road trip ideas for 10 year olds

Road Trip Activities for Kids Age 9-12 years

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Family Road Trip Activities For Kids

Are you planning a family road trip with kids and wondering what road trip activities for kids to bring along? Everyone is excited to go on a vacation, but taking a road trip with kids can be daunting for parents. From the dreaded “I’m so BORED” or “are we nearly there yet?” to “I’m hungry” or “I feel sick.” There is a lot to consider if you want to simplify your road trip with kids . Packing a selection of car activities for kids will help keep your children busy as you travel, relieve their boredom, and keep your sanity intact.

When traveling with kids the journey should include activities such as craft or activity sets, sticker books, workbooks, printable road trip games, toys, travel games, coloring, books (including audiobooks and podcasts), music, screen time, followed by snacks, then rinse and repeat!

In this post, we share our favorite road trip activities for kids age 9-12 . Don’t leave home without these non-mess essential travel activities for your kids.

If you have children of various ages you can read our posts about the 10 Must-Have Travel Toys for Baby , or must-have Essential Toddler Travel Toys , or the Best Travel Activities for Kids Age 4-8 . We also have a Guide to the Top 25 Travel Gifts for Kids of all ages who love to travel, as well as lots of Non-Toy Gift Ideas for Kids that are suitable for travel.

What are the Essential Car Activities for Kids?

When taking a road trip with children plan to bring a few special surprises to keep up your sleeves such as a new activity or toy your child has not seen before. And don’t forget to bring the most important item of all – road trip snacks for kids . 

Over lots of years and the many thousands of miles we have traveled with our children, there are certain items we won’t leave home without .

Essential travel activities for kids include:

• Craft or Activity Sets
• Sticker Books or Workbooks
• Printable Road Trip Games for Kids
• Travel Games
• Coloring Books and Crayons or Markers
• Books at your child’s appropriate reading level
• Audiobooks and Podcasts
• Music and Songs
• Family Road Trip Movies
• iPad, Tablet or Device with Headphones, charger, and travel case

📌 Pin it for later 📌

Non-screen Road Trip Activities for Kids

​We try our best to avoid too much screen time . We find our children cannot handle unlimited amounts of technology time and they will become angry and frustrated if we do not limit the amount of time they spend on a screen. With this being said you will find that the majority of travel activities that we recommend are non-screen options.

We prefer to start with non-screen activities first to help pass as much time as possible and then use limited technology time later in the trip as a reward. Otherwise, we find that if we allow our children to pick screen time as their first activity then it’s very difficult to break that cycle and get them off the screen without a fight!

Every family can choose what is best for you and your children, but we find the journey goes better with limited amounts of screen time. 

What are the Best Road Trip Activities for Kids Age 9-12?

Here are our favorite road trip activities for kids age 9-12 years. This includes essential no-mess car activities for kids that can easily be packed in the car or a BE Family Travel Tray . These road trip activities are great options to entertain your tween while traveling.

Taboo Kids Vs. Parents Family Game is an excellent game for kids to challenge parents. The hilarious kids vs. parents game is a fun twist on the classic Taboo game. It includes a kids’ deck and an adult deck of cards. The kids’ deck features familiar Guess words and only 2 forbidden words. Get teammates to say the Guess word on the card without saying the forbidden words. Say a forbidden word shown on the card and opponents will squeak the squeaker and the other team gets the point. Race against the one-minute timer in this fun and fast-paced family game. This is a great way to entertain the whole family on a road trip with kids.

100 PICS Riddles Travel Game

The 100 PICS Riddles Travel Game is for kids who love a challenge. Kids can entertain and bamboozle themselves and others with these family-friendly brain teasers! Can be played alone but friends and family usually want a guess too! This handy travel activity fits neatly into your pocket or bag. Ideal for playing in cars, restaurants, planes, and trains. The 100 PICS flashcard games help improve vocabulary, spelling, and memory.

Friendship Bracelet Maker Kit

The IQKidz Friendship Bracelet Maker Kit keeps the threads separated and organized, and includes the braiding loom with movable pegs to hold the bracelet in place, along with step by step directions. This arts & crafts kit makes it fun and easy to create friendship bracelets alone, with siblings, or with friends. Comes in a portable fashion storage box for storage and while on the go. Kids can get crafty and create awesome bracelets while traveling in the car or on vacation. This is one of the most creative road trip activities for kids and ideal for 8 to 12-year-olds.

