This series of travel posts are long overdue. Back in May I put together a bunch of DIY’s and activities for traveling with kids. In early June I was one of two moms taking five children (ages 8, 7, 5, 2, and 2) on a TWENTY hour road trip (one way) all in one vehicle. Anticipating that trip was my motivation for creating the DIY Dollar Tree Travel Tray and Supplies Caddy for Kids.
I am happy to report we survived the trip and I am here to tell the tale. My goal was to keep them busy without a ton of screen time. The kids did do many of the activities prepped and mostly enjoyed them. However, with two families merging and so many different personalities screen time was an activity we definitely used and I would NEVER advocate a trip such as this without it. Seriously, how did our parents survive!?
You can view a short YouTube Slideshow that quickly shows the process here on my Lovensthelife Channel.
For more ideas check out my other posts from that trip below.
DIY Travel Entertainment for Kids
Tips for Travel with Toddlers and Early Grade-schoolers
DIY Dollar Tree Travel Racetrack for Kids
Travel Tray
This DIY is simple and inexpensive. I purchased nearly all of the items I used from the Dollar Tree and ALL of the items could be purchased from most Dollar Trees. Each will cost roughly 3-5$ to create depending on what you have on hand and what you need to purchase.
Items needed
- Dollar Tree Cookie Sheet
- Plastic Folder I picked up from the Dollar Tree
- Poster Letters from Dollar Tree
- Adhesive 8×10 Magnetic Sheets or Magnetic rounds from Dollar Tree and Super Glue
- Adhesive Velcro Dots or Velcro strips from Dollar Tree and Super Glue
Assembling the Travel Tray
The folders were just a little wider than the cookie sheet. I considered cutting them to size but ended up just bending the hole punched edge so it wrapped around the edge of the cookie sheet. It held the fold well and worked just fine. Then I added the self adhesive magnetic sheet to the back of the folder. Next just simply place it on the back of the cookie sheet. You could also glue the folder to the cookie sheet but I liked the idea of it being removable. Another option would be to get the small magnetic rounds from Dollar Tree or other store and super glue them to the folder.
Next I added each kid’s name to their tray to personalize them a bit. I used sticker poster letters from Dollar Tree. You could also use vinyl or whatever you have on hand.
Finally I added velcro dots to the folder to keep the paper from falling out on the side. I would suggest also doing this on the top as we had some paper spills from that end. For the trays that got construction paper I had to use a ribbon/velcro closure that is pictured below. I had picked up the Dollar Tree velcro with the intention of gluing it. Since I was making five trays I used the self adhesive dots as it simplified and quickened the task for me. You could easily cut and super glue the strips of velcro as well though.
Outfitting the Travel Tray Folder
Next I added paper to the folders for each kiddo. For the little guys I got the color wonder paper and coloring sheets as we wanted to avoid colored carseats and car walls. For the older kids I did a combination of notebook paper, printer paper, and construction paper. These were the ones that required a ribbon velcro attachment as the construction paper is larger.
Since the board is magnetic don’t forget some magnets. I had these Usborne magnets on hand and made these others with Dollar Tree bath toys and sloth sticky flags laminated. I used adhesive magnetic rounds I got on Amazon but I would recommend super glue for a better hold.
Supplies Caddy
My intention with these was to hook them to the back of the headrests in the car. Kids generally will drop a baggie of coloring supplies and then not be able to reach them. With these I had hoped they could just reach the caddy and take and return what they needed. While this would have worked in some vehicles the vehicle we traveled in didn’t have anywhere to hook them that the kids could reach. For vehicles with nowhere to hang the caddies you could put magnets on the back of a pencil pouch to attach right to the tray. The little pencil trays I used for the DIY Travel Racetrack would be perfect for that actually.
The caddies were put together inexpensively and without needing to buy contents you could make one for as little as $2.
Items needed
- Dollar Tree Craft Caddy
- Carabiner – I ordered these from Amazon as our Dollar Tree was out
- Contents – I put in magnets, coloring supplies, stickers, and sticky notes
Assembling the Caddy
Attach the carabiner to the caddy with the keyring provided. Fill with desired supplies for the trip. I added magnets, stickers, and some sticky flags to all of the caddies. The older kids got dry erase markers, crayons, colored pencils, and markers for the planned activities. The younger kids got the color wonder markers.
That’s it!! Both the Travel Tray and Supplies Caddy are easy, inexpensive, and reusable. Also they can just be kept in the car so the kids have something to do on both short and long trips.
I would love to hear if you gain inspiration from this post and put together your own DIY Dollar Tree Travel Tray and Supplies Caddy for Kids.
HAPPY TRAVELING
