Call us crazy but my husband and I love doing big trips and taking our kids with us. In fact, in the next two months we are leaving the country with our baby and our toddler twice. And the baby? He’s easy. The toddler on the other hand? Much more work! Here’s what we do to make traveling with our toddler easier:
1) Pack easy outfits – for us this means dresses and rompers galore. No having to find the matching set we just grab a one piece and go, which also means less laundry. It helps that our toddler only wants to wear dresses!
2) Stock up on easy toys – window clings, coloring books, little packs of crayons, whatever you think will keep your toddler occupied whether in a hotel room, in the car, or on a plane. You can usually find some great little toys at the dollar store that are perfect for traveling!
3) Make sure your iPad is charged – never leave for a trip without a charge iPad, or whatever other tablet you use. Also make sure you’ve downloaded plenty of your child’s favorite TV shows and any games that they love can run when not connected to the internet.
4) All the snacks – don’t skimp on the snacks. Even if you’re road tripping and planning to stop and eat make sure you bring plenty of snacks because you know your toddler will get hungry when there is nothing around.
5) Bring a Travel Buddy – before our most recent trip and in preparation of our big upcoming trips I wanted to get Maddie Grace a travel buddy to take with us so that she could have him on the road as a reminder of home and thought it would be fun for her to get some pictures of him in front of different landmarks. So we headed to Build-A-Bear Workshop so she could help make one herself to make it extra special. I actually wasn’t sure if my 2 year old would be old enough to understand it, but she loved the whole experience!
First we picked out a bear. I fully expected Maddie Grace to go for the princess bear or the Peppa Pig doll, but she actually wanted the traditional Build-A-Bear bear! We had the option of adding scent or sound but Maddie Grace wasn’t very interested in those, but what she absolutely loved was putting the heart in the bear. She still talks about that every time she is hanging out with ‘Teddy’ as we named him and says how she “put his heart in his tummy!” very proudly. Next MG was able to step on the pedal to fill Teddy up with plush, and pick out an outfit for him. And out of all the outfits, she picked out a Georgia football outfit one, which should tell you she is being raised well. She actually gets really upset when he isn’t wearing his football outfit and insists he needs his clothes.
Now Teddy gets to come with us on our trips and all around Atlanta so he is a constant friend to have by her side no matter where we are! He is a toy for the kids, a comfort thing, and just a lot of fun. Because every kid needs a Teddy Build-A-Bear Workshop is hosting National Teddy Bear Day this year with a limited edition teddy bear for only $5 (plus applicable taxes) and only in store on September 9th! Two other bears, Lil’ Vanilla Bean Cub and Lil’ Hazelnut Cub, will also be available for $5 each, and guests can purchase a maximum of 5 bears for $5! For each $5 bear purchased Build-A-Bear will donate one furry friend to Toys for Tots in the US. Find the Build-A-Bear Workshop closest to you and learn more about National Teddy Bear Day here!
Join in on the National Teddy Bear Day fun with the Twitter party taking taking place Thursday September 8th from 9-10 PM EST. Make sure to RSVP here! Want a way to enter another $100 gift card to Build-A-Bear workshop? One of my lucky readers will be sent one to get a travel buddy for their tot! Enter below and good luck!
$100 Build-A-Bear Workshop Gift Card
*This is a sponsored post on behalf of Build-A-Bear Workshop. Regardless all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Such great tips I will definitely try with my baby girl who is 16 months. We love to travel as a family!
Such great tips! We just got back from a two-week trip in seaside (12+ hour drive), easy toys and dresses were key!
I love this article! My son just turned 2 and we went to build a bear for the first time a month ago and he loved it, it would be great to take him back again!!
these are great tips!! gotta have a snuggly thing when you travel with a kiddo!
I would get bears for my grandsons.
I would get a bear for my sweet new grandson. Thanks for the chance.
ahhh how cute are the bears! great post!!!
Oh my gosh I would get my beautiful granddaughter a bear if I won!
I would get a bear for my nephew! He’s 2 and hasn’t had a Build a Bear yet.
My nephew would love a Build a Bear!
I would let me toddler pick her own bear out! She’d love it!
I would get a bear for my two sons. Thanks so much.
I would get a Bear for my daughter! She would love it.
I would get a bear for my twins!
It would be so fun for my big guy to make a bear for our baby boy #2! Love your family shot with your football fans 🙂
Love reading your blog and my daughter loves build-a-bear. She would love to make a special travel buddy for our upcoming cruise in November.
I would get this bear for my granddaughter
I would get a bear for my daughter.
I love build a bear. Definitely need to take Sam on the 9th.
I would get a bear for my son and daughter.
I would get a bear for my grandson.
I’d maybe get one for myself 😉
I would love to win this for my niece(:
I have triplet boys. They have never been to Build A Bear. I would get one for them.
My Daughter!!
I would get it for my youngest daughter
I would get it for my daughter
I would get a bear for my youngest daughter.
I would get a bear for my niece.
For my nephew!
I would give the bear to my son.
I’d love to get a bear for my 3 year old and 9 month old to snuggle with on long car rides!
My daughters (3 and 9months) would love to cuddle with some bears!
I would get the bear for my 16 month old granddaughter.
I would love to make or have my son make a sweet teddy bear.
I’d get one for my little boy
My daughter:)
Id love to give this to my daughter so she can go pick out a bear. she would have so much fun
I would love to take my middle daughter to get her own. Her older sister went last year for the first time for a B-day party and loved it.
I would get for my son
I would get one for my grandson!
I would let my 2 girls that are 2 ( Avery) and 4 ( Mya) pick out an animal and dress it up I took Mya when she was really little to build an Air Force bear! I think both girls would like this!
I would get a bear for my youngest.
I would take my son and daughter to Build a Bear to pick out their favorite.
jweezie43[at]gmail[dot]com
I would get a bear for my son.
Laurie Emerson
I would get a bear for my new niece~
I’d get a bear for my little brother to show him that I love him.
My son and his wife are expecting their first child so I would gift this to their baby
I would get my youngest Son Thor a bear!
I would get a bear for my nieces!
I would take my daughter there to create her first bear!
I would surprise my niece with a bear
I would be hard-pressed to choose among the grandbebes, but the youngest is Makayla and she LOVES the Build-a-Bear she already has, so I think she’d be happy to get her a brother or a sister!