*This post was written as part of our brand ambassadorship with Studio, and items were gifted. All words and opinions are my own.
With the summer holidays here, many families are heading off on their summer jollies and for lots of us - that means long car journeys ahead with little ones in tow!
Since my children have started to get a bit older, the days of snoozing babies and long peaceful drives are long behind us - replaced with constant bickering, screams of "He touched my arm rest!!" (the kids) and tears of despair (Me and Jon!).
Having endured one too many of these stressful journeys, I decided it was time for action ahead of our recent 6 hour journey up North - and, with the help of Studio's range of travel accessories, I decided to sort out some bits & pieces to make car travel with little ones that bit
One thing that's always guaranteed to keep my children entertained is movies, and the thought of them settling down in silence for an hour and a half to watch one was super appealing to me - so I decided to spring for this portable DVD player.
It holds 2.5 hours worth of charge so doesn't need to be connected but it can also be plugged in to your cars charge point too, and the 10" screen makes it the perfect size to be visible to all of the children when one of them holds it.
It gives a lovely clear picture, and isn't too heavy either - making it perfectly portable! My little ones watched Moana and Frozen during our recent trip, which meant THREE HOURS of peace and quiet! Which, I can assure you, is previously unheard of - making this little beauty my favourite thing in the entire world!
Of course I don't want the children to be glued to a screen for the entirety of a long journey though, and so I wanted to find some travel-friendly things to keep them entertained.
These travel easels were a brilliant find - my children love drawing and it keeps them entertained for ages, but it can be a bit of a struggle for them to manage it in the car. The easels provide some stability for them, and the love the theming of them too - they're available in various character options such as Star Wars and My Little Pony, but Vampirina is a firm favourite here!
I love the idea of puzzle games for entertainment in the car but the problem of dropped pieces is too much of a headache, so instead I thought I'd try a rubix cube for my 6 year old. To my surprise, he knew what it was without me having to explain it - I guess he'd seen them on YouTube?! So he was delighted with it, and it kept him busy for ages - it's something he picks up every time we get into the car now instead of reaching for his games device which I think is fantastic.
And finally, I wanted to solve the problem of keeping all of these things and the various other travel must-haves (Drinks, snacks, books, wet wipes and games device!) organised in the car in a (vain) attempt to keep the back of the car somewhat tidy.
So I chose one of these handy back seat organisers to help us out. They fit over the back of the driver or passenger seat, and provide plenty of spaces to keep your bits and pieces in - meaning no more hunting around the floor to rescue dropped toys!
It has space to hold two drinks or snack cups safely too, and my favourite part is the clear section which allows you to pop a tablet device inside for the children to be able to see without needing to hold on to - genius and ideal for my toddler!
I'm so impressed at how much we've been able to get for under £100, and I'm pleased to report that our new travel must-haves made our recent long distance journey far more pleasant!
With lots more trips planned for the coming months, we're certainly going to get plenty of use out of these things.
What are your travel must-haves with children? I'd love to hear your tips!
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