Travel Guides Road Trips
Nicole Findlay
Vacationing with kids is magical, but traveling to and from final destinations can be rough. Road trips are often long, and at some point, little ones will inevitably complain about being bored or hungry — and possibly both simultaneously. Enter the snack necklace. A self-explanatory treat, the snack necklace not only entertains young minds but also provides an ever-important road trip essential: snacks. So, what makes these necklaces perfect for your next road trip with kids?
Easy to make and fun to devour, this fun craft encourages motor development for tiny fingers and provides valuable amusement, making it a great activity for road-tripping with toddlers. And the joy doesn’t stop at tiny tykes. Older children will also love the creativity (and taste) of their very own colorful snack necklaces. In fact, there’s no age limit here. Parents are welcome to join in on the fun! All you need is a string and a selection of snacks.
How to make a snack necklace for a road trip
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Making snack necklaces is fun for all ages, no matter the occasion, but especially in anticipation of road trips. And while it is definitely faster to make them yourselves, why not let the kids make their own multicolored pieces of edible jewelry? A great way to do this is to prep a piece of string. Pick a single round piece, like a Cheerio, and knot the cereal as a base to keep the following pieces from falling off. Provide a bag with a variety of snacks — anything with a hole in it works — and let little ones’ creativity run wild as they select one piece after the other, add it to the sting, and create their new favorite necklaces. When final products are complete, tie them loosely so kids can pull them on and off their own heads. Munching has never been so much fun!
Parents can select a range of salty, sugary, and healthy snacks. Everything from pretzels and O-shaped cereal to cookies and dried fruit will fit the bill. Kids will love the variety of shapes, sizes, and textures.
Other ways to have kids’ snacks handy on road trips
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The snack necklace is the perfect way to keep snacks handy on road trips, but parents might find other culinary tips helpful when road-tripping with kids. To keep the car mess-free on a road trip, avoid anything with crumbs, such as most crackers. Try mess-free snacks like grapes, cheese, and fruit snacks. Give each child a container with snacks to enjoy during the road trip. Shower caddies work great for this because of their many dividers.
Packing individual lunchboxes is another tip to keep kids’ snacks handy in the car. It’s easy to portion and will be familiar to little ones. It’s also air-tight, so food left inside won’t cause unwanted smells throughout the vehicle. A cooler bag is also a good idea for long car rides with perishable snacks. No matter how long the journey, how many kids are piled into the backseat, or how many pit stops families make along the way, handy snacks are essential to any road trip.
