How to Make a Road Trip Coloring Book

Family road trips with the little ones can be a trial. However, if your children are young enough to enjoy coloring books, you can make personalized, road-trip-themed coloring books that will keep them happy and occupied for several hours. Here are some tips for finding free coloring pages, theme ideas, and methods for assembling the coloring pages.

Brainstorm a list of topics based on the states, cities, and scenic destinations that your family will be driving through. For example, if you are driving from California to Florida, you can make an 8-section coloring book with 'chapters' devoted to California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Lousiana, Mississipi, Alabama, and Florida.

If your family is taking a scenic drive through Appalachia, you can make sections for each of the tourist attractions you will visit. Be creative. A road trip coloring book with a carefully planned them will hold your children's interest longer.

Use the Internet to find free printable coloring pages. Google Images is a great way to find thousands of images quickly. Search for coloring page topics you want to include in your book, or try including the phrase "coloring pages" to help you refine your results. You can also Photoshop cartoon images to make black and white coloring pages.

State and federal Parks and Recreations agencies have websites with special sections just for kids. Check these websites for free coloring pages, or ther printable images. Some state and national parks even have free tourist brochures for kids that you can order online. Many of these include coloring pages!

Include some word searches, crossword puzzles, and number puzzles in the coloring book. You can keep your kids' verbal and math skill sharp by adding some pages of brain teasers between the coloring pages.

When you have a good collection of road-trip-themed coloring pages, either staple them or spiral bind them. Include some cover sheets in the front and back. You can personalize the coloring books to make them unique to each child. For section dividers, use colorable maps or puzzles.

Before you pack the kids into the car, make sure they have fresh crayons, markers, and something hard to write on. Happy coloring and happy traveling!