road trip games with toddlers

30 Fun Road Trip Games for Kids and Families (Updated 2024)

By: Chrissy

Posted on Last updated: March 22, 2024

Planning your next family road trip? Keep your kids happy and occupied with these amazing Fun Road Trip Games for Kids and Families.

Getting excited about your next road adventure? Before you hop in the car for your next road trip with the kids take a look at these Fun Road Trip Games for Kids and Families to have a happy, relaxing and screen-free road trip.

In this fantastic round-up, you’ll find a selection of DIY portable games you can craft yourself, travel Bingo games, road trip scavenger hunt games, word games and riddles, printable sheets for travel binders and the best all-around road trip games for families. That means fewer squabbles and less complaining so you can all have fun on your family road trip.

And if your road trip is also a camping trip, be sure to also take a look at our useful list of  What To Bring Camping With Kids .

Happy and safe travels!

Table of Contents

DIY Road Trip Games for Kids

Love crafting? Be inspired by these creative portable games you can make for your car trips to keep the kids happy.

1. DIY Portable Tic-Tac-Toe Game

This DIY Portable Tic-Tac-Toe Game is a sweet little game that kids of all ages will love. For this lovely project, you will need a metal case with a lid, magnetic and sticker paper and free printables included in this tutorial.

Learn more: A Beautiful Mess

2. Calming Find It Game

If the kids get bored on your road trip get them concentrating on finding fun objects in this Calming Find It Game. It’s super easy to make with a plastic bottle, rice and small objects and perfect to take with you on trips.

Learn more: Lady Behind The Curtain

3. DIY Fabric Marble Maze

Fan of sewing? Make this lovely DIY Fabric Marble Maze for your kids. This DIY fidget toy is a pocket-size fabric marble maze sewn from fabric scraps. Get your free marble maze template and instructions in this tutorial.

Learn more: Apple Green Cottage

4. DIY Magnetic Travel Game for Kids

We created this DIY Magnetic Travel Game to keep the kids busy when we’re out and about. It includes free printable Monster cutouts and kids can mix and match the monster body parts with different eyes and mouths creating all kinds of silliness.

Learn more: Fun Loving Families

5. DIY Battleship Sweets Game

This DIY Battleship Sweets Game must be the cutest game we’ve ever seen. What an adorable spin on the classic Battleship game. Find out how to craft it in this fun tutorial.

Learn more: Lovely Indeed

6. Magnetic DIY Travel Tangram Puzzles

Have you heard of Tangram Puzzles? This simple activity will keep kids busy for a little while as they explore making new shapes and because they will stay put it makes it great for trips.

Learn more: Delia Creates

Road Trip Games for Kids

If you’re not a fan of crafting your own games and want an easy solution check out our family favorite road trip games picks.

7. Wikki Stix Traveler Set

Wikki Stix are a fun, mess-free, creative activity that my kids have always loved and I love this Wikki Stix Traveler Set that is perfect for kids who like to be creative.

8. Melissa and Doug Hangman Travel Game

This Melissa and Doug Hangman Travel Game is another favorite travel game in our house. Once your kids can spell a few words, they can start playing hangman. It’s a game that is built to last, so you’ll be able to keep it and use it for years. We’ve had ours for about 5 years, and it’s still going strong!

9. License Plate Game

You can’t go wrong with this License Plate Game. If your kids like to play this game, then this is something you’ll want to keep around. It’s easy to keep track of which states have been spotted and all of the pieces stay connected…so no missing pieces. Ever.

10. Travel Bingo Games

Grab a set of these Travel Bingo Games and have fun spotting the various sights along the way. This bundle includes the Original Interstate Highway Travel Bingo Set and the Highway Hunt Card Game.

11. Rubber Neckers Game

Rubber Neckers Game is a really fun challenge game where players earn points for completing challenges. I love that many players can play this game together, so it really makes for a fun car ride game. Each card has a challenge (e.g. get a person in another vehicle to wave, be first to spot a picnic table, etc.) with a point value, and you can play to however many points you choose.

12. Games on the Go Set

This Games on the Go Set is a collection of portable guessing games, word games, memory challenges, and more. They’re great to keep in your purse to play with the kids in the car, or while you’re waiting for your food at a restaurant. I love this set because they’re games that the whole family can play together.

Printable Road Trip Games for Kids

Whether you want to save a few dollars or are short on time, these printable travel games are a great way to add some time-fillers to your arsenal on the road.

13. Road Trip Alphabet Race

This Road Trip Alphabet Race is a fun engaging game to see who can spot the first thing beginning with each letter that is drawn from the pack. Whoever has the most letters at the end of the game wins! Check out this free printable and the instructions below.

Learn more: Handmade Charlotte

14. Little Red Riding Hood Finger Puppets

Let your kid’s imagination flow with these adorable Little Red Riding Hood Finger Puppets. This free printable includes six finger puppets from the Little Red Riding Hood story.

Learn more: Easy Peasy and Fun

15. Would You Rather Printable Game

I love the representation of this simple DIY Would You Rather Printable Game. Use this free printable to create one for your road trips and get the whole family talking and sharing.

Learn more: Typically Simple

16. Road Trip Scavenger Hunt Printables

This Road Trip Scavenger Hunt has just the right level of challenge for any age kid in the car. Print as many as you need for your toddlers, big kids, or tweens and teens. Grab the free printable via the link below.

17. DIY I Spy Game

Are you intrigued by this DIY I Spy Game? This one is created as a collage of different objects found around the house and then photographed and printed out. You can print out this one or be inspired to make your own.

Learn more: Dabbles and Babbles

18. Car Game Printable Games

Here is a fun set of free printable, re-usable dry-erase Car Game Printable Games. Head to this tutorial for the download and tips on how to create a simple kid’s travel kit.

Learn more: Simply Designing

19. License Plate Coloring Map

I love this coloring version of the license plate game. In this free printable kids color in the states as they spot the different license plates. You can download this License Plate Coloring Map via the link below.

Learn more: Happiness is Homemade

20. The Ultimate Activity Travel Printable Kit

The kids will have plenty of road trip games to choose from with this Ultimate Activity Travel Printable Kit. It includes all the best travel activities for kids to make your car journey a breeze.

Learn more: Moms Who Think

21. Printable Road Trip Activity Pack

Here’s another adorable Printable Road Trip Activity Pack to give you more choices. This one includes a colorful binder cover and seven entertaining activities for screen-free fun.

Learn more: Playdough to Plato

22. Printable License Plate Game

Keep it simple with this Printable License Plate Game. Kids can check off the states as they see the corresponding license plates. You can make this a cooperative game with all kids working together to finish the sheet, or print off multiple copies and make it a race to see who can find them all first.

Learn more: Raising Whasians

23. Restaurant I Spy Printable

This Restaurant I Spy Printable is a fun game that is perfect for road trips. Kids will have fun spotting the different logos on billboards and the roads with this bingo game.

Learn more: 3 Boys and a Dog

24. License Plate Game

License Plate Games are so much fun on road trips. Kids can see what the different state license plates look like while they play this printable license plate game. This post also includes handy 5 Road Trip Survival Rules For Traveling With Kids.

Learn more: The Suburban Mom

25. Kids Road Trip Scavenger Hunt

This Kids Road Trip Scavenger Hunt is great for the younger kids. The cute illustrations of cars, animals, buildings, street signs and more are perfect for preschoolers.  

Learn more: Kristen Duke Photography

26. Busy Binder with Printable Road Trip Games

Here’s a fantastic Busy Binder with Printable Road Trip Games. The “Which Colors Can You Find” is one that I hadn’t seen before, so I had to include it here. I’m sure the variety of games in here will keep the kids happy and engaged.

Learn more: Cutesy Crafts

27. Road Trip Word Search

Add this Road Trip Word Search to your game printables and put them all in a binder to keep them organized. You can also have it laminated and use a dry-erase marker to use it over and over again.

Learn more: Artsy Fartsy Mama

28. Road Trip Sticker Activity Set

This fabulous Road Trip Sticker Activity Set includes four different activities that correspond to four different sticker sheets that after printing you can have bound into a handy little workbook.

Learn more: The Homes I Have Made

29. Road Trip Games Printables Pack

Grab this Road Trip Games Printables Pack. This design would speak to the older kids who will have fun with it and be entertained.

Learn more: Today’s Creative Life

30. Printable Disney Theme Would You Rather Game

Disney fans will enjoy this Disney-themed version of the popular Would Your Rather game. Get this free printable via the link below for the hours of fun.

Learn more: Or So She Says

Final Tips on Road Trip Games for Kids

• You can print all of these free printable travel games and put copies in a binder for your kids to keep everything neat and organized.
• Some families like to ration out the games so that the kids don’t rush through everything in the first hour of the trip. You can set a timer or use post-it notes to remind you of when to pull out a new set of games. This is really a great tip because it allows for lots of variety and the kids always have something to look forward to.
• Use a backseat headrest organizer to keep games organized and within reach.

BEFORE YOU GO: See our best  tips for keeping your car clean and organized  before your next car trip!

Similar Posts:

• 32 DIY Backyard Party Games for the Best Summer Party Ever
• 50+ Things To Do On A Rainy Day: Games and Activities for Kids
• Road Trip Scavenger Hunt: Free Printable Lists for Toddlers to Teens
• 31 Fun DIY Backyard Play Areas The Kids Will Love

• Family Travel
• Family Vacation Ideas
• Games for Kids

24 Games You Can Play in the Car on Your Next Road Trip

Getting to your destination can be part of the adventure when you have this handy list of car games in your back pocket

If you’re heading out on a road trip soon and want to ensure that the trip will be spent making memories with the kids ( screen-free fun in the car is possible!), then we’ve got a list of car games just for you. To make your journey as enjoyable as possible, you’ll want to print out this list of easy games to play in the car. They don’t require any special gear, there are no pieces to lose, and they’re actually fun for parents and kids alike. Be sure to check out our list of road trip hacks that’ll make the drive even easier. Win, win, win!

1. The Alphabet Game: Find all the letters of the alphabet on things you pass along the highway. Variation: limit your finds to license plates or road signs to make it harder.

2. I Spy: This road trip classic has players starting with a vague clue like, “I spy something that moves” and the other players guessing from there. Only yes or no questions are allowed. Tip: put a limit to the number of questions so the rounds don’t go on for eternity.

3. Would You Rather: This is a fun one to get the kids thinking, with great questions like: “Would you rather live in the desert or on a deserted island?” Another good one: “Would you rather be able to control the weather or talk to animals?” Check out our list of would you rather questions for kids and our list of would you rather questions for teens . We even have would you rather questions for adults !

4. Fortunately/Unfortunately : This story-creation car game for kids starts with a sentence like, “Mom came home with a chocolate cake.” The next person has to continue the story with fortunately like, “Fortunately, it had sprinkles on it.” Turn passes to the next person who uses unfortunately  like, “Unfortunately, they were made of wax.” Hilarity ensues.

5. Story Volley: A similar game is story volley where you take turns creating a story back and forth between two (or more) players. This one can go on forever!

6. Open-ended Questions: Learn a little more about your car companions with this game where you can ask any question you like. Good ones to start with: What’s your favorite animal? What superpower do you wish you had? What TV character are you most like?

7. Alphabet Game (Version 2): The flow of this game is to use this phrase, “My name is ______ and I’m married to _______. We live in ______ and are shopping for ________.” All words have to start with the letter you are on like, “My name is Amy and I’m married to Al. We live in Arkansas and are shopping for apples.” Then you move on to B.

8. Letter, Word, or Sentence Guessing Game: For back seat players only, you have one kid draw a letter, word, or sentence (depending on age) on the other player’s back. Try to guess what was drawn.

9. License Plate Bingo: Using a little notebook to keep track, try and find all the state license plates. This game can carry over from road trip to road trip as who has ever seen a Hawaii plate outside of Hawaii? Parents should be ready to verify any rare sightings (to prevent cheating).

Related:  22 Creative Road Trip Activities (That Don’t Include Screens)

10. 20 Questions: This game has you thinking of an item while your opponent has to guess what it is. Limit your questions to 20 so you don’t go totally insane. This game knows how it is to travel with kids, clearly. For little kids, you can limit it even further to a category like animals.

11. The Name Game: Good for teens and tweens, this game has you name a celebrity like Oprah Winfrey and the next person has to take the first letter of that celebrity’s last name to start their turn and name another celebrity like Will Smith.

12. Hot Sauce or Chocolate: A variation on this or that, this game has you choose which item between two that you’d rather give up. Start with hot sauce or chocolate, choose one (clearly chocolate is the one to keep) and the next person has to add another to the pair like peanut butter so now you’re choosing between chocolate and peanut butter.

13. The Vacation Memory Game: This is a fun car game for kids! The first person starts with, “I’m going on a vacation and I’m going to bring . . . ” and then they choose an item like sunscreen. The second person starts, “I’m going on a vacation and I’m going to bring sunscreen and . . .” and chooses a second item like beach towels. The game continues until someone messes up the order and forgets an item. You can make it trickier by going in alphabetical order.

14. Count the Item: Choose an item like an American flag, tractor, or Starbucks sign and see how many your crew can find while on your journey.

15. Yes-No-Black-White: In this car game for kids, one player is the questioner and one the answerer. The questioner asks a question, trying to get the answerer to say the words “yes, no, black or white.” The answerer needs to answer verbally and truthfully, without using the forbidden words.

16. The Animal Name Game: The first player picks an animal like a squirrel. The second player has to pick an animal that starts with the last letter of the prior animal, like “lion.” And on and on!

17. Skittles: In this game, you are looking for the holy grail: the yellow vehicle. See one and yell, “Skittles!” and get one point. You may have to set your own rules about whether yellow farm equipment and buses count or should be excluded (as a fleet of school buses could cause an early end to your gameplay).

Related:  16 Roadside Attractions You’ve Got to See to Believe

18. Cheers to the Governor (the kid version): This is a collaborative memory game you can play in the car to get to a certain number. So, if your goal is to get to 21, you start by counting one by one in order. You start with one rule, usually that 7 and 11 are switched (instead of saying 7 the person who is supposed to say 7 will say 11, and the person who should say 11 will say 7). If you make it through all the numbers, someone makes up a new rule (clap twice instead of saying three, make an animal noise instead of 15), and start counting back at 1 with the new rule. If someone misses a rule, you start back at one. The goal is to get to the point where all of the numbers are replaced with rules.

19. State Capitals: Good for all you geography fans, get the kids to list the state capitals. You can do it in alphabetical order or quiz style.

20. Cows and Graveyards: You get a point for every cow you spot on your side of the car. Spot a graveyard and lose all points.

21. Name That Tune: Play a snippet of a song from the radio and try and guess the song and artist.

22. Restaurant Race: Each player gets a restaurant like McDonalds, Taco Bell, or Burger King and players count how many of their restaurants they can find along the way.

23. Rock-Paper-Scissors: This is a classic hand game that’s a perfect game to play in the car. Two players shoot rock (fist), paper (flat hand), or scissors (the peace sign) on the count of 1,2,3… shoot! Paper beats rock, rock beats scissors, and scissors beats paper. Try the best of three, or just keep playing down the road.

Our All-Time Favorite Games to Play in the Car

24. Off Limits: In this game, you choose words or phrases that are “off limits” like family member’s names, “hungry” or “are we there yet?” (Brilliant!)

25. The Quiet Game: The player who is quiet the longest wins! Save this one for when you are really desperate.

Related:  21 Clever TikTok Travel Hacks to Make Traveling with Kids a Breeze

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Home » Blog » Travel » Ultimate Road Trip Activities for Kids: Printables, DIY, & More

Ultimate Road Trip Activities for Kids: Printables, DIY, & More

With summer there is usually lots of time spent in the car, and if you have little ones, you’ll want to keep them entertained. If you’re likely gearing up for plenty of travel—visiting family, summer camps, and vacations with the kids, check out these Ultimate Road Trip Activities for Kids, featuring printables, DIY, & more.

Introducing: The Best Road Trip Games and Activities for Kids!

While my kids would happily watch movies non-stop during our road trips, I prefer to use this time for learning, bonding, and creating lasting memories. With the engaging road trip games and activities below, a little preparation goes a long way in keeping kids entertained for hours, all while having fun and learning along the journey.

1. Road Sign Scavenger Hunt

Thanks, TripSavvy!

This was my favorite road trip scavenger hunt printable that I found, but there are hundreds more if this isn’t what you are looking for. This will keep the kids paying attention, talking, and will for sure strike good friendly competition up in the car!

Plus, this is one that all ages can do. You do not have to be able to read to be able to do this! Just match!

2. “Find That Thing” Scavenger Hunt

Thanks, Carla!

Here is another road trip scavenger hunt game that I found, but this one is only for readers. It is a little more advanced, but the objects are a little harder to find! I would suggest this one for your 4th – middle school-aged kids! They will love this.

3. Make Face Magnets

This is one of the best road trip games for toddlers! They will LOVE this game!

Just find pictures of faces online or even use pictures of your own family member’s facial features and allow your child to build whatever face they want! All you need to do is put a little magnet on the back of each paper and you are good to go!

Thanks, TheIowaFarmersWife.com !

4. Cookie Sheet Chalkboard

This one is so fun! All you need to do is go out and buy some chalkboard paint , paint your cookie sheet, and hand your child some chalk ! They will be entertained for hours on end just drawing away.

This is a super inexpensive way to entertain your kids and you won’t be wasting paper on coloring books! You can just erase and draw over and over again!

