How to Travel With Kids – Hassle Free

Are you taking a vacation anytime soon? Do you dread the “are we there, yet?” question? Well, you’re in luck…I have a free printable travel binder to the rescue. Use this download to start building your own travel binder. See how you can travel with kids – hassle free.

When you make your binder, have fun creating the covers and dividers. Invite your kiddos to design their own. Your little ones will take great pride in showing off his/her creation.

This printable e-book is perfect for whatever mode of transportation; so if you are packing up the car or RV, traveling by air, by train or even taking a cruise … begin by packing a travel binder.

Prepare ahead of time, then pack the binder first…It will save your sanity. At least it saved mine.

When my step-daughter was little, we traveled a lot by car. I made her first travel binder to keep her from being bored. Originally it included games and worksheets to help reinforce what she was learning … without her really knowing she was learning. I know sly trick, but don’t all moms do this? {grin}

Because we were on a budget, I “shopped” at home to build my binder. You can do the same.

Make one travel binder for each kid

Try to customize it to make it special for them.

• Reuse a 1” binder that you already have on hand
• Print the front and back cover on cardstock (I shopped in my scrapbook paper)
  • Be sure to customize the front cover with your child’s name and use their favorite color ink
    –or- have them design or color the front cover
• Print the binder label and divider tabs on card stock
  • Customize the divider tabs
  • Add your child’s name or a title to the binder label (e.g. trip to Disney, a vacation to grandma’s, RV’ing across the south)
• Include extra page protectors to store souvenirs, maps, or tickets

Add your own ideas

• The binder should be age appropriate to keep the little ones interested
• Create games that the kids can play together (hangman)
• Create homemade games and use sealable bags to hold the pieces
  think checkers. Create a homemade board and use foam pieces for the game. If you lose a piece, it’s easily replaceable.
• Shopping your home for supplies (visit the craft room, the homeschool room, and even the sewing kit…you never know what you might find)

The binder was a life saver for our travels, and my stepdaughter used it on many trips.
What you will get
Make as many copies as you need and don’t forget to make extra copies for the trip home.

• Instructions
• Front and back cover
  • use the front cover as a coloring page
• Binding label and tabs (both customizable)
  • cut out the tabs and tape to page protector or cardstock to create a divider
• Travel Bingo (4 different pages)
• Tic-Tac-Toe (a whole page of ready to play grid) (And who doesn’t love tic-tac-toe?)
• Draw a picture/journal page
  • Intended for school-aged children to capture a memory or story about their travels. Also a great journaling opportunity for everyone
  • Print the journal page on cardstock (1 per person, for each place you will visit…and some extras just in case you see the big ball of twine)
  • Along the way, have each person journal a favorite memory or story. The bigger kids can help write the story for the little kids
  • After the trip, print out all those selfies and add to the top of the matching page
  • Put all the pages together, take them to the local copy center and have the pages bound into a book
    Instant scrapbook!

Get the Travel Bingo Here >>

I encourage you to create your own pages, worksheets, and games. Include the kids, you might be surprised how creative their ideas and suggestions turn out.

I hope that the binder is a hit with your family. If you have bigger kids and they are using smartphones and tablets, a gift card to load a new application or download a book is a good idea too.

P.S. don’t forget to have the bigger kids share their pictures and journal their memories too.

Mimi is the face, voice, writer and blogger behind The Texas Homemaker. A wife, step-mother, daughter, sister, friend, auntie, teacher and share-er of all things creative. Mimi is social and you can find her on several social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

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