Toy Storage Bag and Play Mat

The Creative QT Mini SlideAway Toy Storage Bag and Play Mat means now you can say “YES” to bringing toys along! No ordinary toy bag, the patent-pending Creative QT Mini SlideAway stops the spread of kid clutter and keeps it contained while you’re out and about. Pour toys or art supplies right onto the integrated tabletop play mat, and let little imaginations run wild. Toys slide away for storage with a quick pull of the handles and a little shake. The Mini SlideAway is perfect for building bricks, crayons, toy cars, snacks and is a great way to store car activities for kids.

Kodak Printomatic Instant Camera

Kodak Printomatic Instant Camera is a 10-megapixel, point-and-shoot that offers a combination of a powerful 10MP sensor with a wide angle f/2 lens that instantly and automatically prints hi quality color or black and white photos directly from the camera body. Just point and shoot making it the ideal all-in-one solution for capturing and sharing vibrant prints instantaneously wherever your child travels. The KODAK Printomatic Instant Camera All-in-Bundle is available with Zink Paper, Deluxe Case, Photo Album, 7 Unique Sticker Sets, Markers, Scissors, Border Stickers and so much more. This creative kit provides exciting road trip activities for kids who love to travel and is another artistic way for kids to document their family adventures.

Polaroid Originals OneStep

Polaroid Originals OneStep 2 VF – Summer Blue is a blast from the past! It will bring back lots of happy childhood memories as you reminisce and remember the fun you had with this as a child. It is easy to use: just point and shoot. Kids can compose their shot, press the red button and magic will appear! An instant print camera is a great way for kids to capture their vacation memories. You child can on a family road trip documenting their adventures in a Travel Journal for Kids .

Popular Activity Books for Kids

Road Trip Activity Books for Kids are a great way to entertain your tween as you travel. Here are some of the most popular travel activity book options.

Leather Travel Journal Daily Notebook

This Leather Travel Journal Daily Notebook is 6.3″ x 9.3″ so it works perfectly for your older child as a leather travel journal and diary, sketchbook, photo album, daily notepad, and so on. A handmade leather journal is a special keepsake for your child’s thoughts, plans, and ideas, durable for travel or outdoor adventure, and good for storage. The set includes a handmade leather journal, bookmark, and high-grade kraft packing, and is the perfect size suitable for most bags to take it anywhere. This is another road trip activity to help occupy your child’s time in the car as you travel.

Sudoku for Kids

Sudoku for Kids for Kids 8-12 years is a book that contains 200 sudokus with solutions. This helps kids to improve their memory and logic while having fun and helping to pass the time on a family road trip.

All You Need Is a Pencil

When headed on vacation All You Need is a Pencil – The Stuck in a Car, Plane, or Train Activity Book . Unfortunately, it usually begins with the family stuck in the car. And the kids yelling “I’m bored”. Fortunately, with these quizzes, puzzles, games, and doodles, the fun doesn’t have to wait, even if you do. And you can do them anywhere—no electricity needed—with just a pencil. Fill in travel quotes, writing in the name of anyone who says one of the phrases on the page—like “I have to go to the bathroom” or “I think we’re lost.” Play gomoku, a two-person game that’s similar to tic-tac-toe. Plan the ultimate vacation—a week anywhere in the world. Draw creepy critters, try tongue-tripping-twisters, and unscramble anagrams. It’s all so entertaining that no one will ask the dreaded question: Are we there yet?

Would You Rather for Kids!

• Would you rather  Pet a baby lion  or  Pet a baby elephant
• Or would you rather  Eat Dinner in a hot air balloon  or  Eat breakfast inside a castle
• Would you rather Be friends with Spiderman or  Be friends with Batman
• Would you rather  Have a swimming pool  or  Have a big trampoline
• And much, much more.

This is the perfect book for travel games for kids in your car while on long car rides! Would you rather books for kids are the best form of entertainment so you can keep your children occupied while they have fun pondering the silly and fun questions to themselves! Inside you will find 200 ‘Would You Rather’ questions ready to go, some of them include…

Maze Activity Book for Kids 8-12

Fun and Challenging Mazes for Kids 8-12: An Amazing Maze Activity Book for Kids is packed with mazes to entertain, stimulate, and challenge your kids. Jumpstart your child’s learning with this maze activity book for kids 8-12. These mazes can help improve fine motor skills, problem-solving skills, and visual perceptual skills. Various types, themes, and shapes ensure your child won’t get bored which makes these the perfect road trip activities for kids. This big book of mazes includes mazes in a variety of difficulty levels from simpler to more advanced. This maze book is educational, entertaining, and sure to get kids thinking!

