Traveling with young kids can be a great experience---or it can be a nightmare if you don't prepare and plan ahead! Whether you are planning on a long airplane ride or a long car ride, pre-planning goes a long way in keeping the children entertained and quiet.

Prepare Snacks

Children get hungry on long trips, and if you pack your own snacks, you can be sure the food is healthy, and avoid making unplanned stops along the way. Pack snacks that take a significant amount of time to eat, like trail mix or cereal, this will keep children occupied and make time seem like it is passing much faster. For the sake of your sanity and your car's interior, avoid messy snacks, or snacks that need to be eaten with a fork or spoon. . Bring something to drink as well because dry foods will inevitably bring thirst. If you partially freeze juice boxes or water bottles before you leave, you will be able to provide cold drinks without making additional stops.

Bring DVDs and Books

Depending on the age of your child, you may want to bring along some DVDs, or a protable music player. If you don't watch much television at home, then the novelty of watching TV in the car will give you miles of peaceful driving. Make a trip to the library just before your trip, but don't let the kids have the books until the trip commences. If you are concerned about losing library books, head to a bookstore instead.

Bring Along Games

There are a number of different games geared toward road trips or long plane rides. You can bring cards, puzzle books or even board games that come with magnetized pieces. It is important to note that while most of these activities are fine for plane rides, they can cause car sickness. To see if your child will be subject to car sickness during travel, experiment with shorter trips, for most children car sickness will occur within a few minutes if they are reading or keeping their mind occupied in the car.

Bring a travel pillow and blanket

Long car or plane trips may run into naptime, and can even make a child who doesn't normally nap drowsy. If you're traveling overnight with kids, the best you can hope for is that they will sleep the entire way through. If possible you can facilitate this with comfortable blankets and pillows. If you are on a plane you can ask the flight attendant for these items at the beginning of the flight so that they will be ready if ever your children need them.

Planning ahead for your trip, and packing plenty of interesting items for kids to look at and do is the key to harmonious travel. If you are bringing multiple children, consider packing a "car bag" for each, with a small snack, bottled water, and some interesting activities or books Don't forget to save a few interesting items for the return trip as well!