Road Trip Survival Guide

While it sounds random, the metal cookie sheet will actually end up being your best friend. Your kids can use it as a desktop for coloring, steady surface for card or board games, lunch tray, or a magnet board. Genius!

For education, fun and memory-keeping, download the Stack the States app. It'll help your kids learn geography and state trivia while they play a Tetris-like game and track the states that you've visited. Yep, all in one!

Whether you forgot your bag of distractions or just need some quiet right now, Little Red Schoolhouse is the game for you. It's incredibly simple: Just say, "Little red schoolhouse, go!" Whoever talks first loses. Oh, but it doesn't stop there. You need to wait until there's only one silent person left. Then they can finally be declared the winner. Your kids will think they're having a super-fun competition, and you'll enjoy some heavenly silence.

This one's a classic for a reason! One family member picks a person (real or a character) and everyone else asks "yes" or "no" questions until they figure out who it is. Even though it's traditionally called 20 questions, we'll go ahead and say exceptions to that rule are just fine. Let your kids ask as many questions as they want.

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Starting with the letter "A," find the letters of the alphabet in order, looking at road signs, license plates and whatever else you drive by. Play as a team (everyone works together to go through the alphabet), or make it competition (everyone's on their own, and first one to "Z" wins).

First of all, every trip is more fun when you have a playlist (formerly burned CD … and former to that a mixtape) named for it. "The Finkelsteins go to Florida '13, baby!" The main advantage of making a playlist in advance, though, is that you'll avoid fights about music during the trip. Pick songs that everyone can agree on, or at least tolerate. MP3s let you put tons of songs on one playlist, so you'll be well-stocked for many miles.

If ever there was a time to share the technology, it's now. Download some fun apps, ebooks or movies, slide your iPad or other device into a secure, kid-proof case, attach some headphones, hand it over to your kid and boom! Infinite hours of uninterrupted adult talk time. Hey, you're on vacation—let the screen time rules slide. For everyone's sake.

Now is a great time to encourage your kids to start a (cheap) collecting habit. Whether they gather pencils, postcards, badges or small flags from each city or state you visit, it'll help them stay excited about the trip and remember their journey fondly.

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Take rest tops totally _un_literally. Use them as a time for your kids to run around and get all their energy out. Pack small toys like jump ropes, Frisbees and balls so you can easily engage in play. Plan it right, and you'll be blessed with some quiet, tired travelers in the back seat.

You know what they say: It's not the destination, but the journey that counts. Make it so by keeping a journal or scrapbook with your kids. Include everything from accounts of your day to photographs to small souvenirs. It'll keep your kids busy and give you something nice to look back on.