Survive Your Road Trip With These Activities For Kids

As tempting as it may be to push through and keep driving to your destination, it is important to take regular breaks . Every few hours throughout the road trip allow your children (and you) the opportunity to stretch, move around, and visit the bathroom. Make sure stops have plenty of space for kids to run around for 20 minutes or more before getting back in the car.

Plan your family road trip to include some attractions along your route. You can use these as incentives to help your kids ride just a little bit longer. Fun pitstops that kids enjoy include:

• Parks and Playgrounds
• Picnic spots
• Walkable downtowns
• National Parks
• Historical sites
• Scenic overlooks

The more you travel with children the easier it will become. Being prepared with these road trip activities for kids will give you the confidence to adventure in the car while making the journey more bearable for you and your children.

And remember, let’s BE Family so you can enjoy the journey.

Until next time, 💖 Ruth

For more about family travel check out these posts: What Are The Best Family Road Trip Movies? Audiobooks For Family Road Trips Simplify A Road Trip With Kids The Best Travel Activities For Kids Age 4-8

BE Family Products Inc., or (BE Family Travel) participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Using any of the links on this website does NOT cost you anything but does help us continue to create content on this blog. Thank you so much for your support and for partnering with us. Let’s BE Family.

Ruth Hutchins grew up in England and now lives in North Carolina with her husband, Doug, and their two young daughters. They always loved to travel, but once having children everything changed because family travel is more complicated. Traveling with a baby may feel overwhelming to new parents. Travel with a toddler can really test your patience, and traveling with kids can lead to utter chaos. However, travel with your little ones doesn’t have to be that stressful or exhausting. On the BE Family Travel blog Ruth shares her parenting wins, and even epic failures about traveling with kids. She provides resources to help you feel empowered to plan a family vacation and travel with your children.

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35 hacks for road trips with kids.

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclaimer .

In today’s post: 35 hacks for road trips with kids! How to prepare, how to stay organized, and how to keep kids occupied, plus the best snack ideas and ways to encourage good behavior in the car.

Best Road Trip Ideas for Kids

Once again, it’s road trip season. Honestly, I used to think people who packed up a bunch of kids and drove for fifteen hours to a faraway destination were completely, certifiably insane. There are times when fifteen minutes in the car with kids who won’t stop bugging each other is almost more than I can handle. However, I’ve realized that with the right preparation, family road trips can be rather less miserable than expected – maybe even fun.

All sorts of smart people have posted their favorite tips for road trips with kids online, and I’ve sorted through to find the best ones (and thrown in a few of my own). From preparing the car and organizing your supplies to packing snacks and prepping activities, this post has you covered. You’ll find links to plenty of ideas to make your road trip with kids a little less horrible and a lot more fun.

Road trip with kids: Prep + Get Organized

Road trip with kids: How to keep kids occupied

This is the most important part, right? I’m totally ok with kids using electronics on road trips, but mine do tend to turn into monsters if they stay plugged in for 20 hours straight, so I try to make sure they take breaks from video games and movies. Here are some great non-electronic activities for road trips with kids:

Road Trip Kit Ideas

Road Trip Printables

Best Activity Toys for Road Trips

Road Trip Snack ideas

Ways to promote good behavior

If there’s anything out there that will convince my kids not to poke each other while we’re on a road trip, I’m willing to give it a try!

Meet Autumn

Hello there! I’m a busy mom of five who loves to make things. Crafts, recipes, sewing, holiday projects: I’ve tried them all, and you can too! I love EASY projects anyone can make.

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Reader Interactions

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Have a question? Submit your question or comment below.

Marcie says

Posted on 7/7/23 at 8:50 pm

Your kids can use homage carbucks to buy extra goodie bags and some sweets as well.❤️❤️❤️thank you

Heather says

Posted on 1/5/24 at 8:45 pm

I’m impressed with this thorough list of things to do in the car. We do a lot of traveling also. Thanks!!

