Family Fun on the Road - Tips for RVing with Kids
Road trips and RVing with kids can be a fun and memorable experience, but it can also be challenging to keep them entertained and engaged. This blog post will provide you with 29 tips for making your next road trip or RVing adventure with kids a success. From keeping kids entertained on long drives to budget-friendly activities and games, these tips will help you make the most out of your trip, keep your kids happy and make it a fun experience for the whole family. Whether you're planning a short weekend getaway or a cross-country adventure, this guide will help you make the most of your time on the road with your kids.
Planning
Involving your kids, especially your teen, in the planning/reservation stage of any trip gives them the feeling of being a part of the collective group, it makes them feel seen and heard, and helps build their own excitement even if they sometimes don’t want to admit it. With a kid of any age, it implants something magical into their imagination with the knowledge that they can follow wanderlust and see or do anything.
My big kids enjoy being included in the dreaming stage of RV trip planning. I like to throw out ideas of where to next and get their input. We often head to the library to get some travel books and start flipping through all the glossy pictures and get excited.
Tip: We love to take them places they recently learned about in school, especially when learning about geology, here in Colorado we have so many amazing examples.
If you don’t have a specific destination in mind, ask your kids where they want to go. Pull out a map of the area of the state/country you want to go to. What do they want to see? You never know where you’ll end up.
Put someone in charge of creating and maintaining the camping planner. Even in this day in age, we print everything and rely on our cell phones for nothing. We have learned this the hard way with dead batteries and poor signal.
Involve your big kids in the small planning as well - ask them to plan an activity. Usually, your 5-year-old is going to request ice cream or a park, then show them on Google maps how to find one with good reviews and exactly where it is. That way they can get a better feel for where you’re going. And if your 12-year-old requests bungee jumping, well that’s your call, but it could be awesome!
Or have them find a fun hike or scenic bike path at your destination - I like using library books and Pinterest is GREAT for this. I know when I suggest a hike to one of my kids and I get a blank stare I can show him pictures of the waterfall along the path or the proposition of wildlife sightings and he magically comes around.
Think of fun ways to countdown with the kids to get them excited for your next adventure. We love watching movies about the area we’re about to see.
Packing
Make your lists and check them twice. Or three times. Packing. Inventory.
Don’t forget comfort items - blankets, specific sippy cups, favorite pillows or toys are all good items to bring for feeling at home or for fussy times. P.S. this is definitely not the time to break your kids of a bad habit like a pacifier, it will ruin your trip and quiet time for the people around you.
Snacks! For times when you’re on the road or someone is cranky at the campground, it’s the perfect time to whip out a favorite snack and calm down the kids. From first-hand experience, this works from toddlers to teenagers.
Give them their own packing list - for your toddlers, have them pack their own “fun bag”, a backpack with everything they think they need on vacation. Try to give them freedom on this and not criticize choices, that’s why I like to keep it to backpack size so the giant teddy bear can’t come too. As they get older, add more items to the list, like their shoes and jacket. By 6 or 7 give them a full packing list and then “help” them complete the list with some “just in case” items like you really do need underwear. By 10 my kids could be trusted to pack their own bag with the list I made for them and not make huge mistakes. But if they did have oversight, they learned from their lessons, like my 9-year-old who decided to go against my advice and only brought shorts to the mountains in October, luckily no snow was in the immediate forecast.
Have the kids help load up the RV - at a minimum, big kids need to put away their own clothes and toys in their designated spots. If you’re picky about where things go then ask them to bring things from the house to a staging area for you to put away as you see fit. Or if you don’t really worry about bread ending up with the toothpaste then allow them to find a home for the stuff. In the end, this helps you with all those “do you know where ______________ is?” moments.
On the Road
This moment can set the mood for your entire trip. Make a game plan with yourself or your partner for how you want to accomplish the getting there segment. For the most part, you should know what makes things go smoothly in your family and where you run into trouble. Try your best to plan ahead to avoid issues. However, it’s always a good time to remind everyone that things break, traffic happens, and getting there safely is best.
Do NOT push the road trip hours and hours just for the sake of progress. Try to keep drive time between 3-5 hours. Make lots of stops at rest areas on the longer days. When we had little kids I would spread out a big picnic blanket on the grass, unpack our pre-made lunch, and let them crawl or run around. Now our kids are used to getting out of the car for stretching and running with the dog. Bonus points if you can find a rest stop with a playground - thank you middle-of-nowhere Wyoming for your playground and toilets.
Tip: There are times when we break the driving time rule and choose to go 10-12 hours, in those cases we will drive overnight so the kids can sleep. Since I’m a night owl and my husband is used to night shift work, this is a good option for us. Whoever is driving will put one of their AirPods into one ear with music or a podcast and allow everyone else peace and quiet. Driving at night is far less stressful with clear roads and a nice break from the heat during the summer.
Remember the snacks you packed? Time to hand them out freely to avoid hangry kids. Our boys don’t get a lot of candy, but I stumbled upon YumEarth Lollipops and treats years ago, the vitamin C pops are yummy and no artificial ingredients make me feel a little better about the sugar. These are the best to whip out when things start getting dicey in the backseat.
Entertain the way that works for your family - if you want to ban devices from the car, do it. Listen to a family-friendly podcast or audiobook instead. Play car games like the good old days. If your kids behave better with a movie or screen time, go for it. No one is right, no one is wrong on this issue.