Thanks, SunnyWithAChanceOfSprinkles.com

5. Alphabet Pictionary

This one is awesome for any little kid just learning their ABCs but can honestly be used with kids of all ages. All you have to do is print out these printables , put them in a binder , and hand them out to each kid! Let them bring along crayons , pencils or markers and draw away!

Hours will have passed by the time they draw something for each letter . Once everyone finishes, Mom or Dad could judge the drawing and give out a winner for each letter!

Thanks, Lalymom!

6. Travel Memory Game

All you need to make this awesome road trip game is some felt , scissors , glue , and cardboard ! After a little prep, your child will be able to play either with siblings or by themselves, all day long.

This is SUPER easy to make and will last a long time . Not to mention how cheap these supplies will be! Your kids will adore this handmade memory game set.

Thanks, Kids Activities Blog!

7. Truck Spotting/Car Spotting

This is a huge hit in my house for little boys! All you need to do is print this out, hand them a pencil, and see who can spot the most trucks first. Your boys will love this!

Some of these trucks are a little dated and you won’t see too often (like the TV van with the satellite on top) so I would suggest just having a timer and seeing who can get the most in the specific amount of time!

Thanks National Post! 

iSpy is one of my favorite go-to car games but sometimes it is hard to think of things to SPY! I found 2 lists that were perfect for car rides! They are suited well so that you will be able to find everything right from the window of the car.

This will take up a good 30-60 minutes and can be played over and over again!

Thanks, A Pretty Life in the Suburbs & Live Laugh Rowe !

9. License Plate Game

All growing up I played this will my siblings and my kids still play it today!! This awesome printable will help your kids keep track of all the license plates they’ve seen throughout the trip.

I would suggest this one for the longer road trips that go across multiple states . If you’re stuck in one state the entire time, you might not see too much diversity!

Thanks, TheSuburbanMom!

10. ABC Spelling Game

I love this idea! It’s a road trip game that’s fun and educational . And we all know how it goes when a little one is learning to read and write. They are all so eager to learn and this is such a fun way to help them improve their spelling.

All you need is a metal lunch box , magnetic tape , and alphabet letters ! Give your child the lunch box and tell them which words to spell!

You could be sitting in the front seat saying, “dog” “meow” “purple” “truck” and they could be in the backseat spelling away! Or, you could give their sibling little flashcards with words to help quiz them along the way!

Thanks, As the Bunny Hops!

11. Roadtrip Bingo

Bingo is an awesome option when you have a car full of kids! What I love to do is simply give them a book or a notepad, let them set their board up, and simply use fruit snacks or goldfish as markers!

The first one to get a bingo gets to call out the objects the next time. My kids could go on and on for hours with this! I’m sure yours will too!

Thanks, Everyday Reading!

12. Travel Journal

A travel journal is a great way for your kids to pass the time, practice their writing, and write down all the fun memories they make while on family vacations . You can find many different options of printables for a travel journal but I like the one above because it is good for all ages.

Maybe attach a blank piece of paper to the other side and have them draw their favorite part of the day and write a paragraph about what they loved the most about today! Your kids will love to look back on this once the trip is over.

Thanks, Voluntown Housewife!

13. Word Search

Word Searches are fantastic ways to pass the time while in the car. What I love to do is put them in sheet protectors , hand them a dry erase pen , and let all your kids have a try!

This way you will only have to print out one puzzle and they will all get to use it. All they need to do is wipe off their writings once they are done!

Thanks, iHeartNapTime!

14. Would You Rather?

This game looks amazing! I haven’t tried this one yet, but I am going to totally make this for our next road trip. All you have to do is print out the questions and make the book! You will then have dozens of questions for your kids.

This will entertain them for such a long time and they will love it! And if you’re planning a Disney vacation , this is even more perfect.

Thanks, GetAwayToday!

15. Racetrack Binder

I love this idea. You could fill up a little 3 ring binder with word searches, puzzles, games, and maybe even their journal and then add this little race track to the end . You’d then have an entire binder full of road trip games.

With this one, your little kids will love pretending to drive their race car all around as you are on your road trip. Just head here and print out the printable! All you have to do is put it in the sheet protectors and you are good to go!

Thanks, Design Dizzle!

16. Ticket Time

If you have kids that love to ask, “Are we there yet?” This is the game for you!! All you need to do is determine how long your trip will be. If it will be 6 hours, give each kid a baggie with 12 tickets in it (one ticket for every 30 minutes).

After 30 minutes go by, they can hand you a ticket. If they ask, “are we there yet?” they don’t get to turn in a ticket. Once the trip has ended all the kids who have given back all the tickets can get a treat!

I love this simple idea! It helps the kids know how much longer they have left without even having to ask!

Thanks, Crafting Chicks!

17. Car Ride Presents

This idea takes a little prep, but I love the concept of this. This sweet mother decided that she would make a hand-made gift for her kids each time they went on a road trip. Whether it was a journal, a doll, a bracelet, etc… she wrapped it up and took it on the trip with them.

I think this would be an awesome motivator to help your kids be on their best behavior. Tell them that if they behave, they can open their present in the last hour of the trip!

Note: This doesn’t have to be extravagant or expensive.. just give them a handmade treat that they would love! Check out these Homemade Gift Ideas Perfect for Any Occasion for ideas.

Thanks, Grey Luster Girl! 

18. Brain Quest

My kids love these games! Their cards are awesome and will get your kids thinking. There are different decks for different ages and they will keep your kids entertained forever .

The deck is full of questions that your child will quickly need to answer. This can be played with siblings or with you leading it! Whatever works! If you’ve never tried this game, you need to! It’s the greatest.

Check it out here!

19. Geography Quiz

Make it a competition and your kids will love it even more. I even have a little prize sometimes for the winner.

20. Dry Erase Activity Book

This is one that can be 100% customizable . All you need to do is gather a bunch of printables that your child can use over and over again. I found word searches, essay prompts, coloring pages, and crosswords.

All you need to do after is laminate them! You can either go to a store to get this done or do it yourself! Afterward, punch holes in the paper and let your kids draw away. This book will last forever because all you’ll have to do is erase the markings and start over after every road trip.

Thanks Simply Kierste!

21. Hangman

This is the perfect game for road trips. It is a wooden slab that has letters that you can flip over and a dry erase marker. All you need to do is throw this in the car and it is there ready for them to play. My kids love this and it keeps them occupied for hours and hours. 

22. Road Trip Grab Book

I decided to put this as the last homemade game because it is the perfect way to combine all of the other road trip activities and games I have mentioned above. All you need is a 3 ring binder and some pencil cases .

Once you have those, all you need to do is fill each pencil case with different activities. You can put coloring pages, legos, treats, cards, etc. Honestly, anything you want! All you have to do is fill it up and hand it to each child.

You can customize each binder and fill it with things specific to them OR give everyone the same thing . I like to put all the same things in each binder just to avoid the fighting!

Thanks, MamaPapaBubba!

23. Premium Scratch and Sketch Art Notes 2 Pack

This is the perfect item for any of your children that love to doodle. This pad will eliminate crayons, markers, and pens because all the colors are already there under the paper! Once they draw, the colors will appear. Your kids will love these.

24. Travel Scavenger Hunt Card Game

This game is perfect to play in the car. All you need to do is put it in the pocket of your car and let it sit there. Whenever your kids are bored, they can pull it out and use it! They will love having it around to keep them entertained on long rides.

25. Games on the Go

If you’re looking for a bunch of simple road trip games in a compact format, this Games On the Go product is perfect. It has 50 games and can fit right in your pocket!

Final Thoughts

I hope that you found some car games that struck your attention on this list! Give a few of them a try on your next road trip and let me know how it goes.

I know that sometimes as moms we just DREAD long trips in the car, but with the right preparation, you can have the best road trip ever!

What road trip activities do your kids love doing in the car? Comment below! I can’t wait to find out.

Essential Road Trip Item:

This would be awesome on the back seat of your car to keep snacks and supplies off the ground! There is nothing I love more than squished fruit snacks or crackers ALL OVER THE CAR 😉 and this will prevent that from happening!

Plus it will keep your kids energized while they play all the road trip games above. Check it out on Amazon here .

This post was insanely helpful. Thanks for all your hard work putting this together.

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Creating Really Awesome Fun Things

26 of the Best Road Trip Games For Kids

Updated on July 22, 2024   |  By Jamie Dorobek   |   1 Comment

I’m not opposed to electronics on long road trips, but I would prefer my kids to be curious and engaged in the world right outside of the car window. Plus what kid wants to stare at an iPad for 10+ hours? (Never mind, don’t answer that, ha!) You have to switch it up on a road trip with kids. This list of 26 road trip games for kids makes time fly on the road with kids!

* A giant thank you to Toyota for letting my family borrow a Toyota Highlander for our 12 hour road trip to Seaside, FL! What a difference a car can make! My favorite features include reclining bucket seats, rear AC control in the front of the car, and the 3rd row bench seat! 

If you’re in the market for traveling with kids, don’t miss these posts:

• Tips for long road trips with a baby
• 16 Tips for road tripping with toddlers
• Tips for traveling with a baby via airplane
• Traveling with a  mobile lap baby via airplane
• Tips for  flying with a toddler

Pipe Cleaner Car Games

Who knew pipe cleaners could save the day on long car rides? The are very cheap, colorful, and not messy. Here is an awesome  deal on a pack of 200 pipe cleaners , and here are 3 pipe cleaner activities to do in the car.

1. Stringing Beads on Pipe Cleaners

This is just as simple as it sounds, bring a small tupperware or zip lock bag of pony beads and let the kids make bracelets and necklaces. I always like to suggest that the kids make a necklace for whomever you are going to visit whether that is Grandma or Aunt Kelley. Also, if you don’t have pony beads on hand, noodles or Cheerios work great too!

2.  Pipe cleaner sculptures

Another simple pipe cleaner car game for kids is making sculptures. My kids love challenges, so I like to say things like, “I challenge you to make a pipe cleaner monster.” or “I challenge you to make a pipe cleaner accessory.” Prizes are great motivators too. We do simple things like a dum dum or a single Starburst. Below is the pipe cleaner accessory my son made for me.

3. Are We There Yet Game

This simple pipe cleaner road trip game for kids will put the “Are We There Yet?” questions to rest.

Here’s how you play the “Are we there yet” pipe cleaner car game:

• Before you start your road trip, decide how long you will drive each day, an estimate is just fine.
• Gather enough pipe cleaners for each kid to have one for every hour you drive.  You could also do one pipe cleaner per 30 minute increments if your kids are younger.
• Prep the car by making a loop around the car handle on the ceiling with string and running it across to the other side above their heads. This is so the pipe cleaner chain does not have to dangle in their faces for the entire car ride.
• Explain before you take off that every hour (or half hour) you will hand out a pipe cleaner to each child. Instruct them to make a loop with the pipe cleaner.
• To make this activity take a little longer, have the kids string pony beads on the pipe cleaner, leaving enough room to twist the loop shut.

Felt Car Crafts

Like pipe cleaners, felt is another inexpensive craft material that does not make a mess. Which is exactly why pipe cleaners are perfect for a road trip! Here is an awesome deal on 42 pieces of colorful felt squares . For these felt car activities for kids we are going to make scenes. To prep this craft, cut out the scenes before you leave on your trip. I typically suggest cutting 3-5 scenes and putting them all in a galloon zip lock bag for the kids to go through at their own pace.

Next, glue one felt sheet to a clip board. Clip the ziplock bag under the clip. This gives a nice hard surface to play on and keeps everything well contained.

4. Felt House

For the felt house scene, cut out the different parts of the house. Things like, windows, door, roof, flowers, tree, and grass.

5. Felt faces

Cut out a head shape and then go wild with faces. Here are a few to start with, frowns, smiles, teeth, big eyes, small eyes, freckles, lashes, noses, short hair, long hair, and hats. For more felt face tips and tricks, check out this post from C.R.A.F.T.

6. United States

Cutting out the 50 states takes a little prep time, but is a lot of fun for the older kids.

7. Ice Cream Cone

Cut out a cone and multiple scoops of ice cream. Then, add the toppings! Things like sprinkles, a cheery, and even gummi bears are fun for kids. The same thing can be done with a pizza!

Cut out a blue rectangle for the ocean and then add fish, seaweed, coral, clams, sharks, and even a scuba diver!

Travel Journals

Older kids are the natural fit for keeping a travel log, but this can be done with little ones too. Younger kids can draw pictures, cut out pictures from magazines and travel brochures, or add stickers. I like to assign a portion of the day to writing when the car should be quiet.

Pro tip: f you sign up with your destination’s visitors bureau, you can request free catalogs.

9. Travel log for older kids

First, have the kids make their journal. The free approach to making a travel journal is to take an old cereal box, and cut out a front and back for the book. Cut large pieces of white paper out and glue them on the cardboard to create spaces to write and color.

After the travel log is made, consider giving kids a prompt to write about each day. Here are a few fun prompt ideas:

• Today I have seen the color ______ the most because…
• The best thing I’ve seen on the road today was…
• The best food I’ve had on the road trip so far is…
• Describe what you see out of the window right now.

10. Travel log for preschoolers

Younger kids will love this activity too, just make sure to have a few more supplies on hand. I love to bring map pencils, stickers, tape, at least one magazine, glue sticks, and scissors to keep the younger ones excited about their travel journal.

Cardboard Box Top Road Trip Games

The following 4 car games for kids all use a cardboard box top to contain the supplies. I’ve found that a printer box top works best since it has sides and you can typically get one for free at your job.

11.  Travel Chalkboard Table

All you need for this is black construction paper and chalk. Simply hand your kiddo the materials and let them get to work. Another fun idea is to paint the inside of the box lid with a few coats of chalkboard paint.

12. Coloring Box Top

This is as simple as adding a few sheets of paper and coloring utensils. Another idea is to use a hot glue gun to attach a clip board to one side of the box to secure the paper to the lid.

13.  Cardboard Box Mini Train Table

This is a big hit with the 4 and under crowd who really love trains. Consider using 3M strips to stick 3-4 train track pieces to the box top. I don’t recommend sticking them all to the box, part of the fun is completing the track. This can also be down with a car race track. Just use a permanent marker to draw a race track on the lid and give your child cars to race.

14.  Sticky Letters

For this road trip activity, you will need duct tape, contact paper, buttons, and of course, a cardboard box top. You can find the free printable dotted alphabet needed for this activity on C.R.A.F.T.

Printable Road Trip Games for Kids

What would a road trip be without a rousing game of roadside bingo or the license plate game? There are so many awesome blogs and sites to hit up for free road trip game printables! Three of my favorites are listed below. I ended up purchasing a few re-usable road trip bingo cards from Amazon. My 6 year old loved it! Again, a prize is always a fun idea, these crazy balls were our bingo prizes .

15. License Plate Bingo

I love this free printable from Today’s Creative Life . It’s a single sheet of paper with a place to check off every state you find. I like to do this one with the whole family.

16. Road Trip Bingo

Urban Bliss Life has an adorable free prinatble road trip bingo.

17. Restaurant I-Spy

This road trip game is exactly what it sounds like, you have to keep your eyes peeled to find all the fast food joints. Grab the free printable at 3 Boys and a Dog . I love that this printable is made with logos, so it works well for little ones too.

Books on Tape

18. audiobooks.

Download the Audible app to your phone for free, and then you can buy audiobooks through Amazon that get sent right to the app. You can listen to the audio books as much as you’d like! Here is an awesome list of 35 audio books for kids from Everyday Reading . Some of the books come with images and some do not.

19. Record books with your voice

To record most children’s books all you need is your cell phone. I love this idea for little kids who enjoy hearing your voice.  Don’t forget the actual books! Having the child follow along with your voice in the book is a great early reading skill. Here is very simple tutorial for recoding your voice using Voice Memos on an iPhone .

20. Pod casts for kids

Here’s an awesome list of pod casts for kids that adults will enjoy too . Did you know that Cookie Monster has his own pod cast?!

Road trip snack games

Everyone loves road trip snacks! Turn food into a game and everyone wins a little peace and quiet on the family road trip.

21. Food Memory Game

I bought this food memory game for a long road trip this Spring Break and it was a hit! It’s a snack and game all in one. Bring a pack of colored  candies (liked M&M’s) to easily refill the holes. My kids played this game at least 20 times on the road trip and have played it at home with friends too. There are 18 snack compartments big and each compartment is only big enough for about 2 Cheez-Its or 12ish pistachios.

22. Twizzler Writing

Grab a package of the rope twizzler pull and peel, not the traditional braid and a clip board or lap desk to have kids practice their letters. You can print and laminate (or stick in a ziplock bag) large letters for the younger ones to trace. Call out words of things you see as you drive past and have the older ones spell the words out. The best part is clean up is a synch… and a tasty snack!

23. Bead organizer snack packs

While this is not exactly an activity, you will be amazed at how long it keeps them busy. Buy one bead organizer per child and fill it with snacks in each little compartment. You can also bring stickers for the kids to use to personalize their snack boxes.

Here are some simple road trip snack ideas I’ve used before:

• Cranberries
• Carrot sticks
• Cucumber slices
• Marshmallows

24. Letter treats

This educational “game” reinforces letter recognition and letter sounds. I bought a container of Trader Joe’s Schoolbook Cookies , and every hour or so we did a quick letter session that inevitably ended in eating cookies.