Victoria says

Posted on 6/8/23 at 8:00 pm

These are awesome tips thank you !

Margot says

Posted on 5/25/22 at 12:29 pm

We always did the license game map – but without the names. My young adult kids recently discussed how easy geography was for them and how amazed they were that their classmates didn’t know where some places were. We also always packed a cooler, a picnic basket and a frisbee and/or balls and stopped at rest stops allowing the kids about 1/2 hour of time to expend energy. My kids grew up loving road trips!

Tracey Jones says

Posted on 4/2/19 at 5:31 am

Great blog! I was searching some good stuff regarding road trip with my naughty toddlers and to handle them. Wondering what things should get in the bags while having a road trip. Well Thanks much for sharing this amazing at least for me <3

Leilani Gamboa says

Posted on 12/2/18 at 4:16 am

Thanks for these ideas! I love all and planning to do it too

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The Family Vacation Guide

The Best Road Trip Activities for Kids to Keep the Whole Family Entertained

posted by James Brockbank on November 30, 2021 // last updated on November 30, 2021

Traveling by car with kids can be both wildly entertaining and extremely challenging. Fits and tantrums can be inevitable, but keeping your kiddos preoccupied helps the travel time go by smoothly. 

Road trips are a wonderful way for families to spend a lot of time together – hours and hours of nonstop time together, to be exact – and creating some very memorable moments. 

And the best road trips are ones where the entire family is happy. 

So we’ve put together our best road trip activities for kids to keep the whole family entertained. There’s a little bit of something for everyone ranging from quiet time to games for the whole family. 

Why not also check out our guide to the best family road trips in the US ?

How to Prepare to Travel with Kids

Portable dvd player, portable gaming device, mix-tape style playlist, carpool karaoke, pick a podcast, coloring books, read a book, sketchbook and pencils, crossword and word search puzzle books, seek and find books, create an animation, cookie sheet and magnets, crayons and blank paper, paint by sticker activity book, small bag of favorite toys, magnetic drawing board, road trip bingo, license plate game, monster drawing game, magnetic game boards, dry erase board and markers, countdown goodie-bags, washable window markers, laminated map and dry erase markers, road trip story starters, make a roadtrip family movie.

Road tripping with kids is not the same as driving an hour to visit family for the holidays. So being well prepared is essential. 

Fun and activities are important, but safety and comfort are at the forefront of any parent’s thoughts. 

Be sure to have an emergency kit prepared and include a first aid kit, water and a blanket. A quick Google search will give you an idea of what exactly you need for this. 

Putting cleaning wipes, diapers, snacks and blankets in close proximity will eliminate the hassle of having to stop whenever any of these items are needed. 

It also may seem obvious, but telling your kids how long the trip will be will help mentally prepare them for the amount of time they’ll be spending in the car. 

Now that we’ve touched on the essentials, here’s some activities to keep your family entertained while road tripping. 

Activities with Electronics

Time without electronics is nice, but road trips can be exhausting enough on their own without feeling the need to actively entertain the whole family for every minute of it.

So here’s a list of some electronics to keep handy so you can take a beat and relax.

A road trip is the perfect time to get into an audiobook. There is something cathartic about listening to a story while watching the scenery outside the car window. 

It’s also great for those who are prone to get carsick because, unlike watching a movie, listening to an audio book doesn’t require you to look at a screen. 

This can also be a great opportunity to learn something new! Audiobooks aren’t just for fiction stories, there’s a plethora of non-fiction books available too. 

If you’ve been wanting to learn a different language, this would be a great opportunity to learn as a family.

Having a few movies handy for the kids to kick their feet up, relax, and enjoy is a must. Navigating a long trip can get overwhelming at times, and this invites a solid 90 minutes of uninterrupted peace. 

Just make sure you have a yak bucket handy if you have any little ones with a weak constitution. 

Another great source of entertainment. Keeping a portable gaming device, like a Nintendo 3DS, Switch, or PSP charged up and ready to play is always a good idea. 

Even having a mobile phone or tablet handy, provided you’re not using it as a GPS, is also great for antsy kids and adults alike. Nothing makes time fly by faster than getting into a great game!

Getting into the same music you’re kids love is such a great way to bond. A road trip is the perfect time to make a playlist classic mix-tape style.

