matter where they are!
Keep Them Busy: Draw With an Etch-a-Sketch
Who needs crayons when your little one can draw mess-free with a portable Etch-a-Sketch?
Keep Them Busy: Snap Away
Give the kiddos a small camera, and just see how great of photographers they become! Whether you're flying or driving, they'll love taking pictures along the way.
Keep Them Busy: Make Shapes With Foil
Foil's a genius, easy way for kids to sculpt fun shapes like stars or snowmen.
Keep Them Busy: Go on a Treasure Hunt
If you're taking a road trip somewhere this season, make a pit stop at a park and create a fun family treasure hunt.
Keep Them Busy: Fill a Sticker Book
Stickers are always fun, but travel stickers will get them even more excited about the trip.
Keep Them Busy: Play Memory
You'll never go wrong with the always entertaining but educational game of Memory.
Keep Them Busy: Create a "Me on the Map"
Start a "me on the map" project that shows kids where they are now and where they're going.
Keep Them Busy: Fill a Busy Bag
Let your little one pick out a few of her favorite minisize things and create a "busy bag" that will remind her of home and keep her, well, busy.
Keep Them Busy: Loop and Loom
Remember how you loved weaving and getting creative as a kid? It's still the same fun go-anywhere activity.
Keep Them Busy: Put on a Play
Finger puppets will be their (and your) best friends when they keep kids from getting bored and turn them into masterful storytellers.
Tips For Easing the Journey: Bring a Baby Carrier
If you're flying — and especially if you're flying alone with your baby — then be sure to have your baby carrier easily accessible. Navigating the airport is a whole lot easier hands-free, and if your baby falls asleep on the plane, then you'll still have the ability to read or have a drink or snack.
Tips For Easing the Journey: Bring On-the-Go Eats
If your baby drinks formula or is onto eating solids, Beaba's Stackable Formula and Snack Container ($12) is a great way to stash extra supplies on the go. You can load up between one to three of the small containers and stack them for a compact food supply for your little one.
Tip: Even if you're planning on a two-hour flight, factor in the potential for delays at the airport or on the runway, and bring more than you think you'll need.
Tips For Easing the Journey: Bring a Minicooler
Fill a minicooler (we like this one by Built NY, $25) with a frozen ice pack and bottles. If your tot is teething, you can also stash a teething ring in here to keep it cool. Be sure to let the TSA agent at security know that you have milk or formula with you — though the three-ounce rule doesn't apply, they will need to hand-check your stash.
Tips For Easing the Journey: Bring Changing Supplies
When transitioning all of your baby gear into your carry-on, don't forget the all-important changing pad, diapers, and wipes. And throw in a bottle of hand sanitizer, too — airplanes mean germs galore. Skip Hop's Jonathan Adler Pronto Changing Station ($35) is a compact all-in-one that's great for travel. Most planes have a fold-down changing table in the lavatory, above the toilet, but be prepared to perform an acrobatic feat to successfully make use of it!
Tips For Easing The Journey: Bring A Snap-and-Go Stroller
Strollers don't count toward your carry-on "quota," so you can keep yours with you until the very last minute and check it gate-side. We suggest bringing a snap-and-go for an infant. In the event that there are open seats on your flight, you may come across a friendly gate agent who'll invite you to bring the car seat onto the plane.
Pack It: A Travel Bassinet
If you're traveling with a newborn or an infant, think of Phil & Teds' Nest Bed ($99) as a Moses basket on steroids. Larger than your typical basket for newborns, the Nest can serve as a bassinet at home and then collapse completely for travel (once collapsed, it fits on the bottom of an included duffel bag, leaving space for baby's other gear on top). The handles make it easy to transport from room to room, while the included mattress is suitable for newborns and infants alike.
Pack It: A Noise Machine and Nightlight All in One
All-in-one units are often big and bulky, but sometimes it's possible to find one that isn't too clunky. The Aden + Anais Serenity Star ($90) is your clock, room thermometer, feeding diary, noise machine, and nightlight, all in one decor-friendly device. Start using it at home, and then baby will view it as a comfort piece on the road as well!
Pack It: A Travel Swing
The baby swing is nicknamed The Baby Pacifier for a reason. For many tots, just a few minutes in the contraption is all it takes to soothe them to sleep. Unfortunately, they're often large and unwieldy, making them impossible for traveling families. Bright Starts' Blossomy Blooms Portable Swing ($30-$63) makes it possible to lull baby off to sleep whether you're at the beach or grandma's house, as it folds up for easy portability.
Pack It: An Activity Mat
Playmats are another necessary evil in the large baby gear department. They're great for stimulating tots and encouraging tummy time, but they're space hogs in the closet or trunk of the car. Chicco's Fun Travel Activity Nest ($65) packs all the activity of a full-size play space into a portable pod that zips up for easy travel. Pull up the sides to create a cozy retreat for newborns, or let it down to expand the play area for infants. Either way it packs plenty of fun into its compact size.
Airplane Safety Harness
If traveling by air, keeping your child in her seat can be a job unto itself. While bringing a car seat onto the plane is the safest way to travel, the seat itself is often heavy and cumbersome, not to mention it places kids' feet in the perfect position for kicking the seat in front of them. The CARES Fly Safe Strap ($75) has been approved by the FAA as a safe alternative for flying tots. It quickly attaches over the seat and to the plane's lap belt for a lightweight and easy way to keep kids flying safely.
Tips For Easing the Journey With Babies or Toddlers: Bring An Umbrella Stroller
Your all-in-one stroller may place your tot in the lap of luxury, but an umbrella stroller ($110) will put you at the front of the security line. Easy to fold, easy to fit into the security screeners, and comfortable for tots, the pushchairs are a flying mama's best friend.
Pack It: A Childproofing Kit
Mama went all out babyproofing her home, but what's she to do when she arrives at the hotel (or grandma's house)? Just forget about the electrical outlets and coffee-table corners? The Travel-Tot Travel Childproofing Kit ($35) comes with all of the necessities (finger pinch guards, electrical outlet plug covers, foam corner guards, cord windups, a water thermometer, and more) for a fraction of the price you paid the childproofer.
Tips For Easing the Journey With Potty-Training Tots: A Travel Potty Seat
Oh, no! Your tot's gotta go — to the bathroom, that is. Trips to the potty on an airplane or at a rest stop just got a whole lot easier thanks to this Cushie Traveler Folding Potty Seat ($13). It even comes in a carry bag and folds so small that it can fit in a shoulder bag!
Tips For Easing the Journey With Toddlers: Bring a Car Seat Carrier/Stroller Combination
If your stroller has been sent through with the luggage, or if there's one waiting for you at your destination, the GoGo Babyz Travelmate Booster Car Seat ($89) may be a handy accessory. The kit hooks right onto a forward-facing car seat (the company also sells a version for infant seats), instantly converting it into a stroller that can be pushed and pulled around the airport.
Pack It: Microwave Steam Sterilizer Bags
Whether you're still nursing, bottle-feeding, or simply find yourself traveling with sippy cups and pacifiers, a three-minute spell in the microwave with Medela's Micro-Steam Bags ($6) will quickly sterilize baby's items that end up in the dirt, the dog's mouth, or anywhere else you don't want them.
Pack It: A Health and Grooming Kit
Yes, your little one may need her hair brushed and her nails clipped, but more importantly, she may need her temperature taken and some medicine doled out. The Summer Infant Baby's Health and Grooming Kit ($23) has tools for all of this (including that all-important nasal aspirator) so Grandma doesn't find her thermometer in places she doesn't want to see it!
Pack It: Folding Bathtub
Most hotels and vacation homes are only outfitted with a standard-size tub in which moms, dads, kids, and babies can bathe. With the Puj tub ($45), you can be sure there is a safe place to wash up baby at the end of a long day.
Pack It: A Telescoping Bottle Brush
Cleaning baby bottles on the go is often a dilemma for new moms. Bottle brushes are awkwardly shaped and don't pack well. The Maddy Brand Bottle Brush ($13) has a telescopic handle and its own travel case to keep it clean and fuzz-free during travel.
Pack It: Folding Bottle Rack
Once the bottles have been washed, you will need a sanitary place to dry them. Most bottle racks are big and cumbersome, but the Babisil Rack ($22) folds up flat to slide right into a suitcase or travel bag.
Pack It: A Travel Bed
At just six pounds, the Peapod Travel Bed ($70) easily packs up into a circular case and fits into a suitcase. A tighter fit than standing travel cribs, the air-filled mattress makes it perfectly suitable for small tots and can be used on the beach or outdoors to shield a baby from the sun.
Pack It: A Travel High Chair
Though restaurants may have high chairs for your tiny eater, your hotel room isn't likely to have one. The Phil & Teds Lobster Chair ($80) easily slips onto a sturdy table. Simply tighten the screws, and it's securely attached. The lightweight, small chair fits right in the basket of a stroller or in a suitcase on the plane.
Tips to Ease the Journey With Infants: FlyeBaby
A hammock seat that attaches to the seat back in front of you so baby has a comfortable place to rest and play, FlyeBaby ($50) is a sling-like device that includes a five-point harness. It turns almost any airline seat (except an exit row and bulkhead seats) into baby-friendly space. According to the company, the seat can also be used on some dining room chairs to create an instant high chair when traveling.
Eat and Run: NurturMe Dehydrated Baby Food
Baby food jars and pouches are heavy. NuturMe ($9 for a pack of eight) is designed to lighten Mom's load while still providing tots with organic, gluten-free baby food. The company's pouches of dehydrated baby food are designed to be mixed with water, breast milk, or formula to create tasty purees for tykes. Weighing little more than a feather, the recyclable packs can be stashed away in diaper bags, airline carry-on bags, or even the car for emergencies.
Packable Snackable: Homemade Graham Crackers
"Making your own graham crackers is not hard and gets the graham flour back into the crackers. It's wholesome, and your kids will love it — wherever they are!" said blogger Rebecca R. of It's Not Easy Eating Green.
Packable Snackable: No-Bake Oatmeal Bites
No-Bake Oatmeal Bites can be customized to include your kids' favorite nuts, dried fruit, and even chocolate chips, and they travel well.
Packable Snackable: Pineapple Banana Kale Muffins
These whole wheat muffins with fresh fruit and vegetables get an extra punch of nutrition with the addition of chia and flax seeds.
Packable Snackable: Squeezable Applesauce
Squeezable applesauce packets are a great on-the-go snack!
Document the Journey: Explorer Journal
Best For Ages: 3+
What's Inside: Plenty of space to document tots' Summer adventures — at home and on the go! A great way to encourage creativity and imagination.
Click to Buy: Children Inspire Design's Explorer Journal ($10)
Read All About It: Flight 1-2-3
Best For Ages: 2 to 4
What's Inside: Take a high-flying journey by numbers with this preschool-appropriate counting book that takes its readers on a journey from the airport, through the sky, to touchdown.
Click to Buy: Flight 1-2-3 ($15)
Read All About It: Big Bad Wolf Goes On Vacation
Best For Ages: 4+
What's Inside: The sweetest twist on the classic fairy tale — in this follow-up to The Big Bad Wolf and Me, our hero (and his pal, Louis) take a wild and crazy road trip to the beach.
Click to Buy: Big Bad Wolf Goes On Vacation ($13)
A Day at the Airport
Best For Ages: 2 to 7 (especially great for first-time fliers!)
What's Inside: A classic Richard Scarry story — Sally, Huckle, and Lowly spend a rainy, adventure-filled day learning the ins and outs of how airports work.
Click to Buy: A Day at the Airport ($4)
How to Hire a Destination Babysitter, Step 1: Chat Up Your Hotel Concierge
If you're staying at a hotel or resort, give the resort a call to see if they have any referrals for local sitters. Some especially family-friendly properties even have babysitters or nannies on staff or can arrange their services for you. If you're renting a house or apartment, find out if the owner knows of anyone in the area. It never hurts to ask!
How to Hire a Destination Babysitter, Step 2: Eye Spy
Bring along (or buy) a baby monitor that works with your wireless phone for added peace of mind, so that you can check in on how the sitter's doing with your kids while you're out.
How to Hire a Destination Babysitter, Step 3: Phone a Friend
If you have friends or acquaintances in the area, see if they'd be willing to share the names and contact info of local sitters.
Broaden your reach by posting the request to your Facebook account. You never know who might have a family friend or younger sibling living in your vacation destination who's looking to make some extra cash!
How to Hire a Destination Babysitter, Step 4: Set Up a Skype Date
How to Hire a Destination Babysitter, Step 5: Make the Web Your Friend
Sites like UrbanSitter, Sitter City, and Care.com were designed to connect parents and sitters. Even if it's going to be just a one-time job, it's a good way to search for qualified caretakers.
Cool App Alert: Pan — The Fearless Beribolt
The first in a series of magical interactive stories, Pan: The Fearless Beribolt ($4) tells the tale of a feisty purple panda who lives in the magical cloud city and goes on adventures, exploring the world and searching for her family with her merry group of friends. This first story tells the backstory of the Beribolt family and shows Pan growing up under the care of her grandfather, Elder Ojo. You'll like Pan because she's independent, clever, and a great role model for your kiddos.
Cool App Alert: Doc McStuffins — Time For Your Check-Up
The much-anticipated first app from Disney Junior's hit show, Doc McStuffins: Time For Your Check-Up ($4) lets your little one join Doc, along with Hallie, Lambie, and the rest of her friends for four entertaining activities. While your kids fix, sort, explore, and care for toys, the Big Book of Boo Boos saves the names and diagnoses of all the patients they cured. They also earn different Doctor's Notes that prescribe lots of love, kisses, and cuddles.
Cool App Alert: Where's My Mickey?
Great for older kids, Where's My Mickey? ($2) introduces a whole world of life-like physics-based gameplay with cool weather mechanics and funny animations. Your kids can watch entertaining episodes while solving challenging puzzles and completing each of five stories and 100-plus levels, each filled with fun challenges!
Cool App Alert: Little Red Riding Hood
A completely new take on the classic tale, Little Red Riding Hood ($6) lets users create their own story by choosing from multiple paths, resulting in a new, fully animated adventure with different endings every time. Kids play games to help Little Red Riding Hood collect three objects on her journey through the woods; the objects they choose determine how Little Red Riding Hood defeats the Big Bad Wolf and saves grandma.
Cool App Alert: Monsters University — Catch Archie
If your kids loved Monters University, then they'll flip for the new app Monsters University: Catch Archie (free). Kids join Monsters University freshman Mike Wazowski on his first day of college and catch Archie the Scare Pig, the squealing mascot of Monsters University's rival school, Fear Tech, in a fun and exciting game.
Cool App Alert: Toca Builders
If your kids can imagine it, they can build it with Toca Builders ($3). Your kids will join the six Toca Builders, all with unique abilities, on a far-away island to create a whole new world with blocks. The game is a new way of creating and crafting things (houses, lamps, bananas?) with blocks and encourages creativity and curiosity.
Cool App Alert: Ranger Rick's Tree House
All about animals, Ranger Rick's Tree House (free) is a fun house, reading corner, arcade, video screening room, and comic book, all rolled into one! Kids enter Ranger Rick Raccoon's tree house home, to find intriguing rooms ready to be explored. Each room is packed with interactive wildlife articles, photos, and videos; multilevel games; comic adventures; goofy jokes, riddles, and photos; wildlife mysteries; and more!
Cool App Alert: Junior Astronaut
Everyone dreams about journeying to space, but Junior Astronaut ($3) actually teaches kids about the science behind an intergalactic trip! Designed for the iPad, the app uses beautiful illustrations and creative storytelling to educate about the science and wonders of space travel. Inspired by kids' space books of the 1950s and '60s, the app takes on the topics of gravity, mass, weight, and forces and makes them action-packed and fun!
Cool App Alert: More Trucks
Duck Duck Moose's More Trucks ($2) is the sequel to the original, award-winning app. In the new version, kids can drive a fire truck, race monster trucks, build structures with a crane, steer a flatbed tow truck, and stack cars in a junkyard — a guaranteed hit for boys and girls!
Cool App Alert: Frozen — Storybook Deluxe
Fans of Disney's new animated flick, Frozen, will be entertained by the movie's corresponding storybook app ($7). Little users can experience the story from the sides of sisters Anna or Elsa with plenty of opportunity for interactive play.
Cool App Alert: Storybots
What kid wouldn't get a kick out of Storybots' "Starring You" videos that feature their very own families? Try out a free Thanksgiving-themed trial, then you can upgrade to 1-month, 6-month, or 12-month subscriptions to keep the fun going.
