26 DIY Road Trip Ideas to Make Before You Go

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The difference between a good road trip and a long one is almost always something you made the week before you left. That is what these 26 DIY road trip ideas are for. There are activity pouches on a binder ring so a kid can flip to the next thing without asking, a tic-tac-toe board that lives in an Altoids tin, a shoe organizer hung off a headrest with snacks already portioned into it, a first aid kit built inside a drink mix canister, a bone shaped travel pillow you can sew in an evening, and a handful of small storage tricks that cost nothing at all. Some take five minutes at the kitchen table. The sewing projects take an afternoon. Every tutorial is linked to the maker who worked it out.

1. DIY Neck Bone Pillow

A bone shaped travel pillow is a beginner sewing project with a strangely good result, because the two lobes sit either side of your neck and hold your head up instead of letting it drop. Cut three identical bone shapes from your fabric. Put two right sides together and sew from the middle around, leaving half open, then open it out, lay the third piece right sides together and sew halfway around again, leaving a gap. Stuff it firmly through the gap and hand sew it closed. Cotton on the outside is the only thing that makes it comfortable in a warm car.

Get the full tutorial at Sueeye.

2. Road Trip Activity Bag

The binder ring is the part that makes this work. Cut a piece of white card stock to fit each three ring zipper pouch, load one activity into each pouch, then thread all the pouches onto a large binder ring so a child in the back seat can flip to the next thing without asking anyone for it. Velcro on the ends of craft sticks builds shapes, a punched foam sheet and a shoelace makes a lacing card, and a small chalkboard resets itself every few miles. Dollar store pouches keep the whole set under a few dollars.

Get the full tutorial at The Nerd's Wife.

3. Road Trip Survival Bucket

The byline typeset across the live photograph names Dukes and Duchesses, and the article is live on that blog at the matching slug. It is a send off gift rather than a kit for your own car: fill a cheap bucket with things that make the hours pass, print the tag, cut a slit each side of it and thread a ribbon through, then wrap the ribbon around the bucket and hold the ends with a dab of hot glue. Scented pens, a notepad, wipes, gum, snacks, lip balm and sunscreen is the maker’s own list. Leave it on the doorstep the night before they go.

Get the full tutorial at Dukes and Duchesses.

4. Tic-Tac-Toe Travel Game

An Altoids tin is the right size for a travel game because it closes on its own pieces. Wash and dry the tin first, print the grid to fit the base and trace the tin onto scrapbook paper for the lid, then spray adhesive both pieces and press them in. The upgrade that matters: hot glue a small magnet to the bottom of each of the ten playing pieces, so a pothole does not reset the game. Painted stones, flat gems or pompoms all work as pieces. Let the adhesive cure fully before the first game.

Get the full tutorial at Turning the Clock Back.

5. DIY First Aid Kit

A powdered drink mix canister makes a better travel first aid kit than anything sold as one, because it is waterproof, it has a snap lid and it costs nothing. Peel the label off, wash the container and let it air dry completely before anything goes in. Then fill it from a dollar store: bandages in two or three sizes since you never know where the injury lands, a roll of gauze for anything bigger, triple antibiotic ointment, hand sanitizer, and tweezers for splinters and stingers. The whole kit comes in around five dollars and fits in a beach bag.

Get the full tutorial at Create Craft Love.

6. Reuse Your Old Shower Cap

When the elastic goes on a cheap shower cap it stops working as a shower cap and starts working as the best shoe bag you will ever own. Pull one over the sole of each shoe before it goes in the suitcase and the dirt stays off your clothes without a plastic bag flapping around the case. The elastic is the whole reason it beats a bag: it grips the shoe instead of needing a knot. Two caps cover a pair, they weigh nothing, and they wipe out with a cloth when you get home.

Get the full tutorial at The Rogue Ginger.

7. DIY Car First Aid Kit

The version that lives in the car full time wants a bigger box than the purse one, and a baby wipe tub is the right shape for it. The lid flips open one handed, which matters when the other hand is holding a crying child. Fill it wider than a purse kit: bandages, gauze, antiseptic wipes, pain relief, allergy medicine and tweezers. The one thing worth knowing is heat. Keep the tub inside the cabin under a blanket or in a covered tote rather than baking on the parcel shelf, and ointments and tablets will last for years.

Get the full tutorial at My Frugal Adventures.

8. Favorite Snack Basket

A shallow basket lined with a clean tea towel, sitting in the gap between the front seats, is the single best piece of road trip organizing on this list. Everything the driver gets asked for is in one place and reachable without pulling over. Portion the snacks into bags at home rather than passing back a whole box, mix shelf stable bars and crackers with a couple of juice boxes, and add one bag of popcorn as the thing that gets handed over when the mood drops. Refill it at each overnight stop so it starts every morning full.

Get the full tutorial at KC Edventures.

9. Pack A Bag With Napkins And Utensils

One zip top bag in the glovebox, holding napkins, plastic forks and a few straws, solves the meal you did not plan for. It sounds too small to bother with until the first time you buy something at a gas station that needs a fork. Keep it in the glovebox rather than the console so it does not get buried, and restock it whenever you clean the car out. The same bag is worth doubling with a couple of spare grocery bags for trash, because a car without a designated garbage bag becomes one very quickly.

Get the full tutorial at Modern Parents Messy Kids.

10. Travel Themed Coloring Page

A free printable does a lot of work on a long drive, and this one comes in two versions: a finished map and compass print, and the same design in black and white for coloring. Print the coloring pages on a heavier cover stock rather than copy paper, because markers bleed straight through the thin stuff and onto the seat. Then clip each page to a cheap clipboard so there is a hard surface to press on, which is the difference between twenty quiet minutes and one torn page. Colored pencils travel better than markers in a hot car.

Get the full tutorial at Capturing Joy with Kristen Duke.

11. DIY Coffee Containers

A coffee creamer bottle is a nearly perfect car snack container: the neck pours a handful of cereal or crackers at a time, the lid flips shut one handed, and it will not tip over in a cup holder. The only real obstacle is the smell, and it is genuinely stubborn. Soak the bottle overnight with the lid on, or fill it with crumpled newspaper for a day, and the vanilla finally gives up. After that they hold dry cereal, pretzels, crackers or nuts, and the clear plastic means nobody has to open three to find the right one.

Get the full tutorial at Stockpiling Moms.

12. Ultimate Warm Weather Emergency Car Kit

Warm weather is the season people skip the emergency kit, which is backwards, since more people are on the road and more of them break down. Build it in a lidded tote in the trunk and work through it in sections. Sanitation: toilet paper with the tubes pulled out and flattened into a zip bag, wipes, tissues, trash bags. Survival: water, a flashlight, a reflective blanket, duct tape, rope, work gloves. Then a proper first aid kit, walking shoes for everyone, sunblock and bug repellent. Pack medications that are not temperature sensitive, and nothing else.

Get the full tutorial at A Mess Free Life.

13. Make the Car Smell Better

The cheapest car air freshener is a wooden clothespin with a few felt or wool pompoms glued along one side. Add several drops of essential oil to the pompoms, clip the pin to a vent blade, and the airflow does the rest. It costs pennies, it refreshes with three more drops whenever it fades, and it avoids the chemical smell that most hanging fresheners lead with. Lemon and peppermint read clean, lavender is calmer for a long drive. Check your local laws before hanging anything from the mirror, since several states do not allow it.

Get the full tutorial at One Crazy House.

14. How to Sew a Car Trash Can

A lined fabric bag that hangs off a headrest or a gear stick, and it takes about an hour from scraps. Cut two outer pieces and two lining pieces at ten inches tall by six and a half wide, plus a strip three inches by sixteen for the strap. Build the two bags separately, one outer and one lining, using a quarter inch seam allowance, and box the bottom corners if you want it to stand open. Nest the lining inside the outer with the strap sandwiched between, sew around leaving a turning gap, then push the lining in and topstitch the gap closed.

Get the full tutorial at Sueeye.

15. Road Trip Car Organizer

A cloth shoe organizer tied to the back of a headrest is the best value in car storage, and the one adjustment that makes it work is cutting it down. Children cannot reach past two rows of pockets, so trim the extra rows off and use them elsewhere. Pre portion the snacks into small bags at home so they can be handed out without opening anything, then load the rest of the pockets with markers, stickers, small toys and craft supplies. Tie it on with string through the top grommets and pull it tight, because a loose one swings.

Get the full tutorial at See Vanessa Craft.

16. Travel Memory Game

Felt is the right material for a car game because it does not slide and it makes no noise. This one is a grid of gray felt squares on a dark felt mat, with a simple bright shape under each square: hearts, stars, circles, triangles, squares and diamonds, two of every shape so each one has a partner to find. Cut the squares at roughly two and a half inches, glue the shapes on rather than stitching them, and back the mat with cardboard or use a clipboard so it has something firm behind it. Rolled up with a ribbon it stores flat in a seat pocket.

Get the full tutorial at Kids Activities Blog.

17. Lined Cup Liner Holder Idea

Silicone cupcake liners dropped into the car’s cup holders catch everything that would otherwise weld itself to the bottom of the well: melted lip balm, loose change, crumbs and whatever a spilled drink leaves behind. When they get grim you lift them out, run them through the dishwasher and put them back, which is a great deal easier than trying to clean a molded plastic recess with a cotton bud. Silicone rather than paper, because paper goes soft the first time anything wet lands in it. A pack of six covers a whole family car.

Get the full tutorial at Kids Activities Blog.

18. Store Liquid Cosmetics In Contact Case

A contact lens case holds a surprising amount of anything thick: foundation, concealer, moisturizer, hair gel, ointment. The two wells screw shut properly, which is more than most travel pots manage, and the left and right markings give you a built in label for two different products. The maker’s own reason for it is the three point four ounce limit on carry on liquids, which a lens case walks straight past. Fill it with a cotton bud rather than pouring, and leave a little headroom so the lid seats without squeezing product up the threads.

Get the full tutorial at The Krazy Coupon Lady.

19. Disney Trip Fun Bags

Paper treat bags with a “do not open until we get in the car” tag turn the leaving part of a trip into the fun part. Print the tags, trim them, punch a hole and tie each one on with ribbon, then fill the bags with small things scaled to the child: a couple of treats, a cheap toy, an activity for the drive, a gift card if they are older. A party supply store is the place to shop for this, since character themed items there tend to run under a dollar each. One bag per leg of the journey paces it.

Get the full tutorial at Eighteen25.

20. Easy Road Trip Breakfast Recipe

Cheesy ham and egg roll ups are the breakfast to make the night before a dawn start. Scramble four eggs and stop while they are still glossy, then separate a tube of crescent dough into four rectangles, pinching the seams closed. Lay half a slice of cheese down the middle, a quarter of the eggs on top, then folded ham, roll it up and pinch the edges shut. Twelve to fifteen minutes at 350F. Cool them completely, wrap them individually and refrigerate or freeze. Reheating in the oven keeps the pastry crisp in a way the microwave does not.

Get the full tutorial at Comic Con Family.

21. Road Trip Snacks

Portioning is the whole job here. Anything that travels in its original box gets eaten in one sitting by whoever is holding it, so grapes, blueberries, almonds and dates all go into individual zip top bags at home, alongside a few wrapped bars for the moments when fruit will not do. The advantage over a service station stop is not only cost; it is that nobody has to get out of the car. Frozen grapes are worth knowing about, since they keep the rest of the cooler cold and thaw into something better than they started.

Get the full tutorial at Unsophisticook.

22. Road Trip Essentials

A collapsible fabric bin in the trunk, packed once and left there, covers the small emergencies that otherwise cost an hour. What goes in it is unglamorous and specific: a roll of paper towels, a roll of toilet paper, tissues, hand soap or sanitizer, wipes and an odor spray. Rest stop bathrooms run out of paper more often than anyone admits, which is the single reason this bin earns its space. Use a bin with rigid sides so it does not collapse when the car corners, and restock it the same day you notice something is low.

Get the full tutorial at Stuffed Suitcase.

23. Use Old Sunglasses To Store Loose Cords

A hard glasses case is a cord box. Coil the charging cables, drop them in and snap it shut, and they stop tangling with each other and stop getting crushed at the bottom of a bag. The hinged shell is what makes it better than a pouch: it holds its shape, so the connectors never bend against something heavy. The same case makes an excellent little manicure kit with clippers, scissors and a bottle of polish, and if you have a soft case instead it still works, it just will not protect the plugs.

Get the full tutorial at Her Packing List.

24. DIY Travel Lego Box

The whole build is one glued base plate. Wipe the lid of a plastic pencil box with rubbing alcohol so the glue has something to grip, run E6000 around the underside edge of a small Lego base plate, press it firmly onto the lid and clean up the squeeze out with a cotton bud before it skins over. Let it cure overnight, not for an hour. Then fill the box with a handful of assorted bricks and a mini figure or two. Split a large set between several boxes and you have several presents for the price of one.

Get the full tutorial at Coupons and Freebies Mom.

25. Summer Essential Car Kit

The summer version of a car bin is not about emergencies, it is about meltdowns. Paper towels, a spare set of clothes, wipes, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, plasters, water bottles and snacks that will not melt. Choose middle sizes for the spare clothes if you have several children close in age, so one set covers whichever one ends up soaked. Use a bin with a lid that clips rather than an open tote, because an open one empties itself on the first corner. Keep a running note on your phone of anything you wished was in there.

Get the full tutorial at Silo and Sage.

26. Tic-Tac Bobby Pin Case

An empty Tic Tac box holds bobby pins better than anything sold for the purpose. The flip lid dispenses one or two at a time instead of the whole handful, it is flat enough to sit in a door pocket or the bottom of a bag, and the clear plastic means you can see when it is running low. Wash it out and let it dry fully first or the pins will smell of mint for a month. The same box works for hair elastics, small safety pins, paper clips or earring backs.

Get the full tutorial at Rachel Schultz.