10 days, 2,648 miles, 2 hours of screen time

Those numbers surprise even me. They reflect our nine year old son’s experience with screens during a recent trip.

Before I dive into how we went screen free for most of the trip and share tools that helped along the way, I want to talk about why we went screen-free. We didn’t set out with that big goal when we pulled out of the driveway. But some initial success with a screen fast during the first two days of driving gave us a foundation to build on for the entire trip including being mostly screen-free out of the car.

Why Screen-Free Travel?
I have a better chance at being successful with things if I identify why I’m putting in the effort. Our son’s screen-time increased over our Christmas break from homeschooling. In our home, time spent on screens breeds more time spent on screens. Even for me. By mid-January, I was tried of saying no to my son’s multiple requests (an hour) for additional time on the iPad. Ten days away from home seemed like a good way to reset when we returned home.

Additionally, we were headed to visit a son and his family who live in a remote location in New Mexico. They don’t have internet except for phone hot spots. It added a layer of complexity that I didn’t want to deal with while also trying to visit with our relatives. “We’re in the mountains and can’t get a signal…” was a more cut and dry than other reasons I had been giving since Christmas.

Finally, we had two parents available to play and engage with Nathaniel for an extended time. I resort to allowing Nathaniel screen time when I am parenting alone and need to give my full attention to something else. That forty-five minute phone call to order his monthly supplies? He is likely on a screen. We haven’t found a way to go screen-free without it meaning increased parent-child engagement initially. Vacation gave us a rare opportunity to meet this need.

Preparing for the Trip
Armed with knowing why we wanted to start the trip without screens, the next step was to set us up for success. Nathaniel needed car-friendly activities, leak proof drinks, snacks, and his cuddle items within easy reach. I use these organizers and accessories for car travel.

Activities
Next I thought about what Nathaniel could do instead of time on screens. I decided to group possible activities into categories: books, crafts, writing/drawing/coloring, small object building, make believe, games, and pestering parents. I collected items we already owned that fit each category.

Activities: Books
I scanned our bookshelves for small books that would keep Nathaniel’s interest repeatedly. He loves encyclopedia type books, so I gravitated towards those in a size that was easy to manage in a carseat. Dover Learning About, DK Pocket Genius, Golden Guides, and Flipbooks books are favorites in our home for church and waiting at doctor appointments, so they were my go to for travel too. Each of these series has books on many topics. Pick based on your child’s interests.

Activities: Crafts
Crafts in the car have to meet the criteria of mess free if dropped or left open. Two that I took on our recent trip were a hit; the third one was not. The first craft was some Wiki Sticks and a geoboard. Nathaniel enjoyed the Wiki Sticks alone and spent time wrapping them around the pegs on the geoboard. I separated the Wiki Sticks each time he played with them and laid them flat again for the next time. I don’t think he would have played with them more than once if I hadn’t invested this effort.

The second activity was a couple Water Wow books. These books are not completely mess free, but the small amount of water involved has never been a problem in the car. I cut the top part off (the piece the books hang from), and I remove the plastic pen holder from each book. This allows the books to lie flat with other books both in the car organizer and for storage at home. I keep the water pens in a zipped pencil pouch in my travel bag and fill them from a water bottle while traveling. I then empty the pens (out the window) when Nathaniel is no longer interested.

The activity he didn’t like was a tape book. Ironically, one of the few things I bought new for this trip. He’s done a lot of tape activities in OT and it likely seemed like work not fun.

Activities: Writing, Drawing, Coloring
Like with books, providing small sized writing, drawing, and coloring items that can balance on a lap is the key for maintaining interest. If the tool continually falls off the child’s lap, they aren’t going to enjoy it. I find providing blank paper has been better for Nathaniel than an activity book. For this trip I stocked his organizer with a small legal pad, a zipper pencil pouch with washable markers, Pip Squeaks are great for travel, and one superhero coloring book from Dollar Tree. I added two writing type toys, a magnet drawing board and LED writing pad. He played with both of these a lot.

Activities: Building Toy
The key to bringing a small piece building toy in the car is to bring only one type per trip. Since Nathaniel’s lap desk came with a large Lego board that filled the whole desk, we brought Legos this time. I filled a small plastic tub with a few handfuls from our Lego collection. He dumped them out multiple times: a few times on the lap desk and a few times into the organizer. It was sort of annoying to pick up Legos repeatedly, but the small mess was definitely worth the hours that they kept him busy.. Other building sets that we’ve taken on car trips are Squigz, Zoobs, or MagnaTiles. If you pack MagnaTiles, pick up a metal cookie sheet from Dollar Tree for the child to use as a lap desk.

Activities: Make Believe
One make believe toy or item can become a best buddy in the backseat. A few things we’ve used over the years are finger puppets, character toys shorter than 6 inches, and thumb push toys. Consider offering just one or two at a time. Keep the other pieces to the set in your car bag to swap out or offer mid-play to reinvigorate stagnated imagination. Small make believe toys can be found at Dollar Tree and are easily stored in a zipped pencil pouch.

Activities: Family Game
Time that we invested directly in play with Nathaniel resulted in double the time of independent play afterwards. There are so many games made especially for travel. But we tend to raid our game closet for something small and portable. Below are a few of our favorites that fit this criteria. If you don’t have a lap desk, card based games can be played on a book as a desk.

We also played a family game of watching for campers and motorhomes on the road and counting them. We saw 92! Nathaniel seemed to enjoy watching out the window and being the first person to spot an RV and call everyone’s attention to it. Other interactive no-supply games are the Alphabet Game watching signs, and looking for your home state license plate when traveling out of state.

Activities: Something to Bother the Parents
Yes - you read that right. I intentionally provided something that Nathaniel could use to annoy us. This trip it was the fart machine, which I picked up at the Target Dollar Spot a few years ago. Things we’ve used in the past include a rainmaker, and a very small squirt gun to shoot water at our heads. A mini Simon or Bop It electrical game could also be used for travel and are on my wish list for a future trip. Like the Water Wow pens, I stored the squirt gun in my travel bag and fill it for only a brief time of play.

Some Additional Tools
We travel with sand timers. They have been a fantastic way to extend play with a specific toy or encourage Nathniel’s waiting. I set the timer on the dash and share what will happen next. “In ten minutes, we’ll play that game.” Watching the timer gives him something to do and holds me accountable to follow through. A child who can wait for 30 seconds or 1 minute at the start of the day can often wait 5 or 10 minutes by the end of the day simply because they’ve practiced the skill.

The book light that I packed for myself for our recent trip ended up being a convienent way to extend Nathaniel’s play during the evening. Every toy and activity was suddenly new and fun again when played with in the dark using this special light. The light clipped onto the carseat organizer fairly well.

Download a couple children’s audio books from the library to your smart phone prior to traveling (or in the middle of Kansas!) and offer your child the bluetooth earphones. It saves you from having to listen as well.

Zipper pencil pouches are great for organizing small items. These are my favorite type and have lasted decades. Some of Nathaniel’s things are stored in them. Anything Nathaniel related that I store in my car bag are also in a zipper pouch. The clear window is a lifesaver when you can’t remember where you put something.

More Tips
1. I packed one item from the building, make believe, games, and annoy the parents categories. Less can be better.

2. We keep travel activities in the car. We didn’t them inside when we arrived at our destination. This way they are fun again each time we get in the car. (Pack any toys you might need at the destination in your suitcase.)

3. An adult cleaned up, organized, and refreshened the organizer after an extended period in the car. We tolerated Nathaniel making it all a mess and throwing things on the floor. We felt his job was to stay busy and content, not tidy.

4. I kept a few of the things in my car bag to pull out when life in the car got rough. New things yielded more time and miles.

5. I filled snack tubs with items (and amounts) of my choice prior to the start of traveling each day. I allowed our son the freedom to pick when he ate the snacks. Giving a child this little opportunity to control their world goes a long way when they are expected to sit in a carseat for an extended time. The two compartment snack containers above allow a protein and carb in the same container.

6. I put only water in the travel cups. Everything else is messy.

7. I packed away travel toys when we returned home. I have a small plastic tub where I store the little books, Wiki Sticks, magnet and LED writing tablet, fart machine, mini squirt guns, small figurines, etc. Nathaniel does not have access to these things daily at home. Again, the new factor helps.

8. I shopped my house first. This curated list is to get you thinking and the result of what we’ve learned and gathered after parenting eight children. You don’t have buy new stuff. Look at my categories and your child’s toys for what could become travel specific. If you don’t have something for each category, that’s ok. Start with three categories. The key is to try to provide a variety of items for your child to engage with and not only coloring activities or only fidget toys or only books.

9. I intentionally purchase toys for traveling at times I would normally be buying a gift for our son. Stocking stuffers work great as travel toys and activities. I let him play with them for a few weeks after Christmas, and when interest wanes, I add the item to our hidden stash for the next trip. If you buy souvenirs while traveling, consider something that will remain a travel toy. We bought an animal finger puppet at a National Park store once, and it stayed with our travel activities for years. Target Dollar Spot and restaurant kids’ meals can also provide small toys to add to your travel items.

10. We interacted with our son a lot. Those books I brought thinking I would read the miles away came home unread. Going screen-free is teaching a new skill. Children often need support to learn new skills. If you can’t (or don’t want) to provide some guidance, save the goal of a screen-free trip for another time.

Occasionally I will reread my own blog posts six months or a year after writing them, and realize I need to implement my own advice. I suspect this post will become one of those. Our family’s interactions with screens is not a one-time and done experience. It is something we constantly monitor and adjust and work on. Let me know in comments what has worked for you to reduce screen time while traveling! I’m likely going to need new ideas myself in the future.

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