15 Travel Activities For Kids To Keep Busy On Vacation

Travel activities for kids can keep you sane when kids get bored.

Traveling with kids can be a challenging task, as keeping them entertained and engaged can be quite a task. However, with some prior planning and creativity, travel can be an exciting and fun learning experience for kids. In this blog post, we will list 24 travel activities for kids that are suitable for all ages.

Travel Activities For Kids To Bust Their Boredom

Kids like to travel but can become fidgety when the trip takes too long. This can happen in the car, on a train or bus or in the air. Travel activities for kids can occupy their time and help you stay focus on your vacation.

The ideas listed above are just a starting point, and there are a multitude of travel activities for kids that your family can do together. Remember, whether by plane, car, or train, traveling presents endless opportunities to learn about the world and make unforgettable memories with your kids.

1. Custom Activity Bag For Each Child

You can buy these online or make one yourself. Start with a hanging organizer for kids. Find them at Wal-Mart or even your local dollar store.

Kids can be finicky so fill their pockets with their favorite age-appropriate things: crayons, pencils, construction paper, drawing paper, safety scissors, books, and games that they like.

Attach each one to the back of the seat in front of your children for easy access.

Stock your car with favorite pre-bagged snacks for everyone, even parents, a cooler with lots of water and favorite drinks, colored pencils, crayons, a few coloring books, sticker books, travel games, and a travel journal for older kids.

2. Bring A Portable Game Or Puzzle

Let each child pack a small bag of their favorite toys and games to take with them.

Make a rule that they are only allowed to take out one thing at a time, and they can only play with it for a certain amount of time, depending on the length of their journey.

Also encourage the kids to swap their toys/games if the journey is a long one so that they get a bit of variation in what they’re doing.

Other ideas: have kids make paper bag puppets – decorate the bags using markers or art supplies and then create a puppet show.

3. Ask 20 Questions

Everyone writes down a secret word which must be a noun (the name of an object).

The others try to guess your word by asking questions about it.

Take turns until everyone has tried their word. You could have playoffs between the ones that stumped the lot, until only one was left.

4. Tackle A Trivia Game

Some parents test their children’s memories and reinforce where they’ve traveled and what they did by playing a family trip trivia game each night. Each correct answer can score a piece of candy or the winner gets to choose which bed in the hotel, etc.

Questions like, “Where did we wake up yesterday?” “What was the name of the mountain range we saw?” “Which major river did we pass?” are all great ways to remember the trip and learn something.

5. Juggle A Wordplay Game

This one is really good for older kids who are learning to read, write and spell.

Take turns to say a word. Any old word will do, the next person then has to take the last letter of the first word and think up another word, and so on.

So say person one said, “engine” person 2 would need to find a word beginning with the letter “e”, let’s say “elephant” next person in line would then have to find a word beginning with the letter “t”, such as “toys”.

The winner is the last person to be able to think up a word.

6. Come Up With An Alphabet Soup Game

This is a game where everybody takes turns to come up with words beginning with the various letters of the alphabet.

First-person comes up with something for the letter “A” (apples), the next person finds something with the letter “B” (boat), and so on.

X, U and Z are the most difficult, so it might be an idea to drop those letters. You can make the game harder by choosing categories such as famous people, or places or even animals and fruit.

7. Take Fun Photos

Summer is a great time to capture fond memories. So let them document the trip by taking pictures (or drawing) and writing notes about where they are, what they’ve seen, and what they have done on the journey.

Not only will this keep them occupied, but it will also give YOU something to read on reflect on in time for the next journey.

8. Write A Travel Diary

This is another way to document your vacation travel. It is extremely good for longer journeys, especially when you stop off at various places on the way. In between texting and taking photos, you can encourage your kids to write a little about each place that you stop.

Each child will need a notepad and pen. The older ones can have disposable cameras and the younger ones can have art books and crayons.

9. Play Car Game

Don’t worry about extra supplies. You only need your imagination for this one. See how many different state license plates they can find.

How about “Name that Tune”? Hours of fun are yours, and no equipment is required other than your brain. Consider packing a small notebook and pencils or markers for each child to play some old-time games on the way.

There’s always the Alphabet Game, I-Spy, the license plate game, Scavenger Hunts, counting cows, the initials game, and paper and pencil games such as MASH, Tic Tac Toe, the dot and line game, cootie catchers/fortune tellers. You can also download more games for your family to play.

10. Watch A Fun Movie

A portable DVD player makes 5 or 6 hours a day seem like 2 hours. It also cuts a lot of the unnecessary stops as the kids are involved in the movie playing.

On an airplane, all you need is headphones if your airline offers back seat entertainment. When traveling by car, don’t forget the portable DVD player.

Kids can watch their favorite movies. When they are entertained, the trip doesn’t seem as long to them.

11. Listen To Music

Take along Gameboys & games, personal CD/cassette players (even for little kids), and you can get books on tape from the library.

Some parents don’t like to keep their children occupied with such games but on a long trip, it can be a necessity. Choose educational or mind-challenging games for them to play. Invest in an adapter that will work in your mode of transportation (car, train, bus, and plane).

Prepare for your long trip with a few boredom busters for the kids. Select age-appropriate games for your family. Allow the kids to help you decide what will peak their interests.

12. Sing In The Car

Singing in the car is a classic way to spend a road trip – think of the old camp songs you used to sing as a kid. Or what about 80s songs that your kids don’t know?

Karaoke versions of all kinds of songs are available for download or streaming for your trip. You can pick karaoke software which can provide the means to hear music and also see lyrics on the screen.

And your kids can explore their singing talent! It is a terrific way to wind up your soul and just relax.

13. Get Postcards From Every Major Destination

Some parents create a “gift bag” idea. Halfway through the trip, each child receives a mystery gift bag with activity books, coloring materials, Colorforms to stick on the window or travel inside.

Other parents set aside lots of small gifts and dole them out every hour or two, saving the best ones for the more difficult points in the trip.

Items could include fruit roll-ups, bubble gum, pipe cleaners, Mad Libs, maze puzzles, window markers, or – for those especially long trips, a box set that coveted TV show your child loves to watch.

Want to make the trip educational?

Questions like, “Where did we wake up yesterday?” “What was the name of the mountain range we saw?” “Which U.S. President was born in this state…” are all great ways to remember the trip and learn something.

14. Teach Geography With Maps

Make a map of where you are going, but make it simple for the kids to understand.

Give the kids a pen/marker so that they can check off each place as you reach it. It’ll make the journey seem a lot shorter for them.

Write down names of cities, towns and villages that you will pass through on the way to your destination.

Whether they’re old-school giant, foldable maps or an app from your smartphone – can be a great way to teach your children some geography and also answer the age-old “are we there yet” question.

You can map the route you plan to take and have your child tell how far away it is until the next stop. You can also chart out interesting things to view along the way or compare whether it’s better to take route A or route B to get to Grandma’s.

15. Talk About Fond Memories

Finally, with the entire family trapped in a small box with no clear escape, now’s a great time to talk. As the kids get older, there will be less time to make fond memories.

This is a great time to tell old funny stories about your grandma and grandpa or that funny thing your uncle did when he was a kid, how Mom and Dad met. Soak up that time together and make the time memorable. That’s what a family vacation is all about.

Tips On Fun Travel Activities For Kids

There are few parents or families out there that can comfortably say “we have plenty of spare time that we spend together as a family”. All too often, life gets in the way!

Traveling with kids can be both exciting and challenging. To keep your little ones entertained and make the journey more enjoyable, here are three tips for fun travel activities for kids:

Prepare You Leave – Before you embark on your journey, prepare a travel activity kit for each child. Include coloring books, puzzles, stickers, and small toys that can be easily stored in a bag or backpack. These kits will provide hours of entertainment during long car rides or plane trips.
Take Travel Games – Engage in classic travel games such as “I Spy” or the “Alphabet Game.” These games not only entertain but also encourage observation skills and build vocabulary. You can also play trivia games or create your own scavenger hunt using things you spot during the journey.
Listen To Audiobooks Or Podcasts – Download age-appropriate audiobooks or podcasts for your kids to listen to during travel. Adventure stories or educational podcasts can help pass the time and keep their minds engaged. It’s a wonderful way to escape into a different world while on the road or up in the air.

Although a road trip can be painful, it doesn’t have to be.

The secret to an amazing vacation is to plan ahead with fun travel activities for kids so your family will be secretly surprised with their fun. They can be as simple or complicated as your family can handle.

Travel activities for kids can keep your family to stay occupied and happy for hours on end.