DIY Summer Car Kit
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Summer is a busy time and nobody wants to be caught unprepared. Your vehicle can be the perfect place to put a car kit you can create yourself. Use these suggestions to add to a basic car kit and get your trunk loaded with everything you and your family might need while out and about this summer.
1. Sunscreen
No matter how short a trip you think you’ll be making, it’s always best to be prepared with a bottle of SPF 30. 15-30 minutes in the sun are all it takes to start getting a sunburn. Babies and children are especially likely to need extra protection.
2. Extra clothing
Kids will find all kinds of ways to get messy (snow cones!) and get wet (sprinklers!) this summer. Often, it happens while our backs are turned and before we know it, they’re dripping and cold. Keep a simple outfit for each of your children (and maybe yourself!), or, if you’re strapped for space, consider using an oversized t-shirt that could work for any member of the family.
3. Bottled water
Sealed bottles of water are always a good thing to carry with you. You never know when you might get stranded or stuck in traffic away from gas stations and air conditioning, and water is the one thing that will keep your body working until you can make your way home again.
4. Snacks
Have you ever noticed how a car full of hungry people becomes a car full of chaos? Keep snacks in your car to take the edge off while traveling or to take with you to summer activities. Select snacks that won’t melt in a hot car and can be resealed for later use if you don’t finish the whole package.
5. Summer-ready first-aid kit
No summer seems to pass without a few scraped knees. Fill a small first-aid kit with bandaids and antibiotic ointment, plus other summer essentials like aspirin for heat-induced headaches, anti-itch ointment for bug bites, and motion sickness treatments for long drives.
6. A picnic blanket
A blanket is a great addition to your car kit for impromptu trips to the park, picnics, and sitting curbside for Independence Day events. Use it to cover a table or create a shady tent for sleeping babies or for curling up at a drive-in movie! It might even be used as a towel after a spontaneous run through the sprinkler.
7. Plastic bags
Plastic bags of all shapes and sizes can come in handy while traveling and attending events during the summer. Use them to hold candy from a parade, pack up picnic trash, keep wet or dirty clothing, and much more.
8. Bug Spray
Summer is the season for bugs, bugs, bugs! Be prepared wherever you’re at on a summer evening by keeping a bottle or two of bug spray in your summer car kit.
9. Wet wipes
Whether you like baby wipes, hand sanitizing wipes, Clorox wipes, or all three, you need some! Clean messy fingers, a dirty dashboard, an unsightly picnic table, and a hundred other things. Keep wipes in an airtight container so they don’t dry up in a hot vehicle.
10. Little extras
Pen and paper, a card game, a travel pillow – these are items you don’t necessarily have to have but can be helpful on longer drives. Tailor your car kit to fit your family’s needs and you’ll be on your way to a less stressful summer of activities.
Kayla Lilly is a photographer, writer, wife, and mama making a house a home in eastern Idaho. She met her mister while working at an amusement park and married him a year later after deciding there was no way to live without him. The amusement has continued as they’ve added four kids and a passel of pets to their lives while finishing college and starting a photography business. Drawing inspiration from the whirlwinds of marriage, parenthood, and the media, Kayla blogs at Utterly Inexperienced, and spends the rest of her time chasing chickens, organizing junk drawers, diapering toddlers, and photographing everyone willing to step in front of her lens.
Other great ideas:
When I had little ones would pack a travel potty chair with diapers for the bowl and bags as liners for disposal. Saved the day many times , including once for an adult ( Won’t say who that was )