Congratulations! You’ve managed to book the perfect coastal hideaway, a city break for lots of memorable experiences or a stunning retreat in a rural setting. Only then do you consult Google Maps to discover the challenge of the road trip that awaits you and your family…
A car journey with children can be a challenge at any given hour of the day, but if you’re planning to go further than the edge of town, then you need to equip yourself with some essential road trip activities for kids and get prepared to start your well-earned break in a positive way.
As a firm fan of the remote South West UK, I am a veteran of many long distance road trips and, with the right tools to hand, it needn’t hold any fear and it can be a great way to do a family vacation on a budget. Let’s delve into the ways you and your family can spend the journey smiling and begin the holiday in the right way.
1. Connect the dots
Join the numbered dots with simple pencil lines to create an image on the page. This is a chance for some quiet creativity with a slow reveal mystery for children of all ages. Your child can then add their own stamp to the design with colour after the final image presents itself. Choose your own dot-to-dot creations to theme with your visit or have a look at our vacation-inspired creations.
Recommended ages: 2–4
Preparation needed: Access to a printer and a web browser
2. Pipe cleaner shapes
With their furry feel and colourful appearance, children will love twisting and moulding pipe cleaners into their own bendy friends or creating patterns or shapes as they develop their dexterity and fine motor skills. A little bit of explaining and some assistance will go a long way to making this an enjoyable and engaging activity for all involved.
Recommended ages: 2–4
Preparation needed: Pipe cleaners need to be purchased in advance
3. Matching games
Matching games are great for developing your child’s recognition of shape, size, pattern or location. Simple matching games could be associating common items, or placing the correct shapes in the right places. A pairs game can be entertaining for two players, but children can equally love playing solo and challenging themselves to remember where they last saw a twin item.
Recommended ages: 2–4
Preparation needed: A travel tray would be handy to keep the pieces in one place on your child’s lap. Purchase a game on a theme they love or create your own by simply printing your images out and cutting them out.
4. Tracing games
Another great way to develop your child’s fine motor skills and more specifically, their emerging pen control, is to provide them with some entertaining tracing games. Patterns, lines, letters or numbers are great things to trace to make your child feel more grown up and like they are getting themselves ready for ‘big school’.
Recommended ages: 2–4
Preparation needed: A platform to lean on is ideal for this activity, so that your child can concentrate on their movements without the frustration of a lumpy surface. Create your own with a pen and paper or print off in advance.
5. Lacing cards
Lacing cards are a satisfying activity for any child who is able to thread a piece of coloured string through the holes on a pre-made shape to reveal a pattern and complete the picture. The repetitive nature of the threading and the ‘journey’ of the lace can make this an engaging sensory experience for the young traveller.
Recommended ages: 2-4
Preparation needed: Purchasing a set of suitable cards or shapes is recommended, but you could adapt your own foam shapes if you are feeling creative.
6. Felt board games
This is an interactive game that can inspire the storyteller inside your child. With a host of different felt icons to select from, children can create their own worlds by placing the felt pictures or shapes in the location of their choosing on a simple blank felt canvas or a themed background suited to your child’s interests.
Pieces can be moved from place to place and children will love narrating the story as they go.
Recommended ages: 2–4
Preparation needed: You can easily find felt games available online or custom cut your own shapes beforehand if you are feeling creative.
7. Busy boards
These can be a sensory delight for youngsters who are exploring the world at their fingertips, getting to grips with their hands as tools for manipulating the world around them. Zips to pull open, beads to thread, buttons to push or raised surfaces to follow with a finger are all great things to include on any busy board.
Recommended ages: 2–4
Preparation needed: You can easily create your own by finding some different materials and fastenings to glue to a thick card.
8. Dry-erase boards
Provisionality is the key here, as any marks made can simply be wiped clean and started again. Creative and confident children can draw whatever captures their imagination on a blank board. With younger children it may be a good idea to to find a dry-erase set up that has patterns, mazes or shapes to follow.