• For my 4 year old, I would hold up a letter cookie and ask, “What sound does this letter make?” Then, I would ask her to name the letter and then she got to eat the cookie.
• For my 6 year old, I asked him to name 3 words that start with x letter.

Road Trip Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers

The last 3 road trip games for kids are specifically for youngest travelers.

25. Post-It Notes

This is seriously as easy as handing your toddler a stack of Post-It notes. Then let them go wild sticking notes any where they want. Another method I’ve used is to stick a ton of notes to an empty oatmeal container and let the child pull them all off. The empty oatmeal container serves double purpose as a storage spot for extra Post-Its and coloring supplies.

26. Learn something new

My son and I worked on numbers on a long road trip to Florida and it was amazing what 10 sessions of  5 minutes each can do over a one week period. By the end of the week, he could identify the numbers 0-9! This would work well with letters, multiplications facts or states and capitals for older kiddos.

27. Asking older kids to read/ teach/ sing to the younger ones

This is on of my personal favorites because if the older kiddo agrees, it’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. Maxwell is 4 and he will sing his 2 year old sister songs and “read” her books for fun. This typically only lasts for 5ish minutes, but 5 minutes increments add up fast.

If you are looking for more travel tips with kids, I’ve got you covered:

I hope we have inspired you to pack a few inexpensive road trip games for kids before you hit the open road! Just remember, don’t use all your tricks at once. Try to stagger the activities so that you never run out of things to do!

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July 8, 2021

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21 easy children’s Car Games & Road trip activities for kids

Looking for the best games for children to play in the car on a road trip? Want ways to keep them entertained, quiet or playing nicely? Here are some ideas for the best car games and road trip activities for kids of all ages.

*We work hard to make this the best motorhome travel blog and road trip website possible, full of helpful content for you. The website is supported by our readers, so if you buy through links on this site we may earn a commission- at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain our own .

If you find this post useful, you can also treat us to a coffee – we promise to enjoy it while creating more useful content like this- we might even indulge in a biscuit (or two!)

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Car Games for Kids

Hands up if you have ever been stuck on a road trip with children under the age of 15?

I’m so sorry.

(If you haven’t, and that’s why you’re reading this, err…. good luck! ?? )

Kids struggle with road trips. Even if, like our daughter, they’ve spent a lot of time travelling, they still struggle with the concept of ‘how far there is to go’, sitting still for long periods and changes in their routine.

Children’s Car Games – What NOT to Do!

I remember one memorable trip with our toddler about 15 years ago. I was woefully unprepared and didn’t have any children’s car games handy.

I improvised and created the infamous road trip game “Can you see the Monkey in the tree…?”

Not familiar with it? Every time we drove past a tree, ANY tree, I had to ask “Can you see the Monkey?”

Our beloved daughter would look at the tree, ponder the question thoughtfully as she stared at it, then declare “YES” really loudly.

I should point out that we were in Northern England. There were no monkeys. But, if I forgot a tree, she started to cry because “I’d missed the monkey in it.”

So, I was stuck.

We played this game, non-stop, for two hours on our car drive. TWO HOURS. Yes, that warrants excessive use of capital letters.

It also warranted a double vodka when we arrived…

I won’t tell you what I was thinking. It certainly didn’t give me any mother-of-the-year points.

So, to help you avoid the same pain and misery, here are some better ideas for road trip toys, games & activities for children. They’re mostly quiet (you’re welcome) and generally EASY and suitable for kids of all ages.

(You can also find ideas for baby toys for road trips.) Good luck with your trip!!

Fun Driving Games for Kids

Many of these car games for children can be played without any extra accessories. However, did you know you can buy ACTUAL i-spy packs or Road Trip bingo wipeable sheets??

If you do a lot of road trips, or are enjoying van life with kids , you’ll be glad you have wipe-able ones!

Depending on the age of your kids, this may not be the best road trip game; once you start you might get the word ‘sky’ 17 times in a row. We play the rule that the object has to be visible at all times (no “there was a sheep back there!”) and also that you cannot repeat a word.

Another option for younger children (where spelling is an issue) is to do i-spy with a colour. “Something coloured… blue” (yep, it’s sky again)

If you prefer, one of these amazing i-Spy books might be just the thing, especially if you’d like a break. You can various ones, covering road trips, animals, vehicles etc, or get one like this which covers everything.

Pink/ Yellow Childrens Car Game (adults can play too!)

This car game is strangely addictive for all the family.

In a nutshell, you’re looking for yellow and pink cars.

You get one point for a yellow car, two points for a pink car (I’ll allow your judgement on what is pink and what is red!) If you see a car of either colour, the first to shout it out wins the points.

Keep track of the score and play until a set point or until a certain score. For us, we play the first to 50 points chooses dinner. Or gets first bathroom break. Or the loser has to do the washing up!

License Plate Game

Depending on which country you’re road tripping in, this can work in several ways. You can print off a map and get the kids to colour it in as they spot licences for each country or state.

This works best somewhere like Europe or the USA, not the UK- we don’t have such a large range of different countries. (In Europe, you’ll be spotting the EU badges)

If you are road tripping in the UK, try and go through the alphabet- find licence plates with an ‘A’ on it, then ‘B’ etc. (Just a note, we don’t use ‘I’ or ‘O’… don’t try to find those!!!

Another option is ‘Mapominoes’. Best played with plenty of space, this is a great way to encourage kids to learn more about the countries you’re visiting.

Ah, road trip bingo. It was one of my favourite car games when I was a child. I’m pleased to say it’s evolved a bit now.

You can get some brilliant printable free for various car bingo activities. Print them off, give everyone a pen or pencil (ideally on a string around their necks!) and let Road Trip Bingo commence. It’s surprisingly fun! Alternatively, buy a wipeable, reusable pack.

I like the fact that the game is played with road signs and animals- makes it easier to spot things for younger children. If you want to make it harder, only the first to see and shout gets to mark it down.

Best Board Games to Play in the Car

If you’re going to play board games in a car with children, prepare yourself for things to get lost on the floor or tantrums. BUT, board games are a way to pass the time and there are some great ones without many loose pieces!

Some of our favourites include:

Guess Who Travel Car Game

Did you know you can get Disney, My Little Pony and many other editions of this popular childrens car game? It used to keep me and my brother entertained for hours!

Skillmatics

Great fun and learning for kids, that will keep them entertained while on your road trip!

Battleship- Easy Travel Game for Kids

Another perfect kids car game with very few moving pieces. Battleship is also a great car board game for adults to play with a single child on their own in the back.

Pop-up Car Board Game for Kids

We used to call this ‘Frustration’ when I was a kid, but now there are many versions available. It’s a great board game for car journeys- the dice is contained so can’t roll under the seat or fall down a gap. And the pieces are pretty large, so not easily dropped.

Quiet Road Trip Activities for Kids, Tweens & Teenagers

Once the initial excitement wears off, it’s a good idea to have some quieter activities for them to get on with by themselves.

READ NOW: More quiet activities for kids – perfect for both at home and while travelling

Magnetic Drawing Board

These are brilliant! Allow your little one to draw again and again- without running out of paper or dropping their pencil. Hours of entertainment!

Tell me I am not the only person who remembers these!?! I can’t believe they’re still going. I used to play with my Spirograph for HOURS when I was younger (like, last week…)

Sticker Books

These were a godsend when Jade was younger. We’d buy her a couple of sticker books and let her stick them in as she liked. Just expect stickers on your car doors- Princess Jasmine is destined to be in your car forever!!

Puzzle Books

My daughter has no patience for puzzles, but I used to do them for HOURS when I was young. (Still would, if I had time!)

I love ones like the Puzzle Quest range, where the puzzles are interconnected to create a story for them to solve.

I’ve only recently discovered Perplexus – but they keep ME entertained for HOURS. It’s a giant maze inside a ball which you have to get a metal ball through. It’s ridiculously addictive… just what you want from a road trip game. They come in different age ranges- there is even a Star Wars and Harry Potter version!!!

Best Children’s Audiobooks for Travel

We’ve tried all sorts of audiobooks and podcasts and there is a HUGE variety out there. My absolute favourites are the Harry Potter ones read by Stephen Fry – if you enjoy Harry Potter this is one for the whole family to listen to.

You can get them (and many other kids audiobooks) FREE as part of Audible – the audiobook subscription service which allows you to rent audiobooks for an unlimited time; each child could pick their own to enjoy.

If you only listen to one book a month, it’s already paid for itself! Try Audible FREE for 30 days . It’s also full of great books for adults so you can get something for everyone.

Best Travel Activities for Kids- Books for Road Trips

If your little ones enjoy reading, books are a great way to keep them entertained. There are LOADS of children’s road trip books on Amazon. 

Alternatively, make use of your local library if you’re only away a short time- it’s a great place to get new books each trip.

Colouring Books

If your kids will colour quietly, this is a great idea. There are plenty of free printables you can print off and let them enjoy. They might even enjoy a map of the route so they can see where they’re going. Maybe you could get them to write notes and make a small journal for the trip! But you can also get colouring in packs if you don’t have a printer at home. Just add a car tray to avoid dropped pens!

Childrens Car Games and Road Trip Activities- Make Them a Surprise Toy Bag!

I LOVE this idea. Pick up some cheap toys and put them in small bags (or even wrap them in foil) to be unwrapped at certain stages in the journey (first fuel stop, first 100 miles, first toll etc.) This gives them something to look forward to. You can also include some travel-friendly snacks, and some funny jokes to keep them amused

TOP TIP: Keep one toy back as a surprise in case of dire emergencies!

Best Car Games for Kids Online

Nintendo switch.

I’m a Tetris girl myself (and now I’m humming the music!!) but a handheld game console like a Nintendo Switch is a great children’s quiet car activity. There are a HUGE range of various games, for all ages and level of ability. Some of them are even educational.

Just insist they play either without the sound or with headphones on- or the beeps will drive you crazy!

Disney Now – Best Childrens Car App

Put Disney Now on an iPad, put their headphones on and enjoy a little quiet time. There are hundreds of shows to choose from- just remember you either need Wi-Fi or a way to stream if you haven’t downloaded anything in advance.

Get a seat organiser for the back of the seat, let each child pick a movie to watch. If you want to save your sanity, get wireless headphones that they can listen to at the same time. Hang an iPad on the back of the chair and turn the backseat into a movie theatre. (Popcorn optional but likely to end up on the floor!)

Road Trip Activities for Kids- Tips to Help Your Road Trip Go Smoothly!

I may have only had one child to deal with, but I remember road trips when I was a kid- and how my favourite activity was torturing my little brother! So, your most important job is to stop squabbling. This only happens by setting firm, clear boundaries, ideally before the road trip starts.

If something goes under the seat , it is lost until the next break. We had to be very careful what we dropped (hence the string around the neck!) In the same vein, make sure their portable travel car seat is secure and approved- they will be doing a LOT of wiggling and squirming!

Try not to put things where kids can see them but can’t get to them – this will only lead to tantrums. Give them a few things to play with and hide everything else. You can change the toys at each rest stop.

A lot of these activities will depend on your little (or big!) ones. From the age of about 12, Jade would sit quietly with her headphones on, listening to music she’d downloaded. The only meltdowns came when she realised she was out of battery and/or wifi.

Plan breaks in advance – ideally somewhere with a park for them to let off some steam. If they know how far they have to go between stops, it can help them mentally prepare. Just add some extra time in case of traffic!!

If you are going hiking or camping with kids , make sure you have enough food, drink and changes of clothes; wet, tired and hungry kids are worse on the way home!!

I hope these tips helps keep your road trip go smoothly! Eventually, everyone gets sick of sitting in one place and kids are no different. The tantrums seem to happen just when you’ve had enough too!! Keep smiling – the adventure will be worth it! 🙂

More ideas you might find useful:

Found this list useful? Looking for more gift ideas? You might also like:

• 20 Funny and comfy  motorhome & campervan t-shirts
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Browse ALL of our  motorhome & road trip gift ideas here

Kat never planned to buy a motorhome. She also never planned to quit her job as an air traffic controller, go touring around Europe in said motorhome, start one of the UK’s largest motorhome travel websites… or get a cocker spaniel.

Find out how she went from stuck in the rat race to being a digital nomad and inspiring thousands of people to have their own epic adventures here.

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Amazing.. This article has very interesting ideas for road trips. I just love your ideas and will share this article with my groups. Thanks a lot for these great ideas!

We used to play ‘Legs’. You spot a pub first and get one point for each leg in the pub name. “The White Heart” == 4, “The rose and Crown” == 0, etc. “The Kings Arms” was an interesting one as the ‘Arms’ are not actually body parts!

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30+ Awesome Road Trip Activities & Hacks for Kids

• Kindergartner
• Preschooler

INSIDE: 30+ Road Trip Activities & Hacks for Kids! Are you heading out on the road with the kids this summer? Check out this list of games, activities, toys, tips and hacks from some of the top kids activity bloggers around! This list of ideas will help make your road trip this summer a bit more bearable!

Road Tripping with Kids

Oh yes! the joys of a long journey on the road with a toddler, preschooler or a kid. We all look forward to it but the reality is often far from what we were hoping or even expecting!

Don’t worry you aren’t alone . And although I can’t promise you a perfectly entertained toddler for your entire journey I can promise you that this list will have you well prepared for your trip! From printable; activities; busy bags and binders; travel organization tips; travel toys to travel hacks and more. This list of ideas will definitely inspire you to organize the best road trip ever for your family!

The Best Sensory Play Kits for Kids

Play is at the core of learning during the early years and it can take many forms. One of the most important of these is sensory play because it engages all of a child’s senses (taste, touch, smell, sight and hearing) and has a enoumous positive impact on brain development.

Our Sensory Play Kits are a fun and easy way to keep your child engaged while at the same time capitalizing on the benefits of sensory play to nurture their mind!

Shop our ready made play kits here .

I am so excited to announce that I wrote a book! Super STEAM Activity Book: Launch Learning with Fun Mazes, Dot-to-Dots, Search-the-Page Puzzles, and More!  ! It comes out June 8th. Click here to order it now !

30+ Road Trip Activities for Kids

• Sensory Kits – Happy Toddler Playtime

• Super STEAM Activity Book – Happy Toddler Playtime

• Road Trip Toys – Happy Toddler Playtime

• Would You Rather Questions for Kids – Happy Toddler Playtime

• Toddler Travel Toys – Happy Toddler Playtime
• Portable Lego Kit – The Gingerbread House
• Portable Car Play Kit – Mama Papa Bubba
• Dry Erase Road Trip Activity Book – Glue Sticks and Gum Drops
• EASY Portable Activity Kit for Road Trips – Mama Papa Bubba
• Road Trip Drawing Prompts – Free Printables – Pickle Bums
• Easy DIY Travel Felt Board Tutorial – Mama Smiles
• Take Along Activity Kit – Mama Papa Bubba
• Road Trip Scavenger Hunt Printables – Party Through the USA
• Cereal Box to Foldable Doll’s House DIY (perfect take along house) – Red Ted Art
• String Cheese Road Trip Games with FREE Printables – Arts and Crackers
• DIY Mini Road Trip License Plate Game (with free printable) – Comic Con Family
• Awesome Alphabet Road Trip I Spy Printable – Sunny Day Family
• Pipe Cleaner in a Bottle for Toddlers – The Piri Piri Lexicon
• Yellow Car Game Busy Bag – Adventures and Play
• Lego Suitcase Hack – Stir the Wonder
• Car Trip Game: Are We There Yet – Growing Book by Book
• Road Trip Activities: Travel Bags & Buckets – KCEventures
• Car Yoga for Kids – Sugar Spice and Glitter
• Create a Travel Art Kit to Keep Kids Busy on the Road – Mama Smiles
• Road Trip Kits — Easy Altoids Tin Craft – The Soccer Mom Blog
• Road Trip Bingo for Kids – Only Passionate Curiosity
• DIY Road Trip Activity Kit for Kids – Comic Con Family
• Our favorite road trip games for young kids {12 free and fun ideas} – Playful Notes
• DIY I Spy Bag – Handmade in the Heartland
• How to beat backseat boredom: 5 easy travel games for Roadschooling – Board Games for Learning
• Snack Ideas for Road Trips with Kids – 3 Boys and a Dog

The Best Travel Hacks For Traveling with Toddlers, Preschoolers + Kids

• The Best Toddler Road Trip Ideas – Toddler Approved
• Road Trip with Kids – Days With Grey
• 15 Brilliant DIY Car Organization Ideas That Prevent Clutter And Mess – Crafts on Fire
• Tips for Successfully Traveling with a Preschooler – Thrifty Little Mom

Age Suitability

These activities vary in skill and ability. Depending on the activity they are good for kids 3 years and up. My kids are 3, 3, and 6 year old.

The Best Book of Sensory Bins

Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids . Or grab your copy at Amazon .

WILL YOU TRY ANY OF THESE ROAD TRIP ACTIVITIES WITH YOUR KIDS? PIN IT FOR LATER!

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20 Toddler Road Trip Activities and Games that Will Keep Everyone Happy

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Published June 29, 2022 | Updated June 29, 2022 | By Elena Gillis | Leave a Comment

Great list of toddler road trip activities and toddler road trip games ! These are the perfect road trip ideas with toddlers in order to keep them entertained and happy on a long road trip. Check out these road trip games for toddlers !

Preparing for a long car ride should be all about fun games! While you may be focused on the younger kids, the older kids will have fun with these as well! Below are some of the best road trip games and fun travel games for the whole family to play.

