DIY Portable Felt Play Board & Road Trip Tips

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Planning any road trips this year? Today, I’m sharing some tips for successful road trips with the kids. From leaving early to packing portable snacks like HONEY MAID Dippers Honey Graham Snacks & OREO Mini Cookies, keep reading for the tips on making your next family road trip a success!

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DIY Portable Felt Play Board & Road Trip Tips

So, let’s get right to our road trip! We went on a short road trip last week to a nearby kid’s play place! When it comes time to gearing up for a road trip, one of the first things I always do is go shopping! I typically head to Walmart, because I know I can find a wide variety of snack options at great prices.

Here’s what I picked up: BELVITA Chocolate Sandwich Breakfast Biscuits, HONEY MAID Dippers Honey Graham Snacks, OREO Mini Cookies, and HONEY MAID TEDDY GRAHAMS Graham Snacks. This is a great collection of portable, delicious snacks that are perfect for family road trips!

I love that these snacks come in small single-serving packs, so they’re perfect for taking on-the-go!

After shopping for road trip snacks, I always pack our suitcases! My husband and I usually share one suitcase and the kids share another one. We always try to pack light, so we’re not bogged down by multiple, heavy bags!
*Tip: Roll your clothing in the suitcase. You will save so much room and when you arrive at your destination, your clothing will be wrinkle-free!

Now that the bags are packed and the snacks are purchased, it’s time to make sure the kids will be entertained along the way. I made this super fun Portable Felt Play Mat to take in the car! It features an underwater scene with a mermaid, submarine and more! Keep reading for the full tutorial below.

We got in the car fairly early, because we like to avoid some of the traffic that builds up around rush hour. My daughter was ready to play with her Felt Play Mat right away! She really enjoyed moving the different pieces around.

Then, she got hungry, but I was prepared. The snacks I purchased were perfect for satisfying some hunger on-the-go!

When we got to the play place, the kids wanted to try all the rides right away. They had a blast and we all had a lovely time. Here are my girls on one of the rides!

We’ve done a lot of road trips with the kids over the years, so I have several trips on how to make the process a smooth experience for all.
1. Leave Early: As I mentioned before, leaving early is something we do for every road trip or vacation. It lets us start our trip before traffic gets too heavy. The kids are also less likely to need a nap or be overtired early in the morning.

2. Pack Snacks: A hungry child is not a content child. Make sure you have plenty of snacks available for the duration of the car ride.

3. Make frequent stops: Nobody likes sitting still for hours on end. Schedule many stops along the way to make sure the children (and adults!) can use the restroom and stretch their legs!

4. Bring entertainment: Beat restlessness by bringing some kind of entertainment or activity for the kids! My Felt Play Mat is easy to make and fun to customize. Most of all, it will entertain a child for a while!

5. Have the right attitude: Traveling with kids can be unpredictable! You might get lost, the kids might throw a tantrum at the most inopportune time, etc. Make sure you leave for vacation with a positive mindset.

Now, let’s get right to the tutorial for the play mats! Are you interested in making one of these for your child? It’s an easy project that comes together in no time!

Here’s what you’ll need:
felt sheets in various colors
googly eyes
hot glue & glue gun
foam board
utility knife
silhouette printable (optional)

1. First start by using the utility knife to cut a small rectangle out of the foam board. You can make your play mat any size you prefer, but I went with a small size, because I wanted it to be easy for my child to manage in the car. My rectangle is approximately 10″x6″.

2. Wrap a blue felt sheet around the foam board and use hot glue to secure it on the back of the foam sheet.

3. Now, it’s time for the fun part: adding the various underwater elements to the scene. First, I made various fish and attached one googly eye to each one with a bit of hot glue. I simply drew (free-hand) the outline of a fish and cut it out.
*If you want to use a template for the outline of the fish, feel free to use my printable here!

4. Next, I drew some coral for the ocean. This was done by just drawing some organic finger-like shapes.

5. I cut out some duck shapes from yellow felt and attached an eye to each.

6. The mermaid was next. I used white felt for her and used a black pen to add an eye and mouth on her face.

7. Finally, the submarine was made by cutting out the silhouette from black felt and then adding some windows from yellow felt.

My underwater elements were complete! Now, it’s time to put it all together! Here’s what it looks like!

Cute, right? My daughters really enjoyed playing with the various elements of the scene and moving things around. They even named the mermaid “Melissa”! 🙂 With the snacks and the play mat, our road trip was definitely a big success!

Look for HONEY MAID Dippers Honey Graham Snacks, OREO Mini Cookies and even more options at your local Walmart. Be sure to look for a coupon booklet with savings! The booklets include coupons for RITZ Cracker Sandwiches, BELVITA Sandwich Breakfast Biscuits, SWEDISH FISH Soft & Chewy Candy 1.9 lb. bags & TRIDENT Unwrapped Gum!

Looking for printable road trip games and more tutorials? Check out this link here!

Now, find out more about how to prepare for the best road trip ever with the right snacks and tell me: What do you bring on road trip? Which snacks are your favorite for satisfying on-the-go hunger? How do you make traveling with kids fun for all?

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