Spring Break is the perfect time for these grumble-crushing travel bags!

Remember car trips with your littles? “How much longer?” “He’s touching me!” “I’m bored!” Long trips + kids = grumbling 😬 These Grumble-Crushing Travel Bags are an easy, fun solution to keep little travelers busy, happy, and asking for less screen time.

If your grandkids are traveling this Spring Break, send them on their way with these grumble-crushers. Your kids will thank you and your grands just might forget that they’re trapped in the car! Fun activities, conversation starters, and (of course) simple reminders of God’s big love!

Do everything without grumbling or arguing…then you will shine like the stars.

PHILIPPIANS 2:14-15

1995: The Birth of Grumble-Crushing Bags

When our boys were growing up, we vacationed at Eagle Beach Resort in Park Rapids, Minnesota and we created some awesome memories! The catch? Traveling there required eight hours in the car each way and our first trip was when the kids were ages 1, 4, and 5. Needless to say, creativity was a must if we were to preserve our sanity, so in 1995 the Grumble-Crushing Travel Bags were born!

A few days before the trip, the boys painted paper bags that would be used to hold small surprises for the car ride: toys, activities to do in the car, snacks to eat, and/or wiggle-busting things to do at rest stops. Before leaving the driveway, we explained that every 90 minutes they would open one of their bags to get a surprise. We also explained that any grumbling would result in the timer starting over! Crazy enough, we never had to reset the timer because the boys were so excited to see what was in their bags. Pure magic!

How to Make Travel Bags for Your Grandkids

Step One: Plan & Print

Do some investigating. How long will it take your kids to drive to their destination? A full day? More than a day? How often will they stop along the way? Based on the answers, determine how many bags you will make and if each grandchild will open bags of their own or if they will share bags as a family – either is great!

Now it’s time to choose what you’ll put in each bag by browsing through the ideas provided in the free printable below. Keep in mind that GRANDMA gets to choose what goes in each bag – MOM & DAD get to decide when the bags get opened. Trying to micromanage this part of the fun only seems to add additional stress for your kids, which defeats the purpose entirely.

As you browse through the ideas, choose a variety of surprises (large motor activities for rest stops, conversation starters, snacks, and seat activities). Since your adult kids will know what’s in each bag, they won’t be taken by surprise and they will be able to choose the perfect bag at the perfect time.

Download the free printable, browse the Menu of Activities page and (once you decide which ones to include) print the corresponding pages.

The free Grumble-Crushing Travel Bag printable has everything you need to get started:

Step Two: Shop

TIP: If you have a Dollar Tree in town, it is an excellent place to start! I always take my list to the store and when I get home with the loot, I separate everything into gallon-size baggies – just until I’m ready to stuff the sacks.

Step Three: Decorate (Totally optional but very fun!)

Label each bag with a name (or names) and then spice-up the bags with some decorations. If your grands live nearby (or they are visiting and the bags are for the ride home) let them decorate their own bags ahead of time with crayons, paint, stickers, or anything else you have around the house. TIP: Have mercy on your adult kids by avoiding glitter! (Ask me how I know 🥸 Whoops!)

A few pictures of our decorating adventure are below. These two cuties were headed to Georgia to visit their Nanny and Papa, so I invited them over the week before, for a sleepover and some bag-painting. As they painted, I drew simple pictures with a black sharpie. They were thrilled and we had a lot of fun!

Step Four: Stuff & Tag the Bags

Now for the fun part: THE SURPRISES! stuff the bags with your chosen snacks and activities, close the tops to prevent peeking, and then attach the corresponding Bag Tag to the outside. For Bella and Sutton’s bags, I punched a hole through the bag and attached the tags with ribbon. This made it easy for their parents to easily see the tags and choose.

When I’ve done this for older grandkids, I put the tags inside the bags, number each bag, and give their parents a “key” with corresponding numbers.

Step Five: Deliver

Put all of your Grumble-Crushing Travel Bags in a large gift bag or box – something that won’t take up too much space in the car and can be easily thrown away or used to store bag contents after opening. This serves two purposes: (1) No bags sliding around the car and (2) Tags are tucked away from the little eyes that can already read! When you drop the bags off (or put them in the mail) tell your grandkids that you are giving them some surprises for their road trip and that Mom and Dad are in charge of when they get to open each one.

Success!

Bella and Sutton loved their Grumble-Crushers, and Mom & Dad enjoyed having a few diversions along the way. One of my favorite stories is that Bella saved the quarters that she earned on the trip to buy a new plastic pool for her backyard! She even paid for the pool herself by plugging LOTS of coins into the Walmart’s self-checkout machine. I love that! Here are a few photos of their fun:

Lessons in Hindsight

First, less may be more. Because Mom & Dad surprised Bella and Sutton with a couple movies for the DVD player in the car, there was less downtime to open bags. Hindsight says that sending 3-4 bags each would have been sufficient for their 16-hour drive. That said, the unopened bags weren’t wasted because they were used a few weeks later on a shorter trip.

Second, 10 bendy sticks (pipe cleaners) are enough. Bella loved the bendy straws more than any other surprise, but including a whole package made them difficult for her to manage in her car seat.

Third, 3-year-olds don’t need quarters. When Sutton opened his roll of quarters (explained in the download), he immediately dumped them all over his car seat. Whoops! A better and safer option for little ones is to put dollar bills in their tubes, instead of quarters.

Free Download

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Check out the Grumble-Crushing Snack Attack also!