Since you’re going on a long car trip, you might as well have some of the best car games and fun car games to play to keep the younger children happy!

Everything below is a great option for long drives and a fun way to have great games help to pass the time. Little kids and big kids will love these fun road trip activities! The best part? Children of all ages (and parents!) can all play together on your next family road trip.

I hope that you find a choice or two on the best travel games that are a fun option or give your brain fun things to do on the trip! These are the perfect opportunity to have fun on a long trip with each and every family member.

As a family, we have taken many 4-hour road trips to Dallas to go and visit my husband’s family. We have also driven to South Padre Island a time or two which is about 5 hours away from where we live. But my husband and I have not attempted a road trip any further away with the kids, because we really haven’t needed to. For the past 8 years my family has lived only about 15 minutes away, so we spent holidays driving 15 minutes or driving the 4 hours to Dallas.

This summer, my mom and dad moved to Utah and my best friend moved to Nebraska. The first thing I told my husband when I found out they were moving was, “I guess we have a lot of road trips in our future!”

Because here’s the thing: it is SO EXPENSIVE to fly with kids.

I have a daughter who is 6, a daughter who is almost 4, and a son who is 2. To fly all of them to Utah or Nebraska would be anywhere from $200-$400 per ticket, so we’re looking at over $1,000 for the whole family to fly.

Compare that to a road trip, and you’re looking at a few tanks of gas, some food for the trip, and maybe a hotel stay, which is going to be a LOT CHEAPER.

So, though we haven’t road tripped to Utah quite yet, I recently took a road trip to Nebraska by myself with my 3 kids this past August. Though I was a little stressed at first, especially as we contemplated potty training while traveling , the whole trip ended up being a super positive experience, and I’m not so worried about taking the kids to Utah next summer.

Before you take a road trip with kids and toddlers, you have to PREPARE. You can’t just hop on the road without really thinking things through. There are 16 Smart Things to Do Before You Leave on Vacation  and family vacation packing checklists  and road trip car checklists to go over.

To make your life a little easier, here is my list of the best Toddler Road Trip Games and Activities to keep your little ones entertained and happy on your next road trip.

Toddler Road Trip Activities

Coloring books.

Before I left for Nebraska, I went to Dollar Tree and stocked up on some new coloring books for the kids.

At only $1 each, they’re affordable and entertaining. I made sure to get coloring books that my girls would like (Fairies and Princesses) and a few for my little boy (Cars and Paw Patrol).

Anytime the kids started getting bored, I would say, “It’s time to color!”

I also bought two brand new sets of Crayola markers and crayons for the trip, because who wants to color with a marker that’s losing its ink and crayons that are broken?

However, I know some people shy away from crayons because they will melt in a hot car! Either buy washable crayons so if they do melt, it’s a piece of cake to clean up (good advice anyway!) or forgo crayons altogether and opt for colored pencils or (washable) markers.

Washable Window Markers

My kids love to stick their hands and feet all over their windows on road trips. When you drive a minivan, there are lots of nice, big windows to pick from. So why not use all that wide open space to your advantage?

These cool washable window markers allow kids to write on the car windows and come off easily with Windex. They can draw whatever they like and stay entertained for a little while.

Toddler Toys

Katelyn talked a little bit about this in her post 6 Tips for Taking Long Road Trips with Toddlers in Tow , and I want to highlight it here.

If you bring a backpack filled with a few favorite toys for your kids, it is a lifesaver.

Before we left on our trip, I had my kids each pick out about 5 toys that they wanted to bring with us. My daughters picked their Trolls toys and ponies, and my son picked his CARS.

It was super helpful to break out the toys when they got bored. Kids love using their imaginations, and even though it’s annoying to have to scoop up the toys when they fall on the floor, it’s totally worth it.

I would suggest not bringing more than a couple because otherwise your chances of losing them at a gas station or pit stop really go up!

Magnetic Blocks

I am a little late to hop on this bandwagon, but magnetic blocks are all the rage right now. I didn’t know I needed these until I saw kids at church being entertained endlessly by them!

My kids love to play with them and they are going on their Christmas list for sure! Here is the Amazon link if you have no idea what I’m talking about but they are on Katelyn’s Classic Toys List  as something kids will play with again and again.

These would be great for a long road trip because they all stick together and since they come in bulk quantities, you can separate them out among the kids so everybody has some. These magnetic blocks are colorful and help kids create and use their imaginations.

Toddler Movies

You just have to have some type of portable DVD player with you if you’re going to attempt a long road trip.

We were fortunate enough to purchase a minivan that already had a DVD player installed, but if your car doesn’t have one, it’s totally worth it to borrow one from someone for the trip or  pick one up .

My kids love movies (what kids don’t, right?) and sometimes you just need that 1.5 hour Disney movie break where they’re all quiet and mesmerized by the screen.

Of course, if your kid gets car sickness often from watching movies, be sure to check out Katelyn’s post all about How to Handle Car Sickness on Long Road Trips .

A great way to keep toddlers and kids entertained is with audiobooks.

I was able to download the entire “Frog and Toad” collection for my kids on our road trip. I had them bring along their Frog and Toad book and follow along.

So many audiobooks are easy to download for free from your local library, so there’s no need to go out and buy a bunch.

Katelyn recently posted a fantastic article about the best audiobooks for family road trips that actually gave me a great list to start off with.

In hindsight, I wish I had been able to obtain more audiobooks prior to the trip, so lesson learned! You can only listen to Frog and Toad so many times before the kids start whining. I also downloaded the audiobook “ Bird Box ” for our trip that I listened to with my headphones in, and that kept me awake and alert throughout the long hours on the road!

WikkiStix Doodlers Molding & Sculpting Sticks

When I searched on Amazon for fun toys for road trips, these WikkiStix came up.

I have never heard of them before, but they basically look like pipe cleaners, except durable. I can totally see my kids having fun with these shaping them into letters and numbers and making bracelets, etc. For only $5, why not try them out?

Toddler Food

Yes, in my book food qualifies as an activity. Does it keep them entertained? Check! Does it keep them happy? Check! Then it counts!

If your kids need something to do and they haven’t eaten a meal in a while, then toss them a granola bar!

Katelyn has an awesome post about What Foods to Pack for a Long Family Road Trip that will help you keep things simple, cheap, and clean.

When you travel with kids, it’s a whole lot easier and cheaper to pack your own food instead of eating out. On our way back home from Nebraska, I let my kids each pick out a special treat at a gas station convenience store to thank them for being so good the whole time. That was the only time they had anything relatively messy or chocolatey.

A Jar of Questions

If you plan on driving the whole way as I did, this may be a little tough to do on your own. Luckily I have a 6-year-old who can read really well!

Just fill a jar with slips of paper that contain questions for your kids and take turns asking questions to each other.

You could ask things like, “What is your favorite memory with Grandma and Grandpa?”, “What do you hope to do when we get to our destination?”

Asking questions is a great way for everyone to feel involved and important.

Toddler Books

My kids absolutely love to read, so we had to bring along some toddler-friendly books for the road trip. I purposely did not pack any library books, as I was too afraid I would lose them in Nebraska, but having a few books on hand was a great way to keep the kids happy.

CDs Full of Kid Music and Songs You Like

I made two CDs full of songs that my kids like and ones that I can tolerate as well.

Our playlists included songs like, “ Love is an Open Door ” from Frozen, “ Life is a Highway ” from CARS, “ Love Story ” by Taylor Swift, pretty much all the songs from the Trolls soundtrack , “ Strange Sight ” from Tinkerbell and the Neverbeast , etc.

You have to know that if you’re going to be playing these CDs on full blast, you have to like them too.

It was great having these CDs on hand because usually I just play them from YouTube on my phone, but when you’re going on a long road trip with kids you can have pretty spotty service, so you can’t count on that working. Am I sick of these CDs now? Umm…YES!!

If you have unlimited data, you can skip the CDs and stream from your favorite digital audio station or digital music service instead.

Naps, Quiet Time, and Boredom

My son takes his nap from about 1:00-3:00 in the afternoon on a good day.

Since I knew we would be driving through his nap time, I had all three kids bring along their favorite stuffed animals and special blankets to encourage some sleep along the way.

My son is not used to sleeping in the car and neither are my girls, but since it’s a 12 hour trip to Nebraska, they did manage to all take about 1-hour naps. Don’t be afraid to tell your kids, “It’s nap time!”

You’re the adult. You’re in charge. Even if they don’t nap, at least they have some time to chill and be quiet and not think about how long the drive is.

Also, I want to remind you that it is 100% okay for kids to be bored during road trips and let them just stare out the window. They don’t constantly need a screen, game, book, song, or toy to entertain them. Boredom means silence often too which is so great for mom and dad who are driving!

Travel Tray (to Keep Things Organized)

If you’re planning on bringing just some or all of the activities, games, and ideas on your trip, then I suggest investing in a travel tray for your toddler or kids so they have a space to put everything.

One of the main complaints from my kids on our road trip was that they didn’t have a flat surface to color or draw on, so something like this would come in super handy for a long drive.

Or you can go the extra mile and get one with a dry erase top! There’s also this one that comes with a pocket for an iPad .

An extra bonus of the travel tray? You don’t have to reach back every 5 seconds to hand them stuff!

Toddler Road Trip Games

Road trip scavenger hunt or bingo.

You can find a bunch of these online, like these from Amazon or like the ones that come in this road trip adventures kit , or create your own!

Your kids can circle or color or check off items as they see them, such as telephone poles, a bird, traffic cones, etc. This might be a bit advanced for a 2-year-old, but they may catch on faster than you think!

License Plate Game

As cars pass you on the road, see if your kids can spot cars with license plates from each of the 50 states. There’s this great map from Amazon they can use to keep track!

Alphabet Game

To help encourage their budding knowledge of letters, you can play (or try to play) the Car Alphabet Game! You can just go in order of the alphabet, and encourage your kids to find an “A” outside their window, and then a “B” and so on. No need for a paper or board for this, unless you really want to. Check out Katelyn’s post about How to Play (and Win at!) the Car Alphabet Game for more rules and tips for those hard to find letters.

Other Travel Games Toddlers Can Enjoy

If you’re still looking for a few more things for your toddler to do on your long road trip, these items were highly reviewed on Amazon!

• Melissa and Doug Tape Activity Book
• Magnetic Fun – Cars Planes and Trains
• M&D Water Wow Activity Pads
• Wooden Lacing Toys

This is more for the entire family, and most helpful if you have two adults in the car instead of just one:  Rubberneckers: Everyone’s Favorite Travel Game 

No matter how long your road trip or how many kids you have, the key to not going crazy is preparation! I hope these toddler road trip games and activities keep your little ones busy and everybody in the car sane and happy.

Bon voyage!

Related Posts:

About Elena Gillis

Elena Gillis is a wife, stay-at-home mom to 3, and owner of one cat. She has loved to write ever since she was a kid. She has a degree in Broadcast Journalism from BYU and worked at the radio stations Classical 89 and KUER while in school. Elena is a native Texan who enjoys Mexican food, dates with her husband, and book club with her girl friends.

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28 Fun Car Road Trip Games For Kids And Families

By: Author Nakia Pullen

Posted on Published: September 29, 2023  - Last updated: March 23, 2024

It seems that family road trips are making a comeback, especially for people who are interested in seeing the country from the ground instead of the air.  

We all have the advantage of knowing how kids can start to feel antsy during road trips because we have experienced it ourselves as children.  

Having a list of things to do during road trips is helpful for the entire family.  The miles go by much more quickly for a child who is busy and parents have the joy of happily entertained children.

With all the things you already have on your to do list for going on trips (which includes packing for pretty much everyone!), we thought you would appreciate some assistance with the in-car entertainment!

These games do not have to be complicated at all. 

For most of them, you only need your imagination and the optional piece of paper, so there is no worry about overpacking the car with a ton of activity related paraphernalia.

Keep this list at the ready for that time (probably within the first hour of your trip) that you hear the words dreaded by most parents….”I’m bored!”  or, my personal favorite, “Are we there yet?”

You will be able to quickly change the vibe in the car by introducing any of the fun road trip games we have listed below.  Best of all, you might all have a ton of fun and be at your destination before you know it!

Road Trip Games For Kids

1. Play Road Trip Bingo

I remember looking at road signs a lot when I was on a long road trip as a child.  Younger kids would love playing road trip bingo to make the miles go by faster.

A great way to help supplement this game is with this colorful and fun  road trip BINGO printable .  Playing this game will help the kids keep their eyes on what is outside instead of spending hours on screen time!

2. Have A Road Trip Scavenger Hunt

One of the best ways to pass the time is to have the kids have something to look for.  

Our  road trip scavenger hunt printable  will help set you up to get started with fun ideas for your next road trip.

The kids will be on such good behavior because they will be so busy looking for all the of items of their scavenger hunt!  

For an added bonus, the winner could have the first choice of a treat at a fast-food restaurant!

3. See Who Can Find More Of Each Color Car

This next option is a road trip classic!  It is a great game especially for kids who are getting more familiar with colors.   

Everyone looks to see how many cars of each color they are able to find along the way.

To help keep track of the cars, we have this cute  car color find printable  to help keep track of everything.  

You could also include bonus points for unusual colors, interesting designs or trucks with different store logos on them!

4. Spot Items Of The Alphabet

Starting with the letter A, spot items on your trip that start with corresponding letters.  This is definitely a game that can include the entire family. 

 If you have little ones, it may be better to take turns and help them so they do not get lost in the shuffle of competition.  

5. Ask Each Other Fun Questions

Road trips are great ways to get to know each other even better than you already do!  Asking each other different questions can really give you a new insight into each member of your family.

The sky is really the limit with what types of questions you can ask.  Sometimes the easiest way to start on these questions is to ask some that make your kids laugh.  

A funny example of this would be  gross would you rather questions !  In addition to gaining instant interest, these questions will also get everyone laughing.

If your road trip happens to be during the summer, you can try out some great  summer would you rather questions  to celebrate the season of sun and fun!

Other questions that will get your kids chatting include  fun questions to ask kids  and the ever entertaining  this or that questions .  

You will definitely be surprised at the variety of answers you get as well as the priceless insight you may get into the personalities of the people in your family! 

The most important thing is to listen and take in the answers from your little ones!

6. Tell Funny Jokes

There is nothing better than hearing jokes from little kids!  It’s one of my favorite car activities.

If your joke bank is running low, we have you covered with  jokes for young children .

If you have kids that have outgrown their car seats and may have a more sophisticated sense of humor, we have also included  jokes for older kids .

Leave room for your kids to bring up jokes they have heard or even better, jokes they have made up by themselves!

7. Play Sevens

Each person in the car takes turns counting and anytime the number is a multiple of 7 that person has to say BUZZ or else they are out.

If you need to modify this game for younger kids, you can start with multiples of 2 and maybe work in teams so that an adult can help.

8.Play Cows And Graveyards

Each person in the car counts the number of cows they see, but when you see a graveyard, it cancels everyone’s cows. Designate one person to keep a tally of cows and graveyard losses.

The person with the most cows at the end wins.  

9. Play Hey Cow

If you spot a herd of cattle, one player rolls down their window and YELLS “Hey COW!!” as loudly as they can. You get one point if the cow looks at you.

10. Play I Went To The Market

The person who starts says “I went to the market and bought (something that starts with A- apple, maybe). The next person has to remember apple and add something with B.

This memory game will give everyone’s brain some needed exercise!

11. Play The License Plate Game

Who knew that you could use license plates to help teach your kids about United States geography?  That is precisely what this classic game is all about.  

Print off a map of the United States for each family member.  The maps will be used as score cards for everyone- kind of like a bingo card.

During the long car ride, each person keeps an eye on license plates of the cars on the road.  If the license plate is from the state you are in, it counts for zero points.

If the license plate is from a state touching the state you are in, it counts for one point.  Every state that touches a one point state is worth two points and so on.

When someone spots a license plate, they must call out the state to get the point for themselves.  This is a perfect way to help your kids learn about different states and their locations!

At the end of your long trip, you can tally the points on each score card to declare a winner!

12. Play Guess The Animal

This is one of the best games to keep everyone busy and learning at the same time.  

One person thinks of an animal and everyone takes turns asking only yes or no questions to figure out what animal that person chose.

For young kids, your best option is to keep answers and questions more simple to meet them where they are in their animal knowledge.  

However, the entire family will be surprised at how much your kids really know about animals!

13. Play Name That Person

Select a person in a passing car and make up their life story.  The story can be as silly and magical as you want.  

Make sure you give them a good backstory and a lot of side characters to follow the main character on their life story journey. 

14. Play The Strange And Unusual Game

Each time someone sees something strange or unusual, they get a point.  

15. Play The Counting Game

One person in the car starts with 1, then someone else (randomly without being signaled) says 2. If two people say it at the same time, you start back at one. The end goal is to get to 20.

You will be amazed at how much this will make everyone laugh!

16. Play Name The Song/Artist

Playing this game is such a good way to have your travel music playlist work double duty for you!  

It is also a one of the better road trip activities to take part in for those of us who experience motion sickness and have a challenge looking at things inside the car while it is moving.

There are a few variations of this game.  You can play the beginning of the song to see if people can guess it.  

You can also have someone say the lyrics to a song and everyone guesses.  

Make sure you have a kid safe playlist that has songs that kids of all ages can identify!

17. Play Triple Threat

Someone says three random nouns and the other people in the car have to tell a story about the three items.  

You could either have one person tell the tale, have each person tell a different story, or have everyone take turns and be involved in the same story.  