For us, our kids know that when our RV is hooked up to the truck they have unlimited screen time on their devices (they must choose to bring only one device and they don’t have cell phones). And again, we keep our drive days fairly short. Then once we’ve unhooked the RV their devices get put away and it becomes family time. This also prevents them from bringing devices on scenic drives or “just 20 minutes” times while heading to that day’s destination. P.S. Don’t forget their headphones!
Take time to talk about campground etiquette - many families, especially new RVers forget or don’t really take the time to talk about this with their kids. There are lots of unwritten rules about campgrounds that we should all try to respect. Probably number one is reminding the kids not to walk through someone else’s site, especially without asking.
About 10 minutes before arriving at the campground go over the expectations of duties and what’s about to happen while getting set up.
At the Campground
Do not sweat the small stuff and teach compromise.
Keep setup safety in mind - when we had toddlers and it was time to set up at camp, the kids were not allowed out of their carseats until everything was safe, including the camper being level and unhitched. As they got into elementary school and were more vocal about wanting out of the car, the rule changed and they could get out, but they had to sit on top of the picnic table and not move. And now with big kids (and a teenager), they are encouraged to help us get set up. Years of experience and teaching have shown them how to be safe and the best way to help.
Tip: I almost always try to book a campsite right next to the playground - this is a great alternative for antsy kids when getting set up and safety are your major concern. We always have walkie-talkies on hand so the kids get one and they head off to play and get some energy out while we focus on setup.
Assign jobs to help keep your RV life running smoothly - one of our kids is responsible for our dog, getting her food and water set out, and making sure it’s always full and ready for her. Another is in charge of sweeping, vacuuming, and disinfecting counters throughout our stay. And the third kid takes out the trash and recycle when it’s ready as well as helping with whatever pops up throughout the day.
HAVE FUN! We love playing different games at the campground. Here are a few of our favorites.
Be prepared - other families at the campground will not have the same sleep schedule as yours - if your kiddos head to bed early, like ours, then you’ll need to drown out the noise around you. The best way to do this is with a bedtime playlist on your phone and a Bluetooth speaker.
If you have early risers grab your coffee and stroller for a few loops around the campground in the morning hours. This is great advice I heard from other seasoned pros and only wish I knew it back when we had littles. But since our kids still wake with the sun, we grab a coffee, they grab scooters, and we go for LONG morning walks with whispers. P.S. this would also work for the witching hour with any other grown-up beverage and a small treat for the kiddo - like a lollipop or favorite snack.
Bathing - if you need a bathtub for your little one and only have a shower, do not worry. For little ones, under a year or two I always bathed them on the picnic table in a Rubbermaid pan like this. I was bathed this way as a baby while camping and my own kids loved it as well. For toddlers, we moved up in size and placed a tote like this directly into the RV shower which made filing and dumping even easier.
Find a schedule that works for you - we fell into a schedule that works out really well for our family back when we still had to think about naptime. Our kids literally wake up with the sun so we can always get an early start to the day. We get going ahead of the crowds for sightseeing or hiking or whatever we planned, have a late lunch (usually out at a restaurant), then head back to camp for naps, which has now evolved to kid time at the campground. Kid time is doing what they love, like swimming, playing on the playground, riding bikes, and mini-golf - this gives them anticipation to get through something they may not find as interesting and good leverage for us to keep them on their best behavior. After kid time we make dinner at camp, bathe, and get ready for tomorrow’s early start.
On the other hand, my younger sister in her teenage years was not a morning person. My parents wanted to enjoy their vacation as well and felt it was unnecessary to poke the bear. So they decided as early risers they would take their coffee outside, enjoy each other's company, and allow my sister to wake up mostly on her own terms. Then they got going later in the morning. This worked out for all three of them and no one was forced to do anything to start the day off on the wrong foot. It is completely different than us but works out just as well.
Heading Home
Going back home can be sad for some kids, but it’s nice to talk about the memories made and possibly start dreaming of other trips to take. I like to order picture printing from an app on my phone on the way back home so the prints show up not long after us. We also make little scrapbooks like this to remember our trips.
The night before departure is a good time to remind the kids about car rules and expectations. We pull out the map book or GPS and explain where we’ll be stopping for breaks, how long the drive will take, and what to expect. Our kids relate best when we explain the drive time in ways they can understand, for example, we will be driving for as long as it takes to go to Grandma’s house or as long as it is from the start of school to lunchtime.
When packing up camp we treat it just like the setup - the kids need to be in a certain spot so they don’t get hurt and we can make sure everything is hooked up safely. Every once in a while I will overhear a parent barking orders or yelling at their kids during the takedown and I know that none of us want to be that parent. Having a good plan that works for your family is an easy solution. With big kids, we usually allow them to go off and play at the playground and call them back with their walkie-talkies. When they were little we would tag team - I would prepare the inside of our RV for travel (with most of it done the night before) while Dad fed them breakfast. Then once I was done we swapped and I played or walked around with them while Dad got everything taken down. Once it’s time to hook up the trailer everyone needs to be in their seats.
There are many ways to travel in your RV and when you find the ways that work for your family then you have a head start to a smooth ride. If you’re new to all this and just starting your RV journey remember to have patience with yourself and your kids. Every time you head out it will get easier and you’ll figure it out. If you have any other ideas to share please leave them in the comments or feel free to contact us with any questions.
