To keep my daughter entertained on our RV road trip, I decided to put together a fun road trip binder chock-full of printables and activities! I've been so excited to get this all put together so that I can share it with all of you. If you're planning on taking a vacation anytime soon (and even if you're not), get your printer ready so you can put one of these road trip binders together for your kids, too!!
Let's start with the beginning: first, you'll need a binder. I would recommend the sturdier binders with clear pockets on the front. I found mine at WalMart for around $1.00, and they come in all kinds of colors. If you have multiple children, I'd recommend getting them their own binders in different colors so everyone knows which binder is theirs. I've also designed a page to put inside the cover pocket in 6 different colors. Print a different one (or your child's favorite) for their binder and leave it as-is or let your kids write their names and decorate their own cover!
(single PDF file with 6 different color schemes)
I put two clear binder pencil pouches in the front of the binder. At first I had a tough time finding these, but you can find them for around a dollar or two at places like Staples and Office Max. Other stores may carry them, too, so check the school supply sections and you might find them. I found the blue one at a Smith's MarketPlace.
I used one pouch for dry erase markers, pens, colored pencils and a small pencil sharpener. The second pencil pouch was turned into a travel I Spy bag by simply filling it with colorful beads, decorative buttons, and other small items.
*The best tip I can give for making an I Spy bag is to get a pencil pouch that has at least one side that is crystal clear. A pencil pouch like the one I filled with markers and colored pencils was too cloudy to be able to see the I Spy items.
Purchase a package of clear plastic pages to fit the binder to hold all the fun activity printables that can make the long trips a lot more fun! All the printables listed here are FREE to you, and you can print out multiple copies or your kids can use the dry erase markers right on the plastic pages so they can do the activities over and over.
(not pictured here)
(not pictured here)
I've also created a Hangman game for the kids to play! Simply choose your word, and draw a dash for each letter. Cross the letters off the alphabet at the bottom as the other player guesses. Fill in the letters of the word if they guess a correct letter, and start drawing a stick man for every incorrect letter guess. If the player guesses the word first, they win! If you draw a complete stick man before the word is guessed, the player loses.
I found the mazes from Krazy Dad. There is such an awesome collection of free printable mazes in tons of shapes for every level!! Such a great way to add more activities to the binder.
My daughter also loves to color, so I found these adorable Free Fairy Tale Color by Number Addition Pages from The Measured Mom! She will have so much fun coloring these pages and it's also a great way for her to practice her addition skills while we're taking a break from school. I also found more free printable coloring pages online to include for when she wants to just color.
And lastly, since we will be traveling through at multiple states, I wanted to teach my daughter some fun facts about each state we'll be passing through. Crayola has a fantastic collection of state (and country) coloring printables including state flags, birds, and other fun facts. I printed out a page for each state we will be visiting as well as one for the entire USA so she can color each state on the map!
*Artsy-Fartsy Mama printables are for PERSONAL USE ONLY.
*You may NOT modify, re-sell, redistribute, or claim the design as your own.
*Please do not remove the credits/watermarks.
*If you want to share any of the printables on the internet (please do!), credit must be given to Artsy-Fartsy Mama & linked back to this post.
We're so excited for our road trip and to share the details with you soon!! Where are you taking a vacation this year?
Such a great idea! I love that it's all contained. And also that you could switch out and add more pages as she finished and got bored with pages.
ReplyDeleteThat is such a fantastic idea!
ReplyDeleteI totally love these ideas! I had never thought of making an I-Spy bag like that! I bought all the beads, buttons, and different things to look for in an i-spy bag, but never got around to sewing one. This is much better! We have lots of road trips planned starting later this month and these will be great ideas to use!
ReplyDeleteThis binder is amazing! I wish I had this when my guys were little!
ReplyDeleteThese are great! I did a similar thing when my kids were younger and they loved it!
ReplyDeleteThis is seriously so smart! I will definitely be using this in the future.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great idea. I don't have very young children anymore but I sure could have used something like this for long road trips. We just brought along, snacks, a notebook or coloring book and crayons. Sharing with other moms of young children!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea - we love road trips, so I'm going to try this next time!
ReplyDeleteI love this! Such a great idea
ReplyDeleteI just came back from a 20 hour road trip with two kids and I wish I had this!! I'm definitely doing this for the next road trip.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! Ypu are a life saver I have 6 kids. This is going to save our trip!
ReplyDeleteThis is great for traveling to beaches as I have a 5 year old who loves this
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteLove all the ideas! Thank you for sharing. However, you might want to look into the backstory of hangman and trade it in for something else. It has hugely racist undertones to it. In my classroom, we build something seasonal, flowers, snowmen, etc. When it's built, the game is over :-)
ReplyDelete