Car Tray Table for Traveling Kids

(Airline seat back table, eat your heart out!)

ADDED December 23, 2009

Traveling by airplane is not the world's most fun -- especially if you've got your young kids in tow.  It's difficult to keep them occupied (and you'll definitely want to spend a few moments on Today Is Fun before boarding your next airliner.)

One potentially helpful item to be found on an airplane is the 'seat back table.'  Yes, it must be folded up for take-off and landing, but otherwise it's great for coloring books, card games, snacks, and much more.

What about car trips though?  During this holiday time of year, a lot of us are finding ourselves strapping the little ones into the car for long hauls.  Keeping your young kids happy and occupied during road trips is a challenge for any parent.

Today's idea is not ours.  But truth be told, we can't remember who suggested this to us.  (I do remember that the woman who gave us this idea is one of my wife's Twitter friends / followers.  My wife is @MommyInLA.  If you're the person who gave us this idea, please let us know, and we will give you full credit!)

Not wanting to take credit for somebody else's idea aside, here's the idea:  use cookie trays as tray tables for your kids' next car trip.  Cookie trays are perfect:  they're very lightweight, firm and inflexible -- and some even have 'lips' as edges to keep crayons and sandwiches from sliding away on windy mountain roads!

Our kids used cookie tray tables during our recent car trip, and it worked out fabulously.  They ate breakfast on the trays, then did stickers, and even did some coloring with some crayons.  They had snacks and lunch on the tables -- and only asked "Are we there yet" about seventeen times per hour.

We wish guys safe -- and comfortable -- travels this Christmas season.  Let us know how it works out for you!

Holiday activity,

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