Busy Bag Activities Are Perfect For A Long Car Ride

Summer is here and for many including myself that means traveling. Family vacations can equal hundreds if not thousands of miles and that means memories will be made for in the future. Right? You know the memories that everyone has of going to Disney Land, Mount Rushmore or the zoo two states over. All if it can equal some amazing memories, a few to be had now and even more memories to fill in ten years from now.

Why do the memories always seem to get better as we age? Possibly because we become more nostalgic or actually realize what taking a family vacation means for our parents and the work they put into it. We are able to appreciate the vacation more, right? Well the truth of the matter is that over time we forget about the boredom in the car, the yelling from parent to child and the bickering between the kids. The constant bickering and the noise that never seems to end. I know I can’t be the only one that at times actually dreads the vacation because we cram everything we can into a few days and the kids are tired, whiny and the fighting just gets worse, along with the boredom of 2,000 miles in the car.

Use A Busy Bag Cooperative To Gain Several Bags At Once

With the help of Rebecca’s splendid ideas and a group of amazing women I feel like I will be a bit more armed to take on the summer driving and summer activities, this summer we will be using Busy Bags. Some would call them quiet bags but my boys are far from quiet while doing them and even others refer to them as church bags. No matter what you call them they will be helping me keep my sanity this summer, whether in the car or out. I will be stocking up every nook and cranny in my house with a couple of these bags, keeping a few special ones back for long road trips and keeping a few others in the Yukon for everyday use. I admit I am no stranger to the portable DVD player but we do use it sparingly so we have to be a little bit inventive when it comes to keeping the peace in the car.

So follow along with me for the next several weeks where I will be sharing several busy bag activities that I exchanged with 9 other women in the park today. By making this a cooperative effort I was able to bring home 9 different activities while still putting very little effort into the event. After all I think making 13 of the same activity is easier because I can fall into a routine and don’t have to buy all the supplies for different activities. By only needing the supplies for one activity 13 times I actually used up all the supplies I bought and didn’t have 9 different activities worth of open supplies wondering what am I going to do with that…

So this summer as you hit the road, church or just need some quiet time with occupied children I encourage these busy bags/quiet bags/church activities. Form a co-op like we did and get to exchanging, perhaps monthly to really get a large variety of bags and levels.

These free blog printables might be some help on the road this summer as well.  Remember that I laminate all of my blog printables with my Scotch Thermal Laminator so that they can easily be re-used.

How do you keep your kids happy in the car for long rides? Do you have a favorite game you play only in the car? Perhaps a favorite treat that is reserved just for long rides?