This post and giveaway is sponsored by Munchkin. Thank you, Munchkin!

2015 has been the year of the car for us. Between driving around Los Angeles to check out places for my job and going on weekend adventures, we spend a lot of time on wheels. The kids love the places we go to, but the journey can sometimes be hard on them. I totally understand – my parents drove us everywhere when we were kids, and besides getting terribly car sick, I remember feeling like the drives lasted forever. What might seem like a fairly short few hours in the car to me and Mike can feel like eternity for my kids. I’ve spent the last few months working on ways to make time in the car more enjoyable for them both.

I’m of two minds when it comes to car entertainment. On the one hand, I think looking out the window is really wonderful – you can literally watch the world change around you. I do know that can eventually get tedious for kids (it can get tedious for me, too!), but I think I found a good compromise. As you know, Annabel loves drawing, so I got her this travel lap desk.

drawing in the car

It has raised sides so crayons can’t roll off, plus pockets for holding things like snacks, crayons, etc. (you can clip it in place so it won’t go flying in an accident). We ask Annabel to draw pictures of what she sees when she looks out the window, which has prompted some fun drawings.

travel drawings

The other thing I got is helpful for me AND Annabel. This travel organizer is where I keep the extra paper and markers for her drawing, plus wet wipes, napkins, diapers, cups, snacks, you name it. It has a bunch of pockets, plus it zips closed. It’s also easy to set up, which is nice because sometimes my parents join us on our trips and we take their car.

Travel organizer

But, this organizer has a secret – it also has a tuck-away sleeve for a tablet. Annabel had no idea about this until the last trip we went on. I surprised her by putting my iPad in the tablet sleeve and setting My Little Pony to autoplay.

travel organizer

I liked that she was able to pass some of the hours watching her show, but the iPad itself was out of her reach so she couldn’t play games on it, etc.

James is a little harder to keep entertained on car trips. Since the little guy is still in a rear-facing car seat, he can’t draw, look out the window, or see the iPad. He can only see the people sitting next to him, and sometimes it’s just Annabel (and she doesn’t always want to entertain him, nor should she have to). For especially long trips we try to put an adult next to him, but it’s often just the three of us in the car. I’ve found one sure-fire way to keep James happy in the car – food! The key was finding something he could use to serve himself that wouldn’t spill all over him and the seat. I love snack catchers, which are impossible to spill and also come with the added bonus of slowing down his eating – James would stuff as much food into his mouth as possible, if he could! I just hand the container back to him when he gets fussy and he calms down immediately.

snackin' be like

Incidentally, the snack catchers also do a good job of keeping Rigby from getting into James’ food:

rigby wants that snack

You know she tries, digestive issues be damned.

The company behind these products is Munchkin, a brand I’ve been using since Maddie was a little baby. I always hit the Munchkin aisle at Target when there’s something we need! Munchkin wants to give one of my readers a $50 credit to Munchkin.com, and I am going to match it (for a total of $100) because I know once you get on their online shop, you’re going to see a ton of stuff you need for your kids! To enter, please leave a comment below telling me how your kids deal with long periods in the car. If you follow Munchkin on Instagram, leave another comment letting me know and you’ll get an extra entry! Contest ends on Thursday, March 5th at 12pm Pacific time. Winner will be chosen by Random.org. Open to US Residents only.

Munchkin rids the world of the mundane by developing clever, innovative solutions that make family life safer, easier, and more fun. You can find Munchkin products at Munchkin.comTargetBabies’R’UsWalmart, and Amazon. It’s the little things!

Good luck, everyone!

UPDATE!

We have a winner:

winner munchkin

Congrats to Tabitha! You have an email from me!

Thank you to everyone who entered!