No matter what you choose, this game will score high in the creativity and fun category!

18. Have A Rock Paper Scissors Tournament

Among some of my favorite road trip games has to be rock paper scissors!  Make sure you go over the rules: rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper and paper beats rock.  

If there is a tie, the people who tied get to go against each other again until there is no tie.  The people who lose could wash the car windows on the next stop or help get snacks for the winners.  

The tournament could resume after each car stop.

19. Play Punch Buggy

Also called Slug Bug or Punch Bug, this game consists of looking for Volkswagen bug vehicles.  Make sure the kids are clear on what one looks like before you begin!

When someone spots a bug, he or she lightly punches the person next to them and says “Punch Buggy!”.   A variation of this can be to include the color of the bug vehicle that was spotted.  

You can designate a person to keep a tally of each family member’s finds.  Designate one point for a found bug and take away a point for each time punch buggy is called in error.

Go over the level of punch with your kids to start or you can change the rules to have them tap each other.  Sometimes the excitement of the game can lead to and overexcitement in the punch category!

That being said, keep the game light and fun and give each other kudos for their finds.  The only out of bounds area for this game is when passing by a Volkswagen dealership, or else mayhem may ensue!  

The winner can be declared the bug champion of the trip!

20. Play Mystery Phrase

It’s like telephone, but you spell the phrase out in a person’s hand.  To help ease the guessing a little bit, you could come up with themes, like summer items, animal names or shapes, for example.

This game is sure to get the laughter going in the car!

21. Play Fortunately, Unfortunately

This storytelling game will help you all create a story with tons of exciting ups and downs!  

The first person says something like:” Fortunately, I remembered to bring sunscreen”, and then the next person says something like “but unfortunately, it made my skin green!” and so forth while telling a silly story.

Every sentence starts alternately with Fortunately or Unfortunately, thereby changing the story for better or worse with each sentence.  Kids will enjoy the general silliness of this game!

22. Play Mad Libs

These road trip-themed Mad Libs are perfect for your next trip!

If you would like to reuse stories, depending on the length of the drive, you can put them in clear pocket folders and use erasable markers to fill in each blank.

23. Play I Spy

Each person starts their turn with the phrase “I spy with my little eye….”  and then they give some form of description about an item they happen to see out the window of the car.

For example, someone might say “I spy with my little eye something green” and then everyone else in the car starts guessing items outside that are green until someone guesses correctly.

24. Play The Quiet Game

For the times when things have gotten too loud and rambunctious (especially in the back seats!), this game will help chill things out, at least for a while!

As the name suggests, the point of the game is to stay quiet.  The last team or person to stay quiet the longest, wins the game.

While I can not guarantee that this game will last long, it will give at least a short break and most likely end in laughter!

25. Play The Category Game

One person chooses a category and a letter (for example, animals and the letter G).  Then each person takes turns naming items in this category that start with the chosen letter.

So for our example we would have gorillas, goats, giraffes, gerbils, etc.  The first person who can not think of a word for the category is out and gets to pick the next letter.

The remaining players continue to name items in the category, but now using the next letter that was chosen.  You continue to play the game this way until everyone but one person is out.

The winner gets to choose the next category and letter for the next game.

26. Play The Name Game

The first person in this game starts off with the name of their choice.  Then the next person has to figure out a name that starts with the last letter of the first name and so on.

For example: Adam, Mary, Yolanda, Aiden.  Anyone who can not think of a name or repeats a name already used is out.  The last person left at the end wins the game!

27. Play Two Truths and a Lie

One player tells everyone two things that are true and one thing that is a lie.  Everyone else has to guess which of these is the lie.

This can be quiet challenging since you are most likely traveling with people who know you pretty well!

28. Play Tic-Tac-Toe

For this simple game you can use a piece of paper and pass it back and forth.  If you want to do something a little different, you can find tic-tac-toe magnets and use a small cookie sheet to stick them to.

For a bonus, you can add other fun magnets with pictures of the alphabet that can encourage some independent play as well!

We sincerely hope that this list will help ease some of the pressures that can come with a long road trip.  

Time together with family can be wonderful, but it can also feel like a lot when you are all crammed in a small space for hours at a time!

While not every minute has to be life changing and amazing, it is good to have a plan to keep the kids (and adults!) busy and happy.  

Remember that it is also ok for the kids to do their own thing at times as well.  While it is nice to do things together, you also need a break every now and then and that is definitely ok!

Have fun and enjoy those sweet moments where you are all enjoying yourselves and laughing so hard that your eyes are watering!

Happy trails and as always, you’ve got this!

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Saturday 7th of October 2023

What an incredible post about fun car road trip games for kids and families! I absolutely love the idea of "See Who Can Find More Of Each Color Car." It's such a fantastic way to engage everyone in the car and keep them entertained while enjoying the journey. "Play Name The Song/Artist" is another brilliant game that brings the joy of music into the road trip experience. And let's not forget about "The Quiet Game" – a classic game that can provide some much-needed tranquility during long drives. Thank you for sharing these fantastic ideas! They really make car journeys more enjoyable, memorable, and filled with laughter.

Brenda Kosciuk

Thanks for the appreciation!

57 Car Activities For Toddlers For A Stress-Free Trip!

Friday 29th of September 2023

[…] a bunch of these car games for kids and car activities for 2 year olds, 3 year olds or 4 year olds ready to go will help you to not […]

31 Best Road Trip Games for Kids: Definitely Bookmark This

Are you planning a road trip and looking for the best road trip games for kids? We totally understand that doing long car rides with kids can be hard and stressful, especially when not using any screens.

“Are we there yet?” “I’m hungry!” “It’s too long”

Does that sound familiar?

Family road trips can be stressful for parents and long for kids, so it’s better to be prepared with some ideas. That’s why we listed 31 of our favorite games to play in the car on a road trip to pass the time. They are all fun games for kids (but also for the entire family, from toddlers to older kids and adults).

And the cool thing is that most of them don’t require much and can also be played at the destination.

Disclaimer: Just a heads up, this free article contains affiliate links . If you purchase after clicking one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost . Also, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Your support helps me continue to provide helpful and free content for you .

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Our TOP 5 Road Trip Games for Kids

We do a lot of road trips as a family, short and long car rides . We even took the kids on two cross-country road trips (for the first one the boys were 18 months old and 3.5 years old). We had to get creative with road trip activities, especially that we don’t really allow the kids to watch TV in the car.

Here are our favorite road trip games for the family and the kids:

• License plate game : I love this game, especially when we travel to the USA where we see many different license plates. This is a perfect game for older kids since they need to be able to see outside the windows, but it’s a lot of fun and doesn’t require any material.
• Audiobook & Stories : We have a Spotify account and download many kids’ stories. We don’t have them on for the entire trip, but we put a few stories occasionally when we all need some quiet time.
• Smart Games : The kids received some Smart Games for Christmas this year and we are hooked. They are easy to pack for a road trip and kids can play alone. We have the Smart Games Jump In and the Smart Games Ghost Hunters .
• Drawings & Coloring: We always pack coloring books or sketchbooks, and the kids love drawings when we drive.

💡 PRO-TIP There are so many different kids’ car activities that can played by simply using everyone’s imagination skills . Of course, all those travel games for kids may require the parent’s participation (at least a little if your kids are the youngest, but older kids should be able to play alone).

1. Activity Booklets

There are TONS of activity books with mind games, riddles, and puzzles for your kids.

The hard part is that they don’t always keep the kids interested for as long as we want. Sometimes we can get a solid 45 minutes out of these booklets, but other times we get a few seconds of peace.

You might find that one of your kids naturally likes one type of activity (sudoku, crosswords, etc.) and your other kid likes another. Try to find the activity that matches your kids’ interests to pique their interest.

2. I (Eye?) Spy

I Spy is a classic for a reason (and I still think it makes just as much sense to spell it “eye spy,” for the record). There are no simpler games to play on a road trip than the I Spy game . This game also helps to hone your kids’ powers of observation.

How to play I Spy:

• The person choosing the object chants, “ I spy with my little eye, something beginning with… ” and then gives the first letter of the word they are thinking of.
• Everyone else tries to guess and the person who guesses correctly first takes their turn choosing an object.

How to adapt this road trip game for toddlers: Naming the color of the object instead of (or as well as) the first letter.

If you happen to be driving through an area with lots of wildlife, you could also try “ I hear with my little ear ” and crack out your best animal impressions, a great hit with toddlers.

👉 You can also purchase a I Spy travel card game to help your little ones with the game.

3. Rock Papers Scissors

Rock Papers Scissors is one of those fun games that your kids should be able to play together (and alone) as long as they sit relatively close .

How to play Rock-Papers-Scissors: The game is pretty simple. Each player will simultaneously do one of the three shapes (rock, paper, or scissors) with one of their hands.

• Paper beats rock
• Rock beats scissors
• Scissors beats paper

There are many other versions that can be played by adding a few extra shapes.

4. “I’m Going to a Picnic”

This game is another great fun car game for kids that requires no material .

How to play I’m Going to a Picnic : Whoever is starting gives a short list of things they are taking on their picnic, and everyone else tries to guess the rule that connects these objects .

Here’s a simple example. If I say, “I ’m going to a picnic and I am going to take some eggs, some earplugs, and an éclair, you’d probably be able to guess pretty quickly that I’m only taking objects that begin with an “e”.

Of course, you can get creative with your rules. Perhaps every object at your picnic is round or has four letters in the word, or rhymes with a cat.

Players can also ask if an object would be allowed on the picnic to help them figure out the rule. Or the person in charge can give some examples of things that aren’t allowed.

Adapt the difficulty of the rules depending on the age of your kids.

5. Make Up Stories 

You don’t have to be a master storyteller to keep the kids entertained with some inventive tales . Some of the best stories come when you take turns adding bits and embellishing the details.

How to play Make Up Stories : You could try one-word stories , where each person says just one word, and you build the story together—the same works with single sentences too.

If the kids struggle to get inventive, you can handle the bulk of the storytelling but still leave plenty of opportunities for their input. Start with “ once upon a time there was a giant… ” and let the children fill in the gaps. Who knows where your imagination might take you?

6. Twenty Questions

Most of us have played this family classic game at one time or another, and it is an easy travel game for kids.

How to play Twenty Questions:

• One person thinks of an object, person, animal, or plant. It must be something everyone is likely to know about.
• Then, the others ask questions to help them determine what the person is thinking.
• The person can only respond with “yes” or “no”. The goal is for the others to guess the word correctly before they ask more than 20 questions.

In some versions of the game, the person specifies whether they are thinking of an animal, a plant, or a mineral (an inanimate object) before they start.

You can increase or remove the question limit if your kids get too frustrated or struggle to guess the word within the 20 questions.

7. Quiz Time

Quizzes are fun road trip activities for kids and are also a great way to slip a little learning into your trip.

We like to call them pop quizzes .

For the 2-6 age group, this works best if you give multiple-choice options and take it in turns to be the quiz master. Keep the questions age-appropriate – you want to stretch your kids but still make it fun by sticking to questions they will likely know the answers to.

If you are feeling organized, you can prepare some questions before you go so that you have them already to hand when boredom sets in on the road and the nagging for the iPad starts. There are also quiz cards available to buy if you need some help thinking of questions. This kid’s car activity is also a great way to start road schooling lessons .

8. Categories

This wordplay game is one the whole family can join in with and is a fun option for road trips. Your kids can pick a category and see how many things you can name within that category. Categories can be :

• types of fruit,
• colors, … – you can keep going for hours.

If you want to make it more challenging, set a time limit. Or you could go competitive and make each family member take a solo turn to see how many items they can name.

9. License Plate Game

This is an old-time favorite that you’ve likely played with your parents in the past. I won’t lie, it’s one of my favorite travel games to play. This one works best in the United States, though it could work through the Canadian provinces, too (it’ll just be a lot shorter).

The game is simple : look for license plates from states other than the ones you’re either currently in or coming from.

At any rate, everyone in the car should try to find as many license plates as possible until someone gets all 50. You can also play collectively if you have young kids since it will be harder for them to compete.

💡 PRO-TIP You can use this travel games for kids to start teaching your little ones about geography and teach them a little history about how modern North America is laid out (aaaaand from there, you can go into the history of the continent in whichever way you feel most comfortable).

10. Grocery Store

This is a twist on the classic “Alphabet Game. ” In this version, you say you’re going to the grocery store and buying ingredients. You need to list out what you’re going to buy starting with the letter “A.” For example, the first person would say, “I’m going to buy an Apple.”

The next person repeats what was said and adds a new item with the next letter. In this case, it would be B. For example, the second person would say, “I’m going to the store. I’m going to buy an Apple and a Banana.”

And this memory game continues throughout the entire alphabet.

11. Would You Rather

You likely played this game in college, so you’ll want to make it more tame (and since you’re driving, probably without the beer). The game is easy to play: you give two terrible scenarios and ask someone to decide which one they would rather do.

For example, would you rather wear wet socks or a diaper for an entire week?

This game can get as silly as you’d like it to be.

💡 PRO-TIP : Set a number of questions each person will ask per “round.” So you can say, “everyone is going to give 3 scenarios we all have to answer.” Then, when the 3 turns are up, you can choose to start over or play another game.

12. Can You Name the Most

This is a fun road trip game even toddlers can play . Plus, it will help them build vocabulary and word associations. Have one person in the car choose a category. For this example, let’s say “superheroes.”

Now go around the car and everyone has to say a word related to superheroes in under 5 seconds. The first person who can no longer think of words closely associated with the category is eliminated.

The last person standing wins!

Remember, you don’t need to say exact superhero names. Instead, you can use words associated with heroes, like:

• Super speed
• And so on…

The goal is to have fun, so don’t get too “nit-picky.”

💡 PRO-TIP Make one parent and official judge for this game, as siblings will probably fight over what counts as “closely associated.”

13. Movie/Song Quotes

In this game, everyone will think of their favorite quote from a movie or song. Start easy and make sure these are things your kids are familiar with. That said, you can get more advanced to try and trick your road partner, too.

For example, you would think of a quote like, “Man… there are just no jobs in this town. Yeah… unless you wanna’ work 40 hours a week !”

Which, of course, comes from the great cinematic masterpiece, Dumb & Dumber .

You’ll need to adjust the quotes you use depending on the age of your kids.

14. Fortunately/Unfortunately

I like to think of these travel games for kids as the “home stretch” activity . It’s when you have a stop coming up and your kids start feeling “antsy.” In this game, one person begins by saying, “Fortunately…” and describing a hypothetical situation that was really good.

For example, you could say, “Fortunately, there was a mistake at the factory, and all the broccoli in the world is going to turn into marshmallows.”

Then, the next person continues the story with “unfortunately.” In this case, they could say, “Unfortunately, these marshmallows also shrink you to 3 inches tall.

And you continue with the “fortunately/unfortunately” structure until everyone has had a few turns.

💡 PRO-TIP : When you reach the end, you can discuss your hypothetical situation and pose more questions. In this example, the ultimate question would be, “Would you still eat the marshmallows?”

15. The Rhyme Game

Here’s an easy one: someone in the car thinks up a word, and everyone has a maximum of 5 seconds to think of a word that rhymes when it’s their turn.

If someone gives duplicates or a word that doesn’t rhyme, they’ll be eliminated.

Again, this game is perfect for those awkward 10 minutes before reaching your destination or a quick distraction if one of your kids is starting to go into crisis mode.

16. New Rule

This is a great game for the oldest sibling and young kids who like the taste of power. Everyone in the car gets to think up a “new rule.” It can be anything (appropriate) and would be something like, “Every time we pass a Wal-Mart, you need to burp.”

I like to make this game the prize of another fun game.

So when a kid wins at another game we play, they get to invent a “new rule” that will last until we reach the final destination.

17. Yellow Car

Yellow car is a game that’s a classic twist on the old “Punch Buggie” or “Slug Bug.” Basically, you get to punch someone else in the car whenever you see a yellow car.

This game is fun because some places tend to have way more yellow cars than others. Emilie and I played while driving through Quebec , and I only got punched once or twice.

Then we played in California , and my arm looked like it had seen the wrong end of a fight with Mike Tyson.

18. Spelling Bee

You can recycle activities your kids do at school for the car. This one is great for helping your kids learn to spell .

Work from a list of age-appropriate words for your kids to spell. Have them take turns and see how many they can spell correctly.

Here’s a good list of spelling bee words around the kindergarten age-level that you can use if you need help thinking up words.

19. Scavenger Hunt

A scavenger hunt is a great way to keep kids occupied during a road trip. It’s another game that gets your kids paying attention to their surroundings while in the car.

This works best if you have a list prepared before you go. Combine things you are guaranteed to see, like a speed limit sign, with some that are less common, such as a specific make and color for a car.

You can use types of vehicles, buildings, and natural features in your list. Give each kid a copy – illustrate it with pictures so pre-readers can still join in. Leave space for each player to tick off objects as they see them.

If you like, you can turn it into a version of bingo and race to see who can complete their list first.

For those who don’t have time to make their own scavenger hunt, there are plenty of printable options available online . We’ve created a printable road trip game package that includes a scavenger hunt

20. Hangman

Another classic game, hangman , helps new readers practice new letters of the alphabet and spelling in a fun (and competitive) way.

All you need is a piece of paper and a pen. However, everyone playing will need to see the paper, so the driver will want to sit this one out.

