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My family makes some of our best memories on road trips! You never know exactly what is going to happen when everyone piles into the car for a journey that may last for days. We try to make the “getting there” part as enjoyable as possible. We have partnered with Amazon to share tips for how to keep kids happy on a family road trip.

All of my best tips and tricks for keeping the kids happy on a family road trip can be summed up in 4 words: Snacks, Breaks, Entertainment, and Snacks.

Okay, so that’s really only 3 words, but snacks are so important for us that I feel like I should say it twice! If you have ever been cooped up in a car with hangry kids, you know snacks are crucial to everyone’s survival.

How To Keep Kids Happy On a Family Road Trip

Snacks. Snacks are road trip essentials. Pack a cooler with a variety of your child’s favorite snacks and drinks. Snack times are something kids can look forward to the road trip.

Breaks. Stop regularly for breaks. Kids feel better when they have the chance to stretch and use up some of their energy. It’s a good idea to plan to take break at least every 2 hours along the way.

As you map out your road trip route, take note of parks, rest areas, or other stopping places where the kids may have opportunities to run around and play. Give kids at least 10-15 minutes of time to move around before getting back into the car.

Entertainment. I travel with four children and hands down the easiest way to keep them all happily entertained is with a tablet.

A tablet lets kids bring their favorite books, games, apps, movies and TV shows without taking up space. Plus, kids can enjoy using their tablet to take photos and videos all along the way.

AMAZON FIRE KIDS EDITION TABLET

We have the Amazon Fire 7 Kids Edition tablet. The tablet arrives in a lightweight Kid-Proof Case so it’s pretty much ready to hand over to the kids. Before handing it over, go on to the device to set kids time usage limits, content access, and educational goals.

It’s easy to manage the settings on the Amazon Fire Kids Edition tablet. I set up a profile for both of my kids who will be using the tablet. Setting up different children’s profiles lets them see content relevant to their age and interests. Parents can manage tablet settings anytime through the FreeTime App on the parents profile.

With LearnFirst, I set up our kid’s tablet so the kids must use educational apps or read books for at least 30 minutes before playing games or accessing other content on the device. My kids also have daily tablet time usage limits, so the device automatically locks when their screen time is up. I also set their device to turn off an hour before bedtime so the kids can’t use the tablet at night.

Download FreeTime Content To Use On The Go, Without WiFi!

Both the Fire 7 Kids Edition tablet and Fire HD 8 Kids Edition tablet come with one year of FreeTime Unlimited (a $129 value!) FreeTime Unlimited gives kids access to 15,000 popular kid-friendly apps and games, videos, books, and educational content from PBS Kids, Nickelodeon, Disney, and more. FreeTime Unlimited content is for kids ages 3 to 12 years old.

My boys have found endless entertainment on Amazon’s FreeTime Unlimited. They love to play Star Wars and LEGO apps, watch PBS Kids Wild Kratts videos, and use the camera to take photos and videos to edit in FreeTime.

The kids take their tablets on pretty much all of our road trips. Tablet accessories can really help out when we are on the go.

Must Have Kids Tablet Accessories For Travel 

Kids Headphones: Headphones are awesome! They let the kids hear their tablet without everyone around them having to listen, too.

Headrest Mount: Attach a Fire Kids Edition tablet to the back of your vehicle’s headrest. A mount holds the tablet for easy, hands-free viewing.

Fire Kids Edition tablet Sleeve: Kids can easily carry their tablet with them in a protective sleeve that can also hold chargers and other accessories.

microSD Card: Add up to 256GB of storage to your Kids Edition tablet with a microSD card so you can have room for even more movies, TV shows, music, photos, personal videos, and apps.

Don’t let the FOKDT (Fear of Kids Dropping Tablets) keep you from getting one. Every Fire Kids Edition tablet comes with a 2-year Worry Free Guarantee. If they break it, Amazon will replace it for free, no questions asked.

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Where To Buy a Fire Kids Edition Tablet

The Fire 7 Kids Edition tablet and the Fire HD 8 Kids Edition tablet are available for online purchase at Amazon.