When going on a road trip, one of our biggest concerns as parents is figuring out how to keep our kids entertained. We could always just hand over a tablet for the whole drive, but we want to avoid the downsides of screen time as much as we can!

It isn’t necessarily practical (or possible) to load up the car with a bunch of sensory activities, which is why I always recommend a road trip activity pack! An activity pack is a fantastic on the road tool for keeping your kiddos busy and entertained, while also fostering developmental growth!

Activity packs encourage children to participate in hands-on learning, aid in fine motor skills, and make their road trip adventure more fun and exciting! They promote similar benefits to traditional sensory activities, just in a portable (and easier to clean) fashion.

So, today I am sharing how to create a DIY road trip activity pack to keep your kiddos engaged all ride long:

How to Create a Road Trip Activity Pack

Step One: Choose a soft-sided binder. 

Putting all of your activities in a binder is the best way to keep everything in one designated place. Even if (or when) your little one is searching through all their options and tossing stuff all over the car, everything will have a place to go back to!

This simple plastic binder is the perfect size for storing any papers or printed material you may bring. You could also grab a a fabric-covered binder like this one, that has some extra pouches and fun features! Both are soft-sided, which is safest for the car. This way, it won’t be a projectile risk in a potential accident.

Step Two: Print your activity pack. 

Now, it’s time to print off your fun activities! If you aren’t sure where to start, I have a printable road trip activity pack on the Mothercould In Your Pocket resource! It’s full of 18 different games and activities, ranging anywhere from simple coloring pages to the classic a license plate game all of which are designed to entertain and even educate kids of all ages!

There can be a lot to consider when creating activity books, which is why I did it for you! Downloading the resource can save you tons of time and energy having to create your own.

Step Three: Laminate your activity sheets. 

Laminating activity sheets is super helpful when creating an activity pack. This allows you to reuse specific pages so you don’t have to think about replacing them for every road trip.

If you want to stick to quick and easy, these basic clear sheet protectors are the way to go. You can even change out or add pages as you wish. If you’d prefer something that your kids can’t reach into and rip pages out of, it’s not a bad idea to go ahead and get a personal laminator! This can also be useful for at home use, too. It’s a fantastic way to protect activities for reusable fun! 

Step Four: Hole punch the laminated sheets. 

If you do decide to go the lamination route, don’t forget your 3-ring hole punch! This is how you’ll make your activity packed compatible with your binder.

Step Five: Collect supplies for each activity. 

Whether you purchase the Mothercould In Your Pocket resource or you make your own activity pack, chances are that most, if not every single activity, is going to require some craft supplies!

Go ahead and jump on Amazon to buy things like washable dry erase markers, washable dry erase crayons, stickers, and washable dot markers. These are great mess-free options for the road! 

Step Six: Put supplies into zipper pouches. 

Now, what to do with all that craft supplies? 3-ring zipper pouches! These will help you organize the supplies for each activity and store them inside your handy binder. 

To help littles with putting everything away in an organized way, you could even label each pouch!

Step Seven: It’s time to assemble everything! 

Now that you have everything you need, let’s put it all together! Take your laminated, hole-punched pages and your zipper pouches full of craft supplies and put them into your 3-ring binder. Give it a cute cover if you want and it’s ready for your road trip!

Make road trips easier with a road trip activity pack! 

Road trip activity packs are a parent’s dream when it comes to car rides. Traveling is so much easier when you’re able to keep your little ones happy and entertained! If you need help packing too, I’ve made a list of travel packing hacks you can check out! 

For tons of activities, whether it’s for travel or at home fun, visit the Mothercould blog! For more activity packs, recipes, and helpful tutorials, download Mothercould in your Pocket!