quick trick: take reading on the road

A few weeks ago, I took the kids to Pennsylvania for the weekend–another solo trip and one I’ve done dozens of times before.

But what I realized is that the packing and prep I once spent hours doing for my solo trips with three little ones has now been cut considerably; however, that’s not to say that I can just jump in the car and go. Especially if I want to stay sane.

I still gather ‘road trip bag’ o’ fun activities, snacks, and music.  Books on CD, poems on CD, you name it.

But this time? I totally forgot the books on CD.  And it’s something that the kids really look forward to.

So this little Quick Trick is something I figured out somewhere after the Maryland line but before York, PA. And it made us.  All. So. Very. Happy.

Here’s the skinny . . .

• Take Reading on the Road: We are huge LeapFrog fans over here, which is no secret.

I’ve often shared my LeapFrog love, and our LeapFrog Tags, Explorer, and LeapPad are usually all juiced up and ready to go for road trips–especially when it’s just the kids and me.

 

Tag Reader in. . .

. . . and turned onto Aux in my happy little minivan.

 

The kids are allowed to use electronics in 30 minute intervals once we get to the highway–about an hour into the trip.  And then everything’s off, we do something different for a while, we stop, stretch our legs, get back on the highway, they switch products, and they can play for 30 more minutes.

But what we realized this last trip is that our sweet LeapFrog Tag doubles as a book on CD if we just plug it into the aux plug.  Seriously! Who knew?! Does everyone know this and our family has just been living under a rock?! OMG! So exciting!!  We were over the moon.  Books we now had, and books we did enjoy.

Both ways–heading to Pennsylvania and then back to Maryland.

Yay! So several times each way, we listened to all of the books that were saved on the Tag Reader—Chica Chica Boom Boom, Tangled, Spiderman, Star Wars, Cat in the Hat, The Little Engine that Could, Princess and the Frog.    And the kids dozed and sometimes we chatted about the stories, but really, we just relaxed and listened.

Listened and relaxed.

Sure–download a few books onto your phone, and you’re probably good to go.  Or bring some books on CD.  But this trip? Forgot both. So we were just rolling with it, old-school style, until we plugged in the ole LeapFrog Tag.  Woot.

And maybe most people know this little Quick Trick–perhaps it’s what makes you love LeapFrog even more than you already do.  But it’s new for us, and it’s one of those little happy bits of news we were all excited to share.

Three cheers for taking reading on the road!

fyi: This is a totally unsponsored post, and my opinions are all my own, though I do work with LeapFrog. This post includes affiliate links.