Recommended ages: 2–4
Preparation needed: Purchase a dry-erase whiteboard, suitable pens and a sponge or cloth to wipe clear. A camera might be handy to capture any artistic creations that your child is desperate to keep for posterity!
9. No-mess drawing
Sometimes less is more. And less mess means more happy adults. The etch-a-sketch has been around for ages, but has stood the test of time for creative, mess-free fun. However, there are many alternatives with a stylus and stamps to assist in creating different designs. LCD drawing tablets are great value for money – the one in our household has been used for multiple games, messages or pictures again and again.
Recommended ages: 2–4
Preparation needed: Shop around to find these mess free fun toys at the right price and suitability for your child.
10. Sticker books
Children can be wholly engaged by these sticker books if they are based upon a theme or characters that they love. Boys and girls love to create their own scenes in books by lifting stickers and placing them at a point of their choosing. Unlike the felt shapes, most of these do have a limited one-use life span, but a large enough book can be engaging on multiple occasions.
Recommended ages: 2–4
Preparation needed: Take a trip to town to find the ideal sticker book at a local bookshop or stationer, or browse the internet for a book on a specific theme or character.
11. Pit-stop activity
A break in the journey can be good for all parties involved. Plan your route to take in a pit-stop where legs can be stretched, pent-up energy let out and sustenance taken on board. This will allow the journey to recommence without the hangry meltdowns and caged-tiger vibes (and that goes for the adults here too). A scavenger hunt can be a great way to explore a temporary location.
Recommended ages: all
Preparation needed: Print off our scavenger list, or simply find the ideal place on your route – it could become an integral part of the holiday experience with the right planning.
12. Mad libs
A word play game that has an edge of anarchy to appeal to the silly side of every child’s sense of humour. The game is effectively a ‘cloze procedure’ exercise, where the blanks in a passage of text are filled in to complete the story. The ‘mad’ part is that the person reading the passage only tells their partner what word type they have to give them. Great for firming up what a noun, verb or adjective is and can lead to hilarious results.
Recommended ages: 5–7
Preparation needed: Print something like this or customise it to make your own mad lib family story about your trip.
13. Alphabet game
In this game, the travellers scan the passing shops, signs and ads to look for words starting with each letter of the alphabet. Players can play individually, filling out answers on a sheet. It could become a competition with each participant trying to call out their letter finds before everyone else. Or play as a collective with the main aim being for the family to complete the alphabet with the cut off of the final destination looming. Particularly great if you’re heading to Zennor in Cornwall.
Recommended ages: 5–7
Preparation needed: Dry-erase boards and pens for those who like to record, but a knowledge of the alphabet is all that’s essential to play the game in its simplest form.
14. Audiobooks
Picking the book that will engage both you and your children is key here, as it really is best if shared by the whole family. It’s worth choosing an audiobook that is slightly more challenging than something they could read independently.
Recommended ages: 5–7
Preparation needed: Download an audiobook app. Your local library should be able to recommend apps that are entirely free alongside your entirely free library membership! Libraries are the best!
15. Printable mazes
There is something so satisfying about navigating your way through a maze to reach a prize, reunite two companions or take your character to safety. Print out mazes in all sorts of shapes, sizes and difficulties with a simple internet search. You might even want to personalise the maze with your child’s name at the beginning and something they would like to reach at the end.
Recommended ages: 5–7
Preparation needed: Search. Click. Print. Take along a few colours, so that abandoned routes can be disregarded and the next colour shows the next attempt.
16. Lego/Duplo
Lego is creative and can be enjoyed by all. It can be great when challenges are set too (build an exciting house, an evil character, something fast). Alternatively, Duplo is a sturdy option and is less likely to disappear. It’s easy to create with and definitely stands the test of time for simple building fun. Children can make structures between them or their own little worlds on the back seat of the car.
Recommended ages: 5–7
Preparation needed: A box with a wide range of colours and pieces makes this a more engaging option – the space you have available may be a consideration.