How to play Hangman:

• The first person acts as the host. They think of a word and then mark out blank spaces for each letter.
• The players take it in turn to guess letters. If they get one right, the host fills in the letter wherever it appears in the word. If they get it wrong, the host marks the letter at the top of the paper and then draws one piece of the scaffold.
• The game continues until the players guess the full word or the host draws the full scaffold and the stick man hanging from it.

Of course, you may want to avoid images of death in a kids’ game, even if it is a stick man. You can make the game more child-friendly by drawing a snowman or a rocket blasting into space. Or you could draw a line of balloons and have one pop each time someone makes an incorrect guess.

You can increase or remove the question limit if you find your kids get too frustrated or struggle to guess the word within the 20 questions.

❤️  You may also like to read: The Best Road Trip Snacks

21. Squares

Best played with two people, this is an easy travel game to teach your kids and all you need is a piece of paper and a pencil or pen.

The object of the game is to make as many squares as possible . Start by drawing a dotted grid on your piece of paper. You can choose how big you make the grid – begin with three by three when you first teach the kids and it can grow from there.

The two players take turns to join two dots together by drawing a straight line between them. You can’t go diagonally.

When someone completes a square, they write their initials inside it and get a bonus go. The game ends when the whole grid is joined up. Then you count the number of squares each person has claimed to determine the winner.

22. Build a Cootie Catcher

I remember learning how to do this in second or third grade. It was never as popular for the boys in our class (though maybe that’s changed), but it did keep me busy on long car rides with my brothers, who were busy playing Yellow Car with me.

Typing out all the directions would do two things:

• Help exactly 0% of the people reading this

Instead, here’s a great video tutorial 🙂 :

23. Make a Comic Book

I’ve noticed that my oldest son is super addicted to certain TV shows. But I realized it wasn’t necessarily the show he was in love with… it was the story .

He LOVES stories, and lately, we’ve been trying to encourage him to come up with his own. The car ride is a great time for kids to think up their own superheroes and draw their very own comic books.

You can stab some scrap pieces of paper together in advance or just have the kids work from individual pages. The comics will probably be silly, but they stretch the kids’ imaginations. Our son, for example, made a comic about aliens on a different planet at a park with slides that go “up” instead of “down.”

24. Draw What You See

The name pretty much says it all on this one! For long stretches of road around mountains, forests, rivers, oceans, lakes… anything… have the kids draw the landscapes they see as you go.

This doesn’t always work, but when kids get into the drawings, it can make a great coffee break for the parents.

25. Pictionary

This isn’t a game that the driver will be able to participate in, but you’re probably familiar with how it works.

One person draws something and the other must guess what it is. This works if you’re driving with more than one child or if one parent can participate safely.

👉 You can also purchase a Pictionary game to help your little ones with the game.

26. Audiobooks or Stories on Spotify

Reading their favorite stories aloud is a sure way to keep children entertained on a road trip.

Unlike watching videos or playing games on screen, listening to an audiobook allows their imagination to run wild as they picture all the scenes in the story. There’s a huge amount of choice out there for kids – search “stories for kids” on Spotify, and you’ll have plenty of options.

If your kids are a little older, they might also enjoy a factual podcast. There are several podcasts and audiobooks aimed at kids of kindergarten age that are both educational and entertaining. And you may be able to find some that are related to your road trip.

💡 PRO-TIP Don’t forget to download some stories before you head off in case you hit any areas without an internet connection during your journey, especially if you are planning to visit some national parks .

27. Drawing & Coloring

Drawing and coloring are great screen-free road trip activities  for kids at any time. There is no reason you can’t embrace them while you are on your road trip as well.

Pack plenty of coloring pencils, crayons, paper, and coloring books to keep the children entertained in the car. If you are worried about the mess, choose pencils instead of pens and steer clear of paint, glue, and glitter.

It helps to get some trays and organizers so that the kids have somewhere to keep their art supplies while you are traveling. Plenty of inexpensive options and the tray is also useful if you are eating meals on the road.

We bought some craft trays from IKEA , and they work perfectly. For crayons, we opted for the twistable Crayola one, which is more robust and less messy.

28. Sticker Books

When you need a bit of peace and quiet, sticker books are brilliant for keeping kids occupied in the car. You can even get reusable ones that can be brought out repeatedly.

It is worth laying down some ground rules before you hand stickers over – they get stuck to the book, not the car, their siblings, or the family dog.

For younger kids, look out for stickers that are large enough that little fingers can peel the backs off without help from an adult. Some sticker books involve fragile or fiddly shapes, which will only lead to frustration when they inevitably rip.

👉 There are many sticker books options, but we love the Melissa & Doug Reusable Sticker Pad .

29. Mazes and Puzzle Books

Mazes and puzzle books are easy to find and are an inexpensive way of keeping kids entertained on the road without resorting to screens.

Make sure you choose options suitable for your children’s ages, like this one from Amazon if for 4-8 years old . Word searches and verbal reasoning puzzles are great for those already reading, while pre-readers might like ones that ask them to join the dots, follow a wiggly line, or match pictures.

Again, there are also plenty of free printables available online, which you can print off before you get in the car. If you are feeling especially organized, you can laminate them and have your kids complete them with a wipeable marker so they can be reused.

👉 Buy Mazes and Puzzle Books on Amazon

Never underestimate the power of a good book. Long car journeys are the perfect time to encourage your kids in their love of reading . 

Have plenty of engaging, age-appropriate books available for your journey. Even pre-readers can get involved by “reading” familiar picture books to themselves. Or enlist older siblings to read to them – this gives them a chance to hone their own reading skills while keeping their younger brothers or sisters entertained.

31. Mad Libs

This can be something you can prepare in advance or just buy a booklet for . Mad Libs aren’t only fun, but they also teach your kids about grammar and sentence construction.

If you’ve never played the game before, it’s easy. There’s a pre-written story with a few keywords missing. People in the car must supply the word based on its function in the sentence (noun, adjective, adverb, etc.).

You fill in the words with random selections and read the story when it’s over.

Here’s a great resource for building Mad Libs with your kids .

Final Thoughts on Fun Road Trip Games for Kids

This ends how the list of kids car activities. I hope it gave you enough ideas to feel ready to pack the car and leave on a road trip with your little ones. If you end up on the road using one of our road trip activities with your kids, please share your pictures on Instagram and tag us @lovelife_abroad .

I’ll be honest here, we don’t always entertain the kids in the car. We do lots of the fun games above, but we also ask them to entertain themselves a little along the way.

Emilie is the founder of Love Life Abroad. She helps moms plan epic road trips and outdoor adventures with their families. Because who said adventuring had to stop once we have kids? She's based in the Canadian Rockies and shares her love for the region as well as other unique places in Canada & USA. She works with tourism boards and outdoor brands to inspire families to experience new unique destinations and outdoor activities.

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Fun Road Trip Games for Kids that You Can Prep in 3 Minutes or Less

Created On: March 6   |   Updated: March 29   |   Leave a comment

Have a long car ride with kids coming up soon? Use these fun and easy road trip games for kids to keep your little ones entertained without electronics! These easy games to play in the car are perfect for all kids, toddlers to teens.

You’re 30 minutes in to an 8 hour drive and you’re already hearing “Are we there yet?”.

The bag of snacks has somehow already disappeared, and your kids are already bored of the games that were supposed to entertain them for the next 7 1/2 hours.

So, what’s a Mom to do?

Back in the day, before 8 year olds had their own iPads and cell phones, we had to get creative with our road trip entertainment.

I remember taking road trips to Florida with my family and playing fun games that my Mom seemed to just make up on the fly. Games like “My father owns a grocery store and he sells…” – I’m sure that’s not the proper title of that easy road trip game, but I DO know that it was a favorite of me and my siblings.

And I remember playing the game “Dots” with my sister in the backseat. I’m not sure who invented that easy and addicting road trip game that just requires a pad of paper and a pencil, but I’m pretty sure it was my grandma. 🙂 We used to sit around her kitchen table and play for what seemed like hours on end.

So, yes, there is such thing as non-battery powered road trip fun!

If the batteries in your kids’ iPads are beyond dead, and every page in their coloring books has been scribbled on, then try one of these easy games to play in the car with kids!

*This post contains affiliate links, which means if you click a link and make a purchase then I earn a commission at no additional cost to you. Read my full disclosure here .

Fun Road Trip Games for Kids that Don’t Need ANY Supplies

Alphabet grocery store game.

That’s what I’m calling it, anyway! Your kids will LOVE this easy game, PLUS it will help them use their brains (rather than their two thumbs like that handheld electronics device!).

Here’s how to play the Alphabet Grocery Store Game:

• Pick one person to go first.
• The first person thinks of something that is sold in the grocery store that starts with the letter “A”. Or, if you don’t want to go in alphabetical order, they can choose ANYTHING that’s sold in a grocery store.
• Player one says, “My father owns a grocery store and he sells something that starts with the letter _____”. ( Insert the first letter of whatever they are thinking of ).
• The other players try to guess what grocery store item player one is thinking of.
• Whoever guesses correctly gets to take the next turn.

The great thing about this fun car ride game is that it requires absolutely NO prep work! No printing anything out prior to leaving the house, no pen and paper, nada!

So, when the kids start to get cranky, just shout out “My father owns a grocery store and he sells something that starts with B”. If your kids are younger, it could be “bananas”, but if you’re playing this road trip game with teens, it could be “bouillon”.

And for teens, you can use multi-word items, giving the first letter of each word as a hint… like “C-B” for “chicken breasts”.

Alphabet Sign Game

This easy road trip game for kids was another one of my favorites growing up. It’s fun to play, and it’s GREAT for elementary aged kids that are familiar with the letters of the alphabet. This is another game to play in the car that doesn’t require a road trip printable or pen and paper.

Here’s how to play the Alphabet Sign Game:

• Everyone starts at the letter “A”.
• All players look out the window for a billboard or street sign that has the letter “A” on it.
• Once someone finds the letter “A”, he or she points it out to the rest of the car riders, and then moves on to letter “B”.
• Each sign can only be counted for ONE player, so if Lucy finds the letter “A” in a Subway sign, then no one else can use a letter from that sign.
• The person to get through the entire alphabet first wins!

Alphabet License Plate Game

The Alphabet License Plate Game is played the exact same way as the sign game above, except that instead of looking for the letters on billboards, you look for letters on license plates.

So everyone starts by looking for letter “A” in a license plate number (not the state). Each license plate can only be used by one player, or you can omit that rule to make the game easier for younger kids.

The Color Game

This road trip game for toddlers is great if your kids don’t know their letters yet.

Here’s how to play The Color Game:

• Pick one of your kids to go first.
• Say the name of a color and a number 1-5. Or, if you packed flashcards in your car ride bag, then you can draw a color and a number card.
• The first player has to look out the window and find the proper number of items in that color. For instance, if you say “Yellow 3”, then your child needs to find 3 yellow items.

20 Questions – By Theme

Here’s how to play 20 Questions for an easy car ride game:

• Pick a category – Food, animals, etc.
• Player one thinks of something in the category, but doesn’t tell everyone what it is. For instance, if the category is animals, they could pick “dolphin” as their secret item.
• All other car riders ask questions Yes or No questions to try and guess what player one’s secret item. For instance, does the animal live on land?
• The object of this easy road trip game is to try and guess the secret item in LESS than 20 questions. Once 20 questions have been asked, player one tells what the secret item is, and the next player gets a turn at picking the secret item.

I Spy – Colors or Letters

I know you’re familiar with the classic I Spy game… and it’s probably a classic because it doesn’t require ANY supplies, and it’s perfect for kids of all ages.

You can play I Spy with colors (“I Spy something yellow”) OR for a fun car ride game for older kids, you can play with letters (“I Spy something that starts with letter F”).

Road Trip Games for Kids that Use a Pen and Paper

If you’ve packed some pencils and paper for your car ride, then you can have your kids play one of these fun road trip games.

My girls have also played these easy car ride games using a BoogieBoard ( affiliate ). If you’ve never heard of a BoogieBoard, then you need to check them out!

BoogieBoards (not to be confused with the surf toy!) are perfect for car rides because they can be used to play writing games, to draw pictures, etc. without worrying about your kids getting pen marks on your cloth seats.

License Plate Game

So many car ride games to pass the time can be played just by looking at license plates. If you’ve got a pen and paper, you can easily make up your own license plate game. Here’s one variation of the classic road trip game:

How to Play the License Plate Game:

• First, set the duration for the game… will the game last for one hour or the entire length of the car ride.
• Set different point values for different states or license plate numbers. For instance, a personalized plate can be worth 2 points, a neighboring state can be worth 1 point, and 2 of the same letters or numbers in a row can be worth 3 points . License plates for the state that you are driving through could be worth 0 points to make the game a little more difficult.
• Then, pass out pens and paper to your kids. Let them keep track of what license plates they see by writing down the state and using tally marks.
• When the time has expired, add up everyone’s points and the highest score wins.

This 2 person road trip game is great for older elementary-aged kids. I remember playing this game with my sister for hours on end in the backseat.

It may sound complicated, but it’s actually really easy once you get the hang of it…

Here’s how to play the Dots game on your next road trip:

• Draw a grid of dots on a piece of notebook paper. Leave enough space to connect the dots to make 1/4″ to 1/2″ squares. Draw your dots on the lines of the notebook paper to help keep your dot grid straight. Or, you could easily play this game on dot grid bullet journal paper.
• Pick someone to go first.
• The first person draws one line connecting two dots. The line can ONLY be horizontal or vertical and it can only connect TWO dots. No diagonal lines.
• Then, the second person draws a line connecting two dots. He or she can build on the first person’s line, or start their own square from scratch.
• The object of the game is to be the person that draws the 4th side of the square.
• Whoever finishes a square by drawing the 4th line gets to put his or her initials inside that square.
• The person with the most initials on the page at the end of the game (when all of the dots have been turned into squares) wins!

This is an easy game of strategy, and it’s PERFECT for car rides!

Hangman & Tic Tac Toe

These classic road trip games don’t take long to play, which means that your kids could end up blowing through an entire pad of paper pretty quickly. This is where the BoogieBoards ( affiliate ) come in handy, because once your kids are done playing one game, they just push the button to erase the screen and start another game!

Printable Road Trip Games for Kids

These printable activities for car rides are GREAT to pass the time without electronics devices! You can print these road trip activity sheets off before you leave for a long trip, and laminate them to use them over and over again with dry erase markers!

Road Trip Scavenger Hunts

Printable scavenger hunts are a great way to pass the time on long car rides. Have kids search for specific road signs, restaurants, or cars.

You can grab my printable Road Trip Sign Scavenger Hunts and other car ride games for kids HERE!

Road Trip Questions for Kids

Use the time on your road trip to get to know your kids more and encourage them to talk to you instead of burying their faces in an iPad.

You can grab my printable list of Questions to Ask Kids in my FREEBIES library (I’ll send you the password as a FREE gift when you subscribe to my FREE email newsletter!)…

OR, you can check out my 100 Questions to Ask Kids Printable Cards HERE!

Just print out the PDF on card stock, cut into question cards, and let your kids draw a card!

We used the question cards as dinner table conversation starters recently, and my girls took 15 minutes to answer the very first question. So with 100 different question cards, this is a GREAT way to take up time and make the car ride go by a little faster.

Printable Road Trip Bingo Cards

This Road Trip Restaurant Bingo from The Suburban Mom is a fun take on road trip bingo games.

Or, you can grab my Printable Bingo Cards (with 3 different cards) in my Road Trip Games Bundle HERE!

Printable License Plate Game

I LOVE this FREE printable license plate game from The Suburban Mom! Just print it out before you leave for your car trip, and pass out the printables to your kids when the road trip boredom sets in.

Printable Road Trip Word Search

Printable word searches are also great for car ride activities. Here’s a great car trip word search you can grab for FREE from Artsy Fartsy Mama!

Other Fun Road Trip Games for Kids to Beat Boredom

If you’re more of the Amazon Prime type of Mom (no judgement!), then here are some awesome car games for kids that you can buy. By the way, if you’re NOT an Amazon Prime Mom then check out this post on How Amazon Prime Can Make Mom Life Easier!

Travel Bingo Cards

We have these travel Bingo cards and my kids LOVE them! These road trip bingo cards make PERFECT car ride games for toddlers!

Rubbernekkers – Everyone’s Favorite Travel Game

Rubbernekkers is a highly-rated road trip card game for ages 8 and up. This fun game pits car riders against each other to spot the items listed on their cards.

Wikki Stix Traveler Playset

My kids used to LOVE playing Wikki Stix when we went out to eat. I remember being first introduced to Wikki Stix at a little cafe in Jackson Hole, WY, where they gave out mini packs of the fun moldable wax sticks and encouraged kids to make designs on the walls.

This Wikki Stix Traveler Playset is PERFECT for fun road trip activities for toddlers! And they’re reusable so you can take them to restaurants or on road trips over and over again.

What are your favorite road trip games for kids to play in the car? How do you keep your little ones entertained when the iPad just doesn’t cut it anymore? Leave me a comment down below!

And don’t forget to PIN this post for when you’re prepping for your next car ride!

Created by Amy

Amy is a busy working Mom of two girls, and she has been happily married to her high school sweetheart for almost 20 years. Amy has created hundreds of printables and other resources to help women manage their household and thrive in their family relationships. Whether you need a template to help track your monthly bills, an easy teacher gift idea, or conversation starters to connect with your husband, Amy has designed a resource to help you!

