5 Ways Netflix Saves The Road Trip This Holiday Season!
This post is part of my participation in the Netflix Stream Team but all opinions are my own. #streamteam
The holidays are about getting together with friends and family and enjoying time together…although the not so enjoyable 4 or more hours to get to some family can sometimes be a bit stressful. We used to have to travel 7 hours to visit my grandparents. That was not an easy task with two children under 2, even if it was very much more than worth the hassle. As the kids got older the trip seemed to get even longer. The kids would complain, whine, and have to pee every fifteen minutes, no matter how many rounds of road trip BINGO we played. It was something I began to dread. Now I would give anything to be making that trip again but at the time I wanted to take separate cars and let my husband drive the kids. How I wish Netflix was around back then! Those long trips would have been much more successful!
Netflix is the perfect companion to a long road trip (or even just a short trip across town) for several reasons but here are my top 5.
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Netflix is FULL of quality Christmas movies and TV shows not to mention their wide selection of entertainment for all ages.
I have two preteens (did I just say that… I have two preteens! Where does the time go?) and a preschooler, Netflix has all three of them covered. My daughter is currently obsessed with Charmed while my son is hooked on anything the has LEGO in the title, the little one is a huge Team Toon fan but also loves many other shows on Netflix…I could write a whole post on just the different shows my daughter enjoys on Netflix, oh wait… I did. 🙂 - Netflix has a separate menu just for Kids!
Most of you probably already know this as I talk about it frequently but Netflix has a menu for kids that is easy to navigate and keeps them in shows aimed at their age group. I love the layout with the large character icons. This layout makes it easy for my preschooler to find what she wants to watch without me having to worry about her finding her way onto something I don’t want her to watch. Check it out here! - Netflix now has a download option on some shows!
Netflix is introducing a new feature where you can save a selection of their shows to your device to save you data. Being able to have the show on the Ipad keeps my data plan happy as well as my child because no everywhere supports 3g and sometimes…shockingly, there is no data at all! Thank you Netflix! Check out the selection they have available to download here and be sure to update your app to see the change! - Netflix can count as school work… if you are a mean mommy like me and make them do their school work even while it’s Christmas break. 🙂
Netflix has a huge selection of documentaries and educational programming. Sometimes I allow the kids to switch out a historical documentary for their history work. They also have some awesome shows for Science as well as a huge selection of preschooler shows that teach letters, shapes, numbers, and more. Netflix makes a good companion for the homeschooling road trip. You could take it just a little further and add a written summary paper to the assignment but I have realized this is not always met with enthusiasm. 🙂 - Netflix is supported by a wide range of devices.
You can watch Netflix on your Android, Apple, or Windows devices. That means while one kids is hooked on the Ipod, one of the Ipad, and one on the Iphone (yes, I switched the the dark side and am an Apple kind of girl now :))… they all can be watching their favorite shows with headphones on and I can be listening to a endless supply of Christmas music on the radio. Peace on Earth… or at least in my backseat. Now the only person that has to go pee every fifteen minutes is me courtesy of the 3 cups of coffee I probably had before the road trip began.
As an added bonus, I created this Christmas Scavenger Hunt for the kids. While watching the latest Christmas movies and tv shows on Netflix they can keep an eye out for all these different items. See who can check off them all first! You can download this free printable below!
But first let’s see what’s coming to Netflix!
Download the Christmas Movie Scavenger Hunt below!
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