road trip activity basket for a toddler

We headed out on a road trip to Tennessee and Georgia to see family and enjoy some warmer temperatures this past weekend. And although we travel a lot between VA and DC with Birdie we've never taken her on a drive quite this long. She'a also in this in-between stage where she likes crayons and puzzles and the like but her attention span is still only about five to ten minutes (at most) with any of those activities. 

When packing her activity basket I decided to combat it the best way I knew how with kiddos - NEW. I picked up things over the course of a few weeks that I knew she would enjoy and hid them from her. Some new books for her to flip through, a dry erase board and crayons and a few new toys. I also packed plenty of snacks. Although at home I have been trying to be better about cutting out her snacks or at least substituting them with fruit or veggies I knew all bets would be off on the drive. I still managed to find some remotely healthy items at our local COOP like the oatmeal "snackimals" you see above and some Ella's pouches (I got the ones that are heartier and have veggies in them, not just fruit). And of course as a last resort we downloaded a few shows for her on my Kindle. 

We left right during her nap time so she slept for a good hour and then I can happily say her basket kept her entertained and occupied right up until we made it to our destination! I was so proud of her for how well she did, after all even papa bear and I were itching to get out of the car at that point! 

I just thought I'd share in case any of you were looking for ideas, I know I always love posts like these from my fellow mamas because I'll take all the ideas, advice and suggestions I can get!