If your children are anything like mine, you are just 5 minutes into a three hour road trip and they’ve already eaten half the car snacks and are already asking, “Are we there yet?!!” If this is the case (or you suspect it will be!), check out this great collection of road trip activity ideas just right for kids.
Verbal Games to Play
We play four of these Speaking, Listening and Thinking Games in the car all the time. Great for preschoolers.
Check out the three car games Ali’s family loves.
The Alphabet Car Game is great for school aged children. Via What’s Up Fagans?
Once the word games are over, why not turn on the tunes! Check out this Road Trip Playlist from The Pleasantest Thing.
Or listen to an audio story. Here are 10 great stories that your children may know as movies and here is a list of free audio story resources.
Activities & Games for the Journey
Make and pack a play purse for your toddler.
This DIY Peekaboo Activity Bag is great fun for preschoolers.
As is this idea for Peg Colour Matching.
This felt Tic Tac Toe game is perfect for siblings who sit together.
I love these Storytelling Cubes from Frog in a Pocket.
Make it fit a lap sized cookie tray and this Portable Car Play Mat will be a hit with your Matchbox fans. From Mama. Papa. Bubba.
This Portable Lego Kit with printable pattern cards from Fun at Home With Kids is so easy to create.
This idea for stickers + drawing = lots of portable, creative fun.
Plus Picklebums shares a range of great Printable Drawing Prompts.
Or put older children to the test with a One Line Drawing Challenge.
Does your child love maps? Check out this idea for Are We There Yet? Maps from Growing Book by Book.
Or track your journey with these map ideas from Picklebums.
This Dry Erase Drawing Kit is perfectly portable. Via Sunny Day Family.
This Road Sign Bingo looks like lots of fun. From Learn With Play at Home.
3 Boys and a Dog shares an On The Road Alphabet Hunt (printable).
A game of Travel Dice is sure to get competitive with school aged kids! From Be a Fun Mum.
Bigger kids will also enjoy making and playing with Silly Sentence Chatterboxes.
PLUS Tricia makes a great case for not rushing to your destination with 7 Tips for Making the Most of the Journey. Remember to pack a field journal to record your adventures.
Heading off on a road trip, be sure to also check out…
Christie Burnett is a teacher, presenter, writer and the mother of two. She created Childhood 101 as a place for teachers and parents to access engaging, high quality learning ideas.
Brilliant post, packed with great tips! I’ve pinned a whole lot for later reference.
Thank you, Saam, so glad you found some good ideas 🙂
Lots of great ideas! Thanks… now just to book in that road trip! 🙂
Woot! Holiday time 🙂
great tips…I usually carry few new toys to keep my toddler busy during long journeys.. Picture/story books are also great….different Apps for kids too work well during such situations.
Great ideas, thank you!
This is so great. Pinning.
So many new fun ideas! I’ll be needing lots of these with all our future road trips now that we have our caravan! Pinned! Thanks 😀
Thanks, Debs 🙂