17. License plate game
There are many variations or types of license plate game that can be played and many of these are dependent on the country you are travelling through. Some involve using the numbers on the plates to achieve a set from 1 to a target number, or looking for a particular digit ‘owned’ by the player. Other games use the letters in creative ways to make sentences or in North America, players can collect plates by their state.
Recommended ages: 5–7
Preparation needed: Search for a variant of number plate game that works or print out something like this if you’re road tripping in America.
18. Travel-themed Scattergories
The simplest way to play this game is to pick a letter, assign a category and then get listing. Players must note down (or say) as many words on a chosen category beginning with a given letter within a certain time limit. Another way to play is to have everyone (except the driver) with the entire alphabet listed completing as much of the alphabet as possible in the time. 2 points for a unique answer and 1 for a duplication.
Recommended ages: 5–7
Preparation needed: Pick your categories in advance (e.g. countries, travel companies, car companies or models, seaside items). Pencils and pads at the ready.
19. I-spy games
The designated player simply states ‘I spy with my little eye, something beginning with…’ before inserting the first letter of the chosen object. The other players guess the object and the person who is successful takes the next turn. It’s best to keep it to the confines of the vehicle, as most other things will whisk past the window pretty quickly if you’re travelling at any speed. Spice up a traffic jam by allowing an outside flash round!
Recommended ages: 5–7
Preparation needed: Knowledge of the alphabet…
20. Drawing prompts
Create a list of prompts on cards or pieces of paper for players to draw. Adding a competitive element is possible by a player taking a prompt and drawing without revealing the word to fellow travellers, leaving them to guess the word from the picture. Alternatively, make nonsense prompts for crazy creations (e.g. draw a creature with the head of an animal, a vehicle for a body and a kitchen utensil for a tail).
Recommended ages: 5–7
Preparation needed: Create your prompts in advance or give them orally if you are feeling creative.
21. Road trip scavenger hunt
The best road trip activity for kids! In this activity, children check off or write down the items on their list as soon as they seem them along the way, or on a pit stop. You could create your own list if you have time. This could contain things that you know they will see if the journey is familiar to you. This has potential longevity for an entire journey if the list is long enough or contains several rare or very specific items.
Recommended ages: 8–12+
Preparation needed: Print out lists or personalise by making your own.
22. Navigate a part of the trip
Kids love mapping a route and, when they get to grips with a road atlas, they can play a game of predicting the direction of travel with just a little information from the driver. They can follow along on an app if they’re not au fait with their motorways on paper just yet, but this is more engaging offline, pinpointing the location with a finger and anticipating the next twist or turn.
Recommended ages: 8–12+
Preparation needed: A whistlestop introduction to road atlases and the journey end point are all they’ll need to get going on this.
23. Word search
A keen eye and a relentless desire to find every word on the list are all that your child needs to enjoy a good word search. It’s straightforward, yet satisfying and could surreptitiously expand their vocabulary too. Pick a themed word search or create your own to suit the needs or interests of your family.
Recommended ages: 8–12+
Preparation needed: Search ‘printable word searches for kids’. Alternatively, you could use something like this to generate your own.
24. Hangman
This is a great way to develop spelling skills ‘on the sly’. Someone selects a word (dictionary could be helpful here) and draws a dash for each letter of the word. Other players guess one letter at a time. If it’s in the word, it’s added in the correct location. If it’s not there, one piece of the stick hangman or the gallows gets drawn and the letter is struck through.
Recommended ages: 8–12+
Preparation needed: A dictionary, paper and something to write with.
25. Crosswords
The thinking person’s word search. Players use the clues they are given to fill in the crossword grid. Numbers denote the locations corresponding with the clues and clues are arranged into ‘across’ or ‘down’ lists to give you the direction to scribe. Each clue will also provide the number of letters required.
Recommended ages: 8–12+
Preparation needed: Purchase a crossword book or print off some in advance. These are time-consuming to create from scratch.
26. Travel magnet games
There are many travel magnet games available to buy these days. They are handy to chuck in an activity bag and can be whipped out for instant entertainment at any time. On a journey, the magnets come to the fore and keep the pieces where you want them. Classics such as chess and draughts will always be popular, but there are other games available.
Recommended ages: 8–12+
Preparation needed: A purchase is necessary for this one and some training beforehand is recommended to learn the basics of something like chess.
27. Travel puzzles
Any puzzle can travel with you, but the magnetic theme carries on being useful here if the terrain is particularly bumpy. Pick a puzzle of a suitable size and difficulty. Children will gain satisfaction from the slow reveal of the final image and the sense of achievement on completion is definitely a real motivator for most. There are thousands to choose from or you could even get a puzzle made from your own picture.
Recommended ages: 8–12+
Preparation needed: If creating your own, order well in advance. Otherwise, purchase something that will appeal to the member of your family that you have in mind.
28. 20 questions
“Wait, you’re encouraging them to ask me more questions?” On the face of it, this game can sound as appealing as a frying pan to the side of the head; however, this is a sure-fire way to keep them focused for a good period of time. One person selects an object in their mind and their fellow players have 20 questions to discern the thing they have chosen. Questions must be framed to be answered with a yes or no response.
Recommended ages: 8–12+
Preparation needed: The beauty of this is its simplicity, but keep track of the number of guesses and award points to the successful parties involved if you want to.
29. Travel journaling
Framing this diary writing as ‘travel journaling’ and presenting your child with a shiny new notebook may just entice them into this wonderful writing habit. The journal can be picked up at any point and is a lasting record of the sights, sounds and feelings they experience. Children can be taught to record the best thing from each day, or to record what they are looking forward to, which is a healthy mindfulness exercise.
Recommended ages: 8–12+
Preparation needed: Purchase a suitably portable notebook and pen for the job.
30. Travel trivia
This idea will need some planning and research, which can be a lot of fun if you enjoy the role of quiz-master and, yes, I am that person. Find out about your destination: what is the history of the country, town or village that you are visiting? Who are its famous past residents? Look up other facts and figures such as population, average temperatures or annual visitors to really get your inner-geek going.
Recommended ages: 8–12+
Preparation needed: You’ve got this, grand quiz master. Select an evening, grab a glass of something nice and Google away to your heart’s content.
Tips for Preparing Road Trip Activities for Kids
Before you grab the keys and hit the road, take a quick look at our top tips to make yourself road trip ready:
- Get a travel tray. If you are on the move, your activities might want to be. A travel tray can keep the activity in one manageable arena.
- Personalise the activity. Preparing something that is relevant to the children, the trip or the journey will pique their interest and add to the sense of a shared experience.
- Bag it up. Each child can have their own bag of delights to dip in and out of. Keep everything tidily stowed away when it is not in use or until it is required.
- Get ready in advance. You may have to order online, download in advance or hit the shops for some of these activities. Pencil a date into the calendar 3 or 4 weeks before to prepare your entertainment extravaganza.
- Be involved. The journey is long for you too. If you are ready to join in for some (not all) of the activities, or have some up your sleeve for any emergency “I’m bored!” moments, then the children will feel engaged.
- Consider the space. You may well be fit-to-bursting with your own luggage and holiday paraphernalia. Avoid unnecessary stress by being selective with your choices.
Book Your Next Family Road Trip
You’re ready to be a road trip hero! With this great selection of age-related activities and a small amount of preparation, the long miles in the car needn’t hold any fears for you as a parent.
Choosing the activities that you take in advance will add to your inner peace and cultivate a positive experience for all of the family. Fun is number one on the agenda, but you can rest safe in the knowledge that you will secretly be supporting their cognitive development and confidence with your choices in a positive, personalised way.
Now all you need to do is to stick that pin in the map and load up the car. Visit our destinations page for your next road trip location inspiration.