Have everyone pick 5 favorite songs to add to the playlist and don’t skip any songs! It’s fun to hear how the different styles change from song to song. You can even make a guessing game out of it and try to figure out who picked which song.

Have you ever seen the segment Carpool Karaoke on The Late Late Show with James Corden? Although there is an official Carpool Karaoke game, you can DIY this genius idea!

All you have to do is look up your favorite songs on Youtube and add “karaoke version” or “instrumental” version to get the music without the lyrics and connect your phone via USB or bluetooth to your car speakers. 

Viola! Now you can hold your own Carpool Karaoke party road trip style!

There isn’t one topic on this planet that doesn’t have at least ten podcasts covering it in detail. Podcasts have exploded in popularity over the past few years and for good reason. 

Pick the right one and you’ll be entertained for hours on end. 

You might want to pick one or two podcasts ahead of time so you don’t end up down the browsing rabbit hole during your road trip. 

Quiet Activities for Individuals

Siblings don’t always want to interact with one another, so it’s a good idea to keep a handful of individual activities handy. Especially if you’re a parent who likes to limit screen time, here’s a few ideas to keep your kids busy.

Classic entertainment for all ages. Nowadays you can find all sorts of coloring books designed for ages two to one hundred year olds. They can be simple cartoons to insanely detailed to fit your needs. 

And if you want to be super creative and think out of the box, you can put your own spin on this activity by altering the pictures to make your own work of art.

All you need to achieve this is some white out and a pen or marker. White out some of the lines and draw your own before you color the picture in. You can alter facial features, hand gestures, clothing, and anything you can think of. Let your imagination run wild! 

Creating a road trip journal is a good way to document the events. And what makes this even more precious is that it’s from the perspective of your kids. Reading about events from your child’s point of view is not only entertaining but a way to get a glimpse into their heads. 

Adding some illustrations to some of the more comical or memorable moments adds an extra dash of creativity to it as well. 

You can find those classic looking composition notebooks for just a dollar at your local dollar tree. Dedicate an entire notebook for the whole trip. You can even pass it around and have each family member have their own entries. 

It’s always a good idea to encourage your kids to read. Nothing ignites the imagination quite like getting immersed in a good book. 

The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter and A Series of Unfortunate Events are a few favorites that really pull you into imaginary worlds. 

You can even pair this up with an audiobook so if their eyes get tired, or if they get carsick, they can pick up where they left off on audio.

Drawing is another way to get some creativity going. Your kids can draw straight out of their imagination or use it as another way to document their experiences.

You can use interesting landmarks you see as a creative prompt. Or they can create their own comic strips to illustrate a funny moment in the trip. 

The kids can also play games like tic-tac-toe or hangman. Or even make a travel version of Pictionary. Or draw some paper puppets and put on a puppet show. 

The possibilities are endless. 

Crossword and word search puzzles are really the best way to zone out. If you have a little one who is anxious, try giving them a word search puzzle to keep their mind busy.

If you have a thrill seeker in the family, create contests to see who can finish a puzzle first. Or time them to test how fast they can finish a puzzle.

You can find a variety of puzzle books at any dollar store.

Similar to a puzzle book, Seek and Find books involve finding certain objects within a picture. 

Some of the puzzles you’ll find in these books are spotting the differences between two photos or looking for hidden clues in one picture. 

Perplexus is a very hands-on puzzle. It’s a 3D puzzle in a transparent globe and you have to guide a small ball through the puzzle maze. It’s similar to the traditional flat surface mazes with the small metal ball. 

Many people find this particular puzzle very addicting and ensure it will keep your kids busy for long periods of time. 

There are a variety of Perplexus puzzles ranging from Harry Potter to Star Wars and more.

Creating an original cartoon is every creative kid’s dream. It’s a lot easier than it sounds and loads of fun. Have you ever seen any of those “Draw My Life” videos on Youtube? Taking that same concept, your kids can use a dry erase board to create a stop-motion like animation. 

Here’s a short how-to on how to create your own animation:

• Draw a guide where you’ll line up the camera edges to take images so they are consistent in every frame. 
• Draw your initial scene. This can be simple stick figures or as complex a scene as you want. 
• Using a phone camera, snap a picture. Line the top and bottom of the camera with your guide lines.
• Erase areas of the drawing you want to move and re-draw the image in the new position. 
• Snap another image. 
• