Budget-Friendly Road Trip Survival Kit

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It's definitely road trip season! We've already completed one as a family and the kids and I will have another one  later in the summer. With two preteens, devices are always their fave, but I certainly infuse non-screentime fun as well. Enter a Road Trip Survival Kit...with small surprises and activities to keep everyone entertained for a long day in the car. I shared my ideas and the free printable tags below.

I packed this road trip survival kit with activities, toys, and snacks...some are wrapped so they can be a surprise (because who doesn't love a good surprise, right?). The labels are designed to be fairly open-ended in the manner in which you decide to use them...label a surprise for each kiddo, label a time or destination in which a package can be opened, or do your own thing! Check out all of the details and grab the free printable road trip tags below.

Road Trip Survival Kit

Even as they get older, my kids really enjoy this kind of thing. The wrapped packages keep it really interesting, too. I opted not to wrap snacks (when you want a snack, you just want a snack). But everything did get a label (because at 10 and 12, they still argue over what belongs to whom). I mainly labeled everything with their names (although, I shared a few exceptions below). And I don't have too many rules...just every hour or so allow each kiddo to pick something out of the box to open. Again, this is a super open-ended activity...do it however you like!

Supplies for Road Trip Survival Kit

I shopped the dollar store for my items, keeping the budget in check.

• small toys
• I included a variety of items that can be used in the car or at a rest stop (or even for the destination).
• Pool toys are awesome for when you arrive at the hotel for the night. And simple model airplanes are great for a rest stop.
• notebooks
• puzzle books
  
• playing cards
• stickers
• pens
• pencils
• snacks
• gum
• plastic or wicker basket to hold everything (I like this one on Amazon)
• wrapping paper (optional, but makes the journey that much more fun)
• printable tags (available below)

My kids have really gotten into sticker puzzle books, which are so practical for road trips.

Directions

• Download your free printable tags below. 
• Print them onto white, letter-sized cardstock.
• Cut them out and hole punch.

• Wrap a few of the gifts to make it more interesting (even snacks are that much more fun in wrapping paper).
• Tie tags to each item.
• You can label your tags for each child or maybe with a time to open them. There are lots of possibilities.

• I opted to leave the bumpier or non-box-shaped items out of wrapping. 
• Just tie on a tag and they're good to go.

• As I mentioned above, these tags are pretty open-ended! You can set a time for each item in your basket, if you prefer. Or label with family members' names.

• Or, you can even designate some of the items for certain parts of the journey (as pictured above). Hotel pools are always the highlight of a road trip for my kids...the diving torpedoes will be the perfect toy for that time of day when we're all ready to take a dip.

• Just pile everything in the basket and hit the road.

Keeping everything corralled in the basket makes for a  much tidier back seat, too. You can even tuck in a grocery sack for trash and wrapping paper.

Download Your Tags:

• Download via Droplr here (readers' preferred method).
• Download via Dropbox here.
• Download via Google Drive here. 

More Travel Printables:

• Be sure to have your kids help with packing using these free printable Packing Lists for Kids. There are several versions available to make this a fun task.
• If you're looking for more ways to entertain the kids (on both road trips and during downtime at home), be sure to check out my big bundle of Kids' Summer Reading Printables. It includes reading logs, bookmarks, bucket lists, and more. 
• And these free printable Monogrammed Luggage Tags are perfect for both kids and adults. They make your bags extra cute!
• These free Pretend Travel Printables from Homemade Heather can be a great learning/playing tool this season.
• And this Printable Road Trip BINGO Game from Crazy Little Projects makes the journey that much more joyful.
• I really like these printable Road Trip Scavenger Hunts from Fun Loving Families. They're such great activities!