Make Your Own Road Trip Handbook

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Growing up, road trips were a huge part of our family travel and now that I have my own family, that is no exception. I love the flexibility of having a car to explore new areas at our leisure, have the space to ensure we have everything we need, and can head out on our own schedule. Unfortunately, road trips also mean lots of time in the car and kids can get bored pretty easily! Thinking of great activities to do is of utmost importance and we usually almost always bring activities along with us! What better way to enjoy your Road Trip in the car than with Disney Pixar Cars inspired activities!

Today, I’m featuring two awesome ways to keep little hands occupied while on the open road – a new app for your iPad and a homemade Road Trip Handbook. We usually try to have an iPad on hand with a few new apps. One of our favorite new ones is the Cars die-cast friend for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. You can simply jump over to the iTunes store and download it onto your device.

Optimized for iPhone 5, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus, Daredevil Garage will give your kids the opportunity to race through nine different tracks and boost the speeds and stunts on their cars. You can even grow your own garage by scanning over 160 actual Mattel die-cast cars!

Get ready to rev your engines! (The music has great build-up!)

Don’t forget about this! I’m sure you don’t want to find some unexpected charges at the end of the month because someone got a little race happy without your permission!

Once they’ve selected the car they want to use, they can jump over to the map and figure out where they want to go next. I love the interface because it’s simple for my boys (ages 6 and 4) to understand and they simple select the worlds and tracks they are most interested in testing out.

Picking up stars along the way helps you to track your progress and see how you can continue to improve.

Time for tricks! They can select a flip to either direction, a complete turnaround and zoom faster than before. This is one of their favorite elements of this app.

The ease of use of this game along with the connection to Disney Pixar Cars places and characters makes this a huge road trip hit and one you should definitely download before your next trip. Now for some more road trip fun

Inspired by Disney Pixar Cars, I also put together a Road Trip Handbook that’s great for on-the-go, at a restaurant, while you’re waiting and even just for playing anytime. Since cars are a HUGE hit in our family, I thought I’d surprise them with a few new additions to their collection – Hudson Hornet, Ramone, a few mini story sets, and some other supporting characters.

To make your own Road Trip Handbook, you’ll need:

1.5″ – 2.0″ Binder (size is up to you)

1 Binder Pouch (because holes are already built in)

Die-Cast vehicles of your choice

Mini-Story Sets

Road Trip Printables (near the end of this post)

The first step is to add your binder pouch to the binder and include your die-cast cars. The reason for selecting a larger width binder is to make sure the cars fit once they are added. I love that the clear storage up front makes it easy for kids to see what they are picking and the pouch helps to keep things organized.

Now that you have your basic supplies, the rest of the assembly is simple! Print off your printables and have them laminated for durability. Once finished, use a 3-hold punch to create your holes for adding them to your binder. I chose to create road inspired sheets for easy play and interactive games for when you’re on the go or road tripping.

Ready to play? Grab Hudson Hornet and take him for a spin! Getting tired? Let him and the other cars stay parked for a bit.

The next addition to your book will be the Disney Pixar Cars mini story sets. The great thing about these sets is that they are interchangeable. So you can buy a larger set and then the mini ones and mix and match to create new tracks and car fun! Even better, these mini sets fit in your binder pouch perfectly, so you can bring them on-the-go, in the car, or even use them at a restaurant without lugging around a bunch of pieces or taking up a ton of room!

I also created a road signs printable that can be printed off and cut out to add to your road scenes or interactive play with their die-cast cars.

I also printed some Disney Pixar Cars scenes, along with a little Lightning McQueen, that could add to the interactive play. It’s also a great chance to talk about the different stops throughout the town of Radiator Springs.

Once everything is printed, laminated and cut-out, you can add to your binder and pouch and you’re ready to go! Even better? Your binder still has space and won’t take up that much room in your car – plenty of space for souvenirs and snacks.

Here are the printables I referenced along with the download links for saving.

Row 1:  Winding Road |  Intersection | What Shape Is This? | Cars Movie Printable 

Row 2: Cutout Driving Signs | Can You Find It? |Parking Lot | Road Trip Handbook

You’re ready to hit the open road!

To find all the Disney Pixar Cars essentials you’ll need, head to Toys “R” Us! You can find a few Die-Cast friends that are exclusively there: Hudson Hornet, Antonio Veloce Eccellente, and Green Ramone, along with those awesome story sets. Feeling adventurous? Add a few other Cars die-cast friend to your cart along the way. Now in-store at Toys “R” Us for 25% – Off All CARS Die-Cast $9.99 And Under (7/26 – 8/22)!

Are you ready to race off to your next adventure? Which Cars die-cast friend would you bring along?