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25 Easy Road Trip Activities for Toddlers & Preschoolers

Packed for Life contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using one of these links, we may receive compensation at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. See my Disclosure policy for more info.

Road tripping with kids? The thought of entertaining  toddlers and preschoolers on long car rides can have even the most laid back of parents reconsidering their trip. Which is why I’ve gathered our tried and true easy and fun road trip activities for toddlers and preschoolers. 

After years of taking road trips for summer holidays, to visit family and to move across the country I have some pretty cool tips, tricks and ideas to make your next road trip more fun, and less stressful for everyone.

Practice and preparation are key. The more you do it, the more your can’t sit still in one place for even 2 minutes toddler or preschooler will know what to expect, and the easier it will become. In our experience, the best kids car activities are easy, mess free and something they can do on their own.

Here are what we think are the best road trip activities for 2-year-olds, 3-year-olds, and preschoolers 3-5 years old that you can buy, make or do yourself. Plus some road trip tips to make your family’s journey smoother.

  FUN TODDLER ROAD TRIP ACTIVITIES

Don’t forget to grab our Road trip planner so you can stop stressing about trip planning & logistics, and keep everything organized and in one place. Other tips:

• Use a surface to play / color on : You can use a small shallow box, a small metal baking tray or a car seat activity tray like this one . But don’t stress if you don’t have one. We’ve done many family road trips without an activity tray.
• Plan ahead: The trick I’ve found is to plan ahead and have a variety of activities you (and they) can pick and choose from.
• Small, easy age appropriate activities: Toddlers and preschoolers don’t always have long attention spans, so we’ve found that lots of smaller activities can really save the day.
• You know your kids best. Choose one’s you think they’d like.

If you have babies in the family too, these are some of the best travel toys for babies to keep them happy & entertained.

1. Mini Coloring Kits 

Coloring activities were always a favorite for our kids. To manage the likelihood of said toddlers throwing crayons around, keep only a few in a small container they can easily open. 

If you are short on time (who isn’t?), then mini coloring kits like these  were always a hit when our youngest was little. 

Or you can make your own.

• Grab a small empty first aid kit from the Dollar Store or local box store like Target or Walmart.
• Hot glue gun a square post-it pad on the inside (top).
• Put in a couple of crayons, or pencil crayons. Whatever fits.  Learn how here .

2. Mess Free Coloring – Melissa and Doug Wow Books

We’ve loved these WOW books for years. Super handy to keep the kids entertained on long or short car rides, at restaurants, or even much needed quiet time at home.

No mess! Your littles will just paint with the water brush and color appears. 

Melissa and Doug have lots of great products for toddlers and preschoolers. 

3. Best Road Trip Kids Activities: Kids Activity Books

I created these fun kids activity books to help keep your kids (& my own) from saying “are we there yet?!?!?” every 30 seconds.

Sometimes you just have those long stretches of road you need to get through. Plus they are educational, and screen free.

What are their interests? Try one of these kids car activities:

• Dinosaur coloring book with fun dino-facts
• Magical Unicorn Activity Book
• Baby Animal Mazes and Coloring
• Road Trip Activity Pack (perfect for multi-age families)

4. Scavenger Hunt

Your kidlets will be spending lots of time looking out the window. Why not get them to do a scavenger hunt. My youngest always loves doing this, even now that she’s much older.

Or if they are a little older, this  Road Trip Bingo game would be a fun car activity. 

PRO TIP : What always worked well for us is to have a travel backpack for each kid. Inside they can keep all their toys, books, road trip activities & some snacks all in one place. Check out our list of the best travel backpacks for kids and toddlers.

5. Magnetic Puzzles 

Anything magnetic will help reduce tears from having their pieces fall on the floor every 5 seconds where you can’t reach. Just make sure there are no small magnets or pieces for them to swallow. 

Magnetic puzzles or Magnetic dress up kits will keep them busy and entertained for a good long while.  

6. Toddler Busy Books

If you have the time, there are a lot of super cute, and fun DIY busy books you can make out there.

But if you aren’t so crafty, or are short on time, this Montessori busy board is ready for your toddlers to have fun in the car. While they also learn key motor skills to help them dress themselves.

7. Seek and Find Books or Hidden Picture Books

We always used to hit up the library before heading out on a road trip.

Seek and Find Books and My First Hidden Picture books are always a crowd pleaser. One that keeps our kids busy for up to an hour or more some days.

8. Wiki Stixs

Sticky, bendy sticks you can make trains, cars, flowers, bracelets anything your kids can imagine out of. 

Check out this cool Wikki Stixs article for more fun ideas .

9. Magnetic Drawing Board

A no mess road trip activity for toddlers & kids.

The Magnetic Drawing Board can be a great sensory toy, and a relaxing screen free activity for the car. Put on some road trip music, and the kids will have focused fun for a long time.

10. Boogie Board – Reusable Writing Pad

Best gift ever. A Boogie board is an LCD writing tablet that comes with a special pen (stylus) you can draw on and erase over and over again.

You may want to consider grabbing an extra stylus or two, given these tend to get lost or thrown on the floor of the car. Yes, I am speaking form experience.

11. Reusable Sticker Books

Kids love stickers. A reusable sticker book is even better as they can move their stickers around more than once. Plus you don’t have to worry about peeling stickers off car windows, your seats or somebodies hair. Guess how I know?!?!

Melissa and Doug make great ones. Including these super cute make-a-face sticker books .

12. Screen Time – Watch Movies & Play Games

When little Miss S was younger we tried to avoid much screen time if we could. However sometimes you need a little something to distract them when they get antsy. The IPad or a tablet does make an easy kids car activity. 

You can load up some episodes of their favorite tv show, or a toddler / preschooler friendly movie or two. It’s good to have as a back up,  just in case. Give yourself some grace, and a break. Traveling in confined space for 13 hours with young kids is exhausting. 

Grab a subscription to the Family Amazon Prime or Disney Plus for the month. With Prime you get music and movie/ tv streaming.

Some toddler & preschooler friendly apps we loved, or that come highly recommended:

• LEGO Duplo Trains
• Toca Monster or Toca Nature
• Very Hungry Caterpillar
• Daniel Tiger
• Busy Shapes
• Khan Academy Kids
• Epic – Reading App

13. Listen to Podcasts 

Podcasts are a great way to keep young children focused and happy. Now that my daughter is a little older, she still likes listening to them while she draws, cleans her room or for those long travel days by lane or car. Some of our favourites include:

• Wow in the World
• Story Pirates
• What If World

14. Listen to Audiobooks

I almost said books on tape….Showing my age there. Listening to audiobooks is another great way to skip the screens on long car rides and family road trips. And avoid the hoarse raspy voice from having to read Peppa Goes to Ballet Class for the 7 gazillionth time. Ask me how I know!

Grab an Try Audible Plus if you want to listen to adult books too. Or the Epic reading app just for the kids. 

You may also like the Best Walkie Talkies for Road Trips

15. Create a Road Trip Playlist

Think epic 80’s tape mix, but for the 2020’s and the younger crowd. My partner is the DJ in our family. He has an eclectic taste in music; everything from German metal bands to classical music, country, ska and pop.

You don’t have to be stuck to just kids music from Sesame Street (unless you want to be.)

Play Old School Car Games

Sometimes the simplest things are the easiest, and cost the least. Pull out some of those old school games you used to play on road trips when you were a kid.

16. License Plate Game

See if you can spot license plates from all the States (if in the US), or provinces / Territories (if in Canada. Whoever spots it first gets the point. The one with the most points wins at the end. Or skip the points. 

17. Story Time 

Invent a story as a family. Each person takes a turn telling part of the story with a sentence or two. Create your own fairytale…start with once upon a time. You can make a time limit for the story, say 10 minutes, or after each family member has had a chance to say 3-5 sentences. 

If ever there was a game that evokes summer vacations and riding  in the back seat of my childhood car, squished between my brothers to keep them from fighting, it’s I Spy.

One person chooses an object, and the rest of the players have to guess what it is. 

19. Road Trip Questions & Would You Rather

Road trips are a great time to ask your kids about the world and their thoughts. You never know how they  will respond, but there is guaranteed smiles and laughter.

Especially if you start a round of would you rather…… Would you rather have to drink everything from your nose or eat everything with your belly button…. 

Check out our list of road trip questions to ask. 

DIY Road Trip Activities for Kids

When I had more time ( and energy), I made all sorts of DIY travel activities for my youngest when she was a toddler and preschooler. Pinterest has lots of great low-cost DIY ideas , if you are looking for screen free, fun car activities. 

I used to put these in their own individual soft pencil case to keep them organized. If you grab the ones with holes, you can make a travel binder to keep your kids road trip activities all in one spot. 

20. Popsicle Sticks with Velcro

Grab a pack of popsicle sticks (multi colored for more visual interest), and stick-on those velcro circles from a craft store or the dollar store. Stick the velcro circles on each end of the popsicle sticks. Your toddler can then make different shapes with them. Little Miss S loved this one the best out of all the DIY road trip activities I made. 

21. Make A Word Popsicle Sticks

Continuing along the popsicle theme, create sight word popsicle sticks. You will need:

• Metal tin or lunch box or small cookie sheet in a pinch
• Popsicle sticks 
• Roll of magnetic tape
• Sheet of pictures with simple words underneath they can make (optional). 

Attach pieces of magnetic tape to the popsicle. Write letters with a sharpie on each popsicle stick. Have your kids try to make words out of the letters.

Or alternately, you can  use a First Words magnetic poetry kit , or magnetic letters. Just make sure they’re old enough not to swallow anything.

22. Lego Mini Boxes

Make use of all that lego that is underfoot and driving you crazy. You can grab most of the crafting items cheaply at the dollar store. What you’ll need for mini lego boxes:

• Small square plastic lunch container with lid
• Small square thin lego board
• Handful of lego pieces

Glue the base lego board to the lid, put a handful of lego pieces in the plastic container once dry, and there you go. Cheap and easy in car entertainment for kids. 

Or if for some reason you don’t have lego (tell me your secret!) grab this travel lego building case 

23. Rolling, Rolling, Rolling Spools of Ribbon

Unrolling and then rolling back up spools of ribbon can be a fun toddler car activity that can be used again and again. You may just have to be the one that rolls it back up though.

24. Pom Pom Skills Activities

Get those fine motor skills working. Pom Pom tweezer activities can be fun. What you will need:

• Big and small pom poms
• 3-4 small plastic cups ( take out sauce sizes) 
• Kid friendly tweezers

Get your kids to sort by color, or number of pom poms into the empty plastic cups. 

25. Make Cereal Bracelets or Necklaces

Give your kids some cheerios or fruit loops and a pipe cleaner and have them make cheerio bracelets. Bonus, they can have a snack when they get hungry.

But we forewarned – it can be messy.

26. Play with Glow Sticks

If you are driving at night, kids will get a kick out of playing with glow sticks. 

27. Joke Books

Bring out the jokes! Whether you are naturally funny….come on, parent jokes are the best, or need a little help, everyone will be smiling. 

Here’s a great option for kids 3 to 6.  

PREPARING FOR YOUR FAMILY ROAD TRIP

Quick Tips for successful road trips with kids aged 2 to 5

Taking long car rides with kids can be challenging and exhausting. Here are a few of my family’s tips that I use to make our road trips easier:

• Age appropriate road trip entertainment – Make sure your road trip activities are age appropriate and suit your child. 
• Bring a variety of kids road trip activities you can switch out regularly
• Begin your day with some quick & easy road trip breakfast ideas
• Start your day early  – There’s usually a sweet spot where kids are still happy in the mornings. Start earlier, and they may even nap for a bit in the car. 
• Make frequent stops to let the kids run around and use the washroom.
• Prioritize some fun kid friendly stops along the way your children will enjoy. A trip to the zoo, a cool playground,  a short hike or a stop for ice cream.
• Drive less each day if you can.
• Load up on kid friendly road trip meals & snacks – hangry kids are no fun!
• Prepare for the unexpected. Bring a first aid kit, a clean up kit (wet wipes, hand sanitizer, extra clothes, small garbage bucket), and a container in case a kid gets sick.
• Bring a couple of large towels – Clean up unexpected diaper explosions, or use as picnic blankets, rolled up as a pillow and even shade for a back window. 
• Check out our camping with kids hacks – to make camping easier and more enjoyable for everyone.

Conclusion: Kids Car Activities 

You really can have fun family road trips with young kids. We’ve made so many fun memories on road trips with our littles. They often bring up special or funny moments we’ve had long after the road trip is finished.

But if you’re planning a long drive with a toddler or preschooler, make sure you plan some great road trip activities to keep them entertained. You’ll be glad you did.

Preparing for your Road Trip

• Road trip packing list essentials for the family
• Yummy Road trip snacks. Kid (and adult) approved!
• Summer travel tips to stay on budget & maximize family fun
• How to save money on road trips (and not miss out)

Donna Garrison is the founder of Packed for Life, an ever curious traveler with a passion for making memories with her family. With a unique perspective on travelling on a budget gathered over 30 years, 20 countries and 5 continents she gives families the tools & resources they need to experience the joys of travelling more for less through practical solutions. She helps over 20,000 families a month plan & take the family travel, camping and road trip adventures of their dreams in Canada, the USA and around the world. Contact her at: Donna [at] packedforlife.com

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45 Road Trip Activities for Toddlers That Will Keep Them Entertained For Hours

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Road trips are a great way to bond as a family during travel but little ones can get antsy sitting for so long.

If you're planning a road trip with your toddler, it's important to be prepared with activities to keep them occupied.

After all, a bored toddler in the backseat is a recipe for disaster! 

To help you out, we've put together a list of road trip activities for toddlers that are both fun and educational.

With these 45 road trip activities for 1-year-olds and 2-year-olds, your little ones will stay busy (and happy) throughout the entire journey.

No time to read? See the shoppable list of our suggested travel toys on Amazon!

Road Trip Activities for 1-year-old Toddlers

My 1-year old absolutely loves pop-its . They are quiet, easy to find, and light to pack – the perfect travel toy!

2 Audiobooks

Playing an engaging audiobook will help distract your toddler. Be sure to choose books with a very animated narrator to catch their attention.

3 Little People

Little People are a hit with toddlers. They love to look at them, hold them and explore them. Consider grabbing a set and offering them to your toddler on the road trip.

4 Bristle Blocks

A few bristle blocks can go a long way on a road trip. Toddlers will love building with them, and they can even teach some basic shapes and colors.

5 Fabric Books

While 1-year-olds aren't the best book handlers, they can still explore soft fabric books . Choosing one with different textures and interactions is a great way to keep them busy.

6 Finger Puppets

A finger puppet set will keep your toddler's hands busy. They'll love putting the puppets on and moving them around.

7 Vtech Remote

There's just something about the remote that is highly fascinating to 1-year-old toddlers. We love the Vtech toddler remote which is complete with functioning buttons and sounds – the perfect road trip activity for toddlers.

8 Chewbeads

If your toddler is in the chewing stage, silicone chew beads should be on your road trip list! These links are not only safe for chewing, but your toddler can bend, fold, and connect them together.

9 Magnatiles 

If you're looking for a more educational road trip activity, consider packing a few Magnatiles . These tiles are great for little ones to stack and build with in the car and at home!

10 Animal Figurines

From dinosaurs to farm animals , your toddler will enjoy handling animal figures on a road trip. Look for lifelike figures with distinct features to grab their attention.

11 Cheerio Bracelet

Snacks are a hit for 1-year-olds on a road trip, but try offering something a little more creative than a snack cup. Look for some flavored cheerios and string them on yarn for a ring of snacks they can see and enjoy eating! Bonus – there's less chance of them throwing them on the floor!

12 Textured Bean Bags

Toddlers love exploring sensory items and these bean bags are one of the best road trip activities for toddlers.  The toys are brightly colored and have interesting textures that will keep toddlers engaged. Come up with some sorting games or ask your toddler to hand you a certain bean bag.

13 Buckle Toy 

This soft pillow buckle toy has plenty of activities to keep your toddler busy. They can zip, lift flaps, and learn to buckle.

14 Hot Wheels Cars

Hot Wheels are a fun toy for you toddlers to bring on a road trip. These are something small they can hold, and you can point to out similar cars on the road.

15 Blocks & Balls

Infantino Balls, Blocks and Buddies set is a something 1-year-olds will love for a car activity. They can touch different surfaces and even chew on them them. Divide them up by type and offer them at separate times for more variety.

16 Baby Dolls

A soft baby doll will not only be a cuddle toy but a great road trip activity for toddlers. They can dress the baby and give her a bottle.

17 Sing-Alongs

One of the best road trip activities for toddlers is music . Sing-alongs are always a hit, and there are plenty of classic kid songs to enjoy. Choose a kid's music channel on your favorite streaming service.

18 Peek-a-Boo

This simple game is one that never gets old. You can play it with a stuffed animal, blanket, or your own hands. Peek-a-boo is sure to get some giggles from your 1-year-old during your trip.

19 Snack Breaks

Snacks are essential for a fun road trip, but they're especially important when you've got little ones in tow. Hunger and thirst can lead to crankiness in even the happiest of toddlers, so make sure to pack plenty of snacks and drinks for the journey. And if you're looking for healthy snack ideas, see our list of road trip food for kids.  

20 Playground Stops

It's important to take breaks often when you're on a road trip with toddlers—both for their sake and for yours! Consider making pit stops at playgrounds along the way – they'll love getting to run around and explore!

Road Trip Activities for 2-year old Toddlers

1 the quiet game.

