5 apps to help you survive traveling with the kids

Traveling with your kids can actually be fun (and yes, even relaxing) if you have the patience of a saint — and, more importantly, the right apps up your sleeve. I've put together a list of my top family travel helpers for your Android, iPhone, or iPad. They'll help you and the kids pack, snack, and play wherever your adventures take you. They're like diapers and wipes... Don't leave home without them. 

Let's talk apps in person
Before we dig into my top apps to help you survive traveling with the kids, I'd like to invite you to come hear me talk about yet more travel apps this Saturday, January 14, at the Los Angeles Travel and Adventure Show (from 1:30 to 2:15 p.m. PST). I'm thrilled to appear on the show's Best Travel Apps to Plan Your Best Trip Ever panel alongside Jennifer Miner of the Vacation Gals blog, Spencer Spellman of The Traveling Philosopher blog, and "Danger" Jill Robinson, one very daring and accomplished travel writer. Please stop by and say hi; I'd love to hear what your top family travel apps are, too. 

Now, on to those lifesaver family travel apps I promised you. Bon voyage! Here they are:

1. Baby Pack & Go — To Do, Task Log & Travel Packing List
Price: 99 cents
Download: Baby Pack & Go for iPhone and iPad

Packing for yourself can be overwhelming at times — never mind packing up the kids, too. Babies and toddlers are often the hardest to pack for, requiring umpteen bottles, bibs, blankets, and you name it. This simple list and reminder app makes it easy to know what to pack for excursions close by and faraway. You still have to do the packing, though.

My favorite features: 

• A massive master catalog of hundreds of baby- and toddler-related items
• Ready-made, customizable packing list to get you started right way
• Multiple lists for multiple children
• List-sharing between iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices
• Automatic packing list backup and retrieval on the app's companion cloud servers 

No matter what kind of trip you're bravely embarking on — plane, train, or automobile — with Baby Pack & Go along for the adventure, you'll always know exactly what to bring for baby. Trust me, you'll be happy it reminded you to pack extra pacifiers for take-off and landing. 

2. My Little Suitcase
Price: Free
Download: My Little Suitcase for iPhone

Whether they like it or not, kids can be mostly responsible for their own packing at a pretty young age. They just need a little extra help from us — and this clever app by Moms With Apps. My kids started packing on their own for sleepovers when they were around 6, and, boy, do I wish this app had been around then! My Little Suitcase turns packing for a trip into a somewhat fun game. It gives kids (readers and pre-readers alike) bright picture lists of items to stash (don't expect perfect folding) in their backpacks or suitcases for five specific trips: camping, skiing, playing at the beach, a hotel stay or a sleepover at a friend's house. It's not the most popular or funnest kid app out there, but it sure beats Mom's nagging, right, kids?

3. Road Trip Bingo
Price: 99 cents
Download: Road Trip Bingo for iPhone and iPad

My kids love Road Trip Bingo because it keeps them from getting bored on long drives, and it's one of the only times I let them use my iPhone or iPad. I love it because it keeps them from strangling each other in the back seat.

It's just like a digital version of classic car bingo, complete with bubbly music and gorgeous graphics. All players have to do is launch the app, eyeball a bingo card, then peek out the car (or bus or train) windows for stop signs, animals, cars, bikes, railroad crossings, and carloads more items. Find five items in a row and — bingo! — you win. For a fresh, new bingo card, simply shake Mama's (or Papa's) iPhone or iPad (very, very gently, kids). There are thousands of bingo cards, so they never get old.

For us, there's only one problem: I have three kids but only one iPhone and one iPad. At least the iPad version of Road Trip Bingo lets two players to play side by side, but there's only one me to referee whose turn's next. Aren't long car rides so much fun?

4. A Family Matters
Price: $1.99
Download: A Family Matters for iPhone

Weiner Family Studios, the developer of A Family Matters, calls this family conversation-starter app the "only app you'll want the kids playing at the dinner table." Really? Well, usually I'm a stickler for zero electronics at the dinner table, but I have to agree. A Family Matters is a creative, fun catalyst for mealtime chitchat. But, more importantly, it gets me and the kids through epic road trips, plane rides, and waits in line at theme parks and restaurants in one piece. It's a no-frills Q&A app that gets your whole family talking... a whole lot. If you want an app that keeps your kids quiet and zoned out, this isn't it. 

Choose from hundreds of entertaining personality questions (and group activity suggestions) from categories like General, Restaurant, Road Trip, Dr. Office, Airport, or In a Line. Some of the questions are light and playful ("What would you do if you were invisible for a day?"). Others get downright deep, man ("Do you ever feel you could lose your temper so badly you could hurt someone?"). Heavy stuff. My kids like the crisp page-turning sound and the infectious baby giggles that erupt between questions. 

5. Kids Eat For
Price: Free
Download: Kids Eat For for Android

Who doesn't love a free meal? Kids do, but parents on a budget love them even more. Kids Eat For (which I think should've been called Kids Eat For Free) uses GPS to dig up all the free and cheap meals your kids can eat, wherever their hungry little bellies roam. And, fittingly in the spirit of all things free, this app is (you guessed it) free. Oh, and it's ad-free, too.

Simply open the app and you'll see a map of nearby free and inexpensive restaurant meals for young kids. Use it to read the fine print on free meal offers, see kids' menus for yourself, and read restaurant reviews from Yelp. Kids Eat For's constantly updated restaurant contact information makes it easy to call and verify meal deals before you step out the door. If you lose your way on the road to free lunch, just bust out Mom Maps. Okay, who's hungry, kids? 

Keep in touch
Finally, when you catch your breath between exciting adventures with your busy little travelers, don't forget to send a Postcard on the Run right from your iPhone. Photo postcards of the kids in cool places make grandparents happy! Bon voyage, and safe and sane travels to you and your brood. Oh, and hit me up on Twitter if you and your kidlets trek over to Long Beach, California, this weekend for the Los Angeles Travel and Adventure Show. See you there!

[Image credits: Paul Schultz, Lars Plougmann]

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