Have Blind Bags, Will Travel

How to keep kids entertained WITHOUT technology.

If you have children, chances are you are going to take a long trip, in a car, at some point. It can save a lot of money and it can also be a fun family bonding experience. I remember back to my childhood taking our annual family vacation to the beach and loving spending time in the car with my family. Why? Because my mom always made it fun! We had snacks, listened to music and sang...horribly, and my mom always had several blind bags handy. They were full of awesome little games, toys, and treats. I absolutely loved them as a kid and really looked forward to our trips because of them. Now as an adult, I make blind bags for my own kids! It's a fun way to keep the kids entertained without the use of technology! 

First things first, when we are on a road-trip, snacks are a must! The only problem was they kept dropping their toys and their snacks and either my husband or myself were turning into contortionist trying to retrieve the dropped item. So, I turned to Pintrest (where else!) and found that a lot of people were using baking trays. I decided to make my own version of baking trays and added dry-erase sticky paper, and a pocket to hold their toys/snacks. I have used these same trays for about 3 years now and they are still in excellent condition.

I love the blind bags, but they can get costly, especially if you have multiple children. I tend to search the dollar/bargain sections at stores and grab something whenever I find them. Some things I found this year were: Shopkins sticker and stamp books, felt memory cards, wooden superhero girls, game tins with magnets (can also stick to the baking tray!) road trip bingo cards (can use these over and over again!) mini Flipazoo's, and mini Hatchimal/Trolls diaries with a lock and pen. All of these items cost less than $3.00 each and a few were less than $1.00! Since my girls are so close in age, I tend to just by 2 of everything to avoid conflict.

I also tend to buy one or two large items for the girls to play with. One thing we always buy is Crayola Mess Free coloring packs. The girls love to color and they are amazed by the "magic" markers that show up only on the "magic" paper. In addition to these, since we are taking a beach vacation, I got the girls each Barbie Dreamtopia Faries with multiple outfits, including a mermaid tail! Our girls are really into Barbies right now so this will be perfect and keep them busy by changing their doll over and over again. These items were less than $8.00 each.

I put a toy or two, depending on how much I bought and the length of the trip, in a brown paper bag with a few treats like a granola bar, lollipop, grapes, etc. I pre-pack and label each bag and hand them to the girls whenever they start to get a little antsy. Some bags will keep them busy for a couple of hours while other bags will only entertain them for 20 minutes, so use your best judgment on how often you distribute your bags. 

In addition to the blind bags, I also bring books they can read on their own or at least look at the pictures, dry erase markers, play-dough (to be used on the tray- check out my homemade recipe in a post tomorrow!) leveled activity books, "homeschool" work, a stapled packet of white paper for the girls to make their own books, and a pencil pouch full of pencils, crayons, and markers. I put them in their tray pockets and they generally play with these right away. I also bring their favorite stuffed animal, a small blanket, and travel pillow.

I will add that I do bring their tablets and headphones, but we usually do not need them. The only time we did use them was during a 16 hour trip that turned into a nearly 20 hour trip due to the highway getting shut down during a multi-car accident. We are not anti-technology by any means but part of going on vacation, for us is unplugging and I'd like to avoid it if possible. I am a parent, and sometimes I just need some peace and quiet, these blind bags definitely do the trick! The kids love them and mama gets the quiet time she needs. "Why do you think I started making the blind bags in the the first place?" my mother recently asked. "So you would be quiet for 5 minutes so I could talk to your dad. It was never actually for you, it was for our sanity!"

Brittany Paige

I am a 6th grade teacher, mom, and currently working on my first novel. If you would like to connect, you can follow me on Twitter @BrittPaigeBooks or follow my blog!