This is among many parent's favorite road trip activities for toddlers! If your toddler is any good at this game, you'll be enjoying plenty of relaxation on your trip! See who can be quiet the longest and that person wins a special surprise!

2 Paint with Water

Paint with water sets are the perfect toddler road trip activity. Water Wow sets from Melissa & Doug include a fillable pen that holds the water and comes out the brush. Virtually mess-free and very amusing for your little one.

3 Sticker Books

We love sticker books to keep toddlers entertained on a family road trip. They love peeling the stickers which is a great fine motor skill.

4 LCD Drawing Tablet

If your 2-year-old loves to color, LCD drawing tablets are a must. They can color whatever they want and erase it when they want a new canvas. Not only is it mess-free, the tablets are an inexpensive travel toy!

5 This or That

One of our favorite road trip games is one we made up. I played this with my oldest when she needed to be distracted in the car. Say two things and ask which is their favorite. You can use animals, food, or toys for example. It's a great activity to avoid meltdowns when things are going south.

6 Counting Things They See

Keep your toddler learning by counting the things you see. Look out the window and see 3 birds – 1, 2, 3! This is a great activity to help keep them occupied while on a road trip.

7 Squigz Suction Toys

These suction toys are a great road trip activity for toddlers because they will keep them entertained with building and creating new designs. Additionally, the suction cups on the toys will stick to windows and other surfaces, providing an extra level of fun.

8 Magnetic Puzzles

Magnetic puzzles can keep toddlers entertained for hours while on a road trip. The puzzles are easy to carry and keep toddlers busy as they try to move the pieces with the magnetic pen!

9 What Do You See Out the Window

Practice object recognition, colors, and shapes with your 2-year-old by asking them what they see out the window. If they see a tree, ask what color is the tree? Continue the conversation with questions for them to answer.

10 Connectable Fidget Tubes

Fidget tubes can be connected together to create a chain, and your toddler can twist and turn them to their heart's desire. This will keep them occupied and happy, which is essential on long road trips.

11 Lacing Cards 

The repetitive motion of lacing and un-lacing helps to develop hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. We love these small lacing cards as they are portable and offer just enough practice for a 2-year-old.

12 Lego Duplo Blocks

Let their creativity run wild with Lego Duplo Blocks. They can build towers, cars, and other structures with the blocks that come in various size kits.

13 Memory Game Cards

While 2-year-olds may be a little young to play Memory, they will certainly enjoy looking at the picture cards. Memory cards are durable and the perfect small, learning toy to bring along on a road trip.

14 Vtech Laptop

The Vtech laptop is a fun learning game for toddlers. It's not quite screen time, but it is interactive with songs and games that will keep them engaged.

15 Glow Sticks

Road trip activities for toddlers don't have to be limited to just watching movies or looking out the window. A great way to keep them entertained is by bringing out some glow sticks . If you're traveling in the dark these are an ideal way to have some fun when you're almost to your destination.

16 Reusable Sticker Scenes

Reusable stickers are a great car activity because they can easily be moved and manipulated by your toddler. They will enjoy creating stories and using their imagination. Just ask them what they made!

This classic road trip game is perfect for toddlers because it's easy to adapt to their limited attention span. Keep it simple by spying something that's a certain color or shape.  Keep the “spied” objects inside the car to give time for your toddler to find them!

18 Masking Tape

Toddlers love playing with random objects, and masking tape can be used to your advantage. They will enjoy peeling it, balling it up, and making designs on the windows. This is a great way to keep them entertained in exchange for a little cleanup.

19 Mess-Free Coloring

Coloring is a great way to keep toddlers occupied, plus it's a quiet activity that won't disturb other passengers in the car.  Crayola Color Wonder is an amazing gift to parents. The markers only draw on the special paper and leave no other mess. They come in cute sets and are sure to keep your toddler busy.

20 Road Trip Scavenger Hunt

Make a scavenger hunt list of things they can look for outside the car window. Include things like different colors, shapes, and animals.

21 Seek and Find Books

Seek and Find books are excellent road trip activities for toddlers because they can keep them busy and engaged. Bring along a few beginner seek and find books to look at together when they need a break from looking out the window.

Limiting screen time is one thing, but you may need a little more of it on a road trip with toddlers. Download some age-appropriate apps on your phone or tablet for them to play during the drive.

23 Story Time

Reading stories is always a hit with toddlers. Bring along some of their favorite books or download some digital ones before you hit the road.

24 Pack Some Surprises

Save some of your toddler's favorite snacks or toys as “surprises” for later in the trip. This will help break up the monotony and give them something to look forward to. These are also great to take out when things aren't going well (i.e. traffic.) 

A portable DVD player will give your toddler the comfort of their favorite movie. Use movies to wind down before rest time on your road trip.

Road Trip Activities for Toddlers

A road trip with toddlers doesn't have to be stressful—as long as you know how to survive a road trip with kids !

1-year-olds and 2-year-olds have unique needs when it comes to car activities.

They have a shorter attention span and need a larger variety of things to keep them occupied.

However, with these 45 road trip activities for toddlers, you can rest assured that your little ones will stay entertained the whole way!

And who knows, you might even have some fun yourself in the process!

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9 Old School Road Trip Games You Have to Play With Your Kids

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Family road trips are not just about getting to a destination.

They are also about the journey. I’m all for iPads and DVD players and other technology but there is something to be said for turning all that off and actually coming together to pass the time. This is when memories are made.

Even with all the technology in the world, there will come a time when the battery runs dead, the headphones break, or *GASP* you travel through an internet dead zone. Be prepared for this on your next family trip with these old-school road trip games for kids.

The journey and not just the destination will have your kids jumping for joy. Photo: Maria Smith

9 Road Trip Games For Kids

1. twenty questions.

Who can play: Ages 5 and up

Items needed: None

To play Twenty Questions, you just have to have one person choose a person, place or thing. Then everyone else gets twenty questions to try to figure out what that person is thinking about. It might be difficult for smaller children, but you never know. Sometimes it’s the youngest ones who have the best questions!

2. License Plate Game

Who can play: Ages 7 and up

Items needed: paper and pencil for each player

This is one of the old school road trip games that works best during those long cross-country hauls. Start when you pull out of the driveway and as each player sees a new state on a license plate, they mark that state down on their paper. After a certain amount of time, like to the first bathroom break, you count up how many states each player has found and the person with the most states is the winner. Feel free to continue the game or start over.

Old school road trip games are not just a relic of the past. With the massive takeover of handheld technology and wireless internet access, it may seem like they are needed about as much as a CB radio is needed. However, there is a reason they survived so many years of family road trips. They are fun and (don’t tell the kids) educational too!

3. The Name Game

Who can play: Ages 4 and up

Items needed: none

The fun thing about this game is there are endless variations. The basic one is that you start naming names as you go around the car. You have only 3 seconds (or 3 hand claps or some other appropriate time scale) to come up with a name for your turn. If you fail to think of one, then you’re out. Be sure to say what qualifies as a name (first name only? Last names? Fictional names?). Also, we give my five-year-old two “misses” before he’s out. Consider doing that for the younger kids so they can still play along and you avoid unnecessary meltdowns. Done with names? Play the same game with colors, cities, countries, feelings, etc.

You may also enjoy this article: 100 Things To Always Keep In The Car

There is plenty to “spy” when you’re on the road. Photo: Maria Smith

Who can play: All ages

This is one of the perennial old school road trip games. Everyone can do it, though little kids may choose some obvious objects. Be sure to start the game saying if the item the person “spies” should be inside or outside the car. This may be a little difficult if you have color-blind family members.

5. Name That Tune

Who can play: All ages but best for tweens and teens

Items needed: None (unless you want to keep score)

Use one of the streaming services on a phone to let one person control the music in the car. He or she will play up to 5 seconds of a song and the rest of the group has to guess which song that is. You may want to limit the songs to one genre, like Disney music for example, so little ones can play too.

Planning to trip to a Disney Theme Park? Check out this Disney family road trip playlist. 

6. Road-trip BINGO

Items needed: Pre-made travel bingo board games

There is a reason BINGO has remained popular over the decades. Everyone loves it. We bought $1 travel bingo board games from Target but you can also make your own. The players just need to pay attention to the passing landscape and find the items on the board. On long road trips you may want to get creative and decide what constitutes a BINGO (four corners, all-board, X, etc).

Who can play: Ages 6 and up (readers)

Items needed: Pencil and pad of paper

One player thinks of a word and puts the corresponding number of dashes on a piece of paper. Other players guess letters that may be in the word. If they guess a letter that is not in the word, a part of the hangman is created. We use head, two arms, body, and two legs. This gives the player six chances to get letters wrong before they lose. Ultra-competitive family members can make this hard by choosing very hard words so be wary of that. Also, early readers may not know the correct spelling and should check with someone not playing that the word they want is spelled correctly.

Need help keeping the car clean while on your trip? Here are  9 Easy Road Trip Hacks To Keep Your Car Clean.

8. Story Starter

This is one of those really fun games that is sure to end in fits of laughter. One person starts a story but doesn’t finish the sentence. The next person finishes that sentence and starts another, continuing that story. Even little ones can play and often provide some hilarious additions.

9. Alphabet game

The Alphabet game works best on long, cross-country road trips, especially those that travel through small towns. Simply find words that start with each letter of the alphabet. First to find them all wins. Word to the wise: just eliminate Q, X and Z. Make it easy on yourself and your kids. For a different variation, have each player write the alphabet out on a piece of paper. As they see a word, have them cross out the letter that the word starts with.

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Maria Smith is the founder of MamaliciousMaria.com, one of the top parenting, travel and auto blogs in the country.... More about Maria Smith

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10 best road trip games for your next long drive

Road trip games not only make time fly by as you travel to your next destination, they’re also a great way to engage and entertain the passengers in your car. Whether you're traveling in your own vehicle, an RV or a rental car , these fun road trip games are guaranteed to keep you entertained on your next driving adventure.

In this post

1. I spy: Classic road trip games

2. travel bingo: scavenger hunts on-the-go, 3. the alphabet game: quick-fire thinking, 4. hot seat: how well do you know your friends, 5. i went to the store: memory-based fun, 6. road trip word games: license plate game, 7. guess that tune: road trip games for the music lovers, 8. categories: creativity unleashed, 9. road trip trivia: quizzes for a family road trip, 10. the waving game: simple road trip game joy.

Concept : Someone thinks of an object they can see and others try to guess what it is.

How to play :

• The youngest person in the car looks around, finds something and says "I spy with my little eye, something [color]."
• The others in the car take turns guessing objects of that color.

This road trip game is perfect for : Everyone! This is a classic road trip game that can be enjoyed in small or large groups, as well as by families , couples or friends.

Concept : Players use a bingo board to look for objects that are commonly found on a road trip to fill out their bingo card.

• Each player selects a travel bingo card. You can create your own, or buy a travel game bundle.
• Decide whether a line, X or full card is the goal that wins the game.
• Look around during the drive, and each time you spot an object from your bingo card, mark it.
• The first player to spot all the required objects to meet the goal wins.

This road trip game is perfect for : Families with younger children that like scavenger hunts.

Concept : Someone chooses a category and players have to name objects in that category, starting with the letter A and continuing with the rest of the alphabet.

• Pick a turn order. The first player gets to choose a category (movies, animals, countries etc).
• The next player says a word related to the category that starts with the letter A.
• Players continue to say words of that category in alphabetical order (the second player picks a word that starts with the letter B).
• When a player can’t think of a word that starts with a particular letter, they are eliminated.
• The last player standing wins the game, and a new category is chosen for the next game.

This road trip game is perfect for : Travelers that enjoy games that require quick thinking.

Concept : The person in the “hot seat” asks a question about themselves, and others have to try to guess the answer.

• The youngest player starts on the hot seat.
• The player asks the group a question about themselves. For example, "What is my favorite movie?" or, "What was the name of the restaurant where we celebrated my 13th birthday?"
• The remaining players take turns answering the questions. If someone gets the question right, they receive a point.
• The next player is now on the hot seat and asks a question.
• Players keep going until someone has answered five questions correctly. They win!

This road trip game is perfect for : Families, couples and friends that want to get to know each other better.

Concept : A memory game where players build a growing chain of words that need to be recalled every round.

• Pick a turn order. The first player starts by saying, “I went to the store and bought [something that starts with the letter A].”
• The next player says, "I went to the store and bought [what the previous player said] and [something that starts with the letter B]."
• Players take turns reciting the sentence and adding more words until a player can’t remember the whole list. That player is eliminated and the next player gets to go.
• The last player standing that can remember the whole list wins.

This road trip game is perfect for : People that like games that test their memory and require creativity.

Concept : Players have to create words using the letters they find on license plates.

• A player reads out a license plate near them (for example, 7AP45L).
• The first player to form a word using the letters on that plate in order gets a point (for example, APPLE).
• If no one can form a word with the letters in that order, then the player that can form a word using those letters in any order gets half a point (for example, PLANT).
• Another player reads out a license plate and play continues. The first player to get to five points wins.

This road trip game is perfect for : Fans of games that involve playing with letters to create words.

Concept : Someone sings or hums a song and others have to guess the song and/or artist.

• Decide on a music genre and select the player that goes first.
• The selected player tries to sing, hum or whistle a song of that genre.
• The first player to guess the song title and artist gets a point, or half a point if they only know one of the two.
• After every player gets to pick a song, change the genre for the next round.
• The first player to get to seven points wins.

This road trip game is perfect for : Families, couples and friends that enjoy listening to and recalling popular songs.

Concept : A fun road trip game where someone names a category, and players count objects of that category until time runs out.

• The first player names a category related to things they see on the road (such as a specific color of a car, an animal or license plate state/letter).
• Players then take two minutes to spot as many things related to that category as possible.
• When time is up, the player that has spotted the most items in the category wins.

This road trip game is perfect for : People that like to use their observation skills during a road trip.

Concept : Players listen to a podcast that asks 10 trivia questions and they try to answer the most correctly.

• Connect your phone to your car via Bluetooth and search "road trip trivia" on your podcast app.
• Browse through the different episodes, each of which align with a particular theme.
• Listen along and try to answer each of the 10 questions. Every correct answer scores a point, and the player with the most points after 10 questions wins.

This road trip game is perfect for : Families that enjoy testing their knowledge across different topics in road trip trivia games.

Concept : Wave and see how many people wave back at you.

• This one’s simple. Each player takes turns waving at someone in another car on their side. If they wave back, you score one point.
• The first person to get five people to wave back wins.

This road trip game is perfect for : Friends that want to share the joy of being on a road trip together.

Choose the most entertaining road trip games and the time will fly by as you drive to your destination. So, grab some snacks and get your group ready to play your heart out. For more helpful information on road trips, make sure to check out these road trip tips , as well as a handy guide on rental cars .

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8 Fun Road Trip Games for Adults, Couples, and Families

R oad trips are as much about the journey as the destination. But even though a car gives you flexibility and allows for more spontaneity than a plane, train, or bus, boredom is bound to set in. That's where games come in.

Whether you are hitting the road with a party of 2 or 10-or with kids or adults-here are appealing games that can help pass the time and keep the "are we there yet?" chorus at bay.

20 Questions

In this classic parlor game that transitions easily into the car, one player thinks of a random person, place, or thing and the other participants take turns asking up to 20 yes-or-no questions to figure out the answer through a process of elimination. Whoever gets the answer first starts the new round.

The License Plate Game

The goal of this quintessential road trip game is to spot at least one license plate from each of the 50 states. Participants can write down the states as they see them or check them off of a list. Have kids in tow? Print out a blank map of the United States for each tot and have them color in the states whenever they see a corresponding license plate.

Build a Story

You might not write the next great American novel on your road trip, but you can create a hilarious tale collaboratively. The first player invents an opening line and then everyone takes turns adding a sentence to the story. Keep it going for as long as you need to, whether it's the next rest stop or your final destination.

In this game, players take turns choosing letters to create a valid word (so no picking "Z" after someone says "X"). But the catch is that you don't want to be the person to complete the word. Any player who does complete a word is penalized by receiving a letter from the word GHOST: "G" for the first penalty, "H" for the second, and so forth. Players who receive five penalties-and therefore spell out the word "GHOST"-are eliminated until one winner remains.

Scavenger Hunt

A game that involves spotting specific objects during the trip might not be ideal for the driver, but the rest of the travel party can have a blast. Simply create a list of objects to look for beforehand and distribute it to each traveler. Make the game easy or challenging by choosing items that are really common or very rare. To add some randomness to the game, create a unique list for each participant. As with any scavenger hunt, whoever finds the most items wins.

Alphabet Game

A good choice for families traveling with children, the alphabet game is another road trip classic that involves looking for words on signs and billboards that start with each letter of the alphabet, beginning with the letter "A" until reaching "Z." Players can simply yell out the word when they see it, and the whole group moves on to the next letter. Whoever spots the most words wins.

Interactive Podcasts

You may not be able to convince a game show host to join your road trip adventure, but your entire travel party can put their smarts to the test by pressing play on a trivia or brain teaser podcast like Good Job, Brain! or Road Trip Riddles .

Name the Passenger

As you make your way along the open road, keep an eye on passengers in the other vehicles around you. (Unless you are driving, of course.) Pick some passengers at random and have a discussion about what name you would assign to them and why. Some laughs are guaranteed.

Nathalie Alonso is a journalist based in New York City. Her work has also appeared in National Geographic , Outside , Refinery29 and Well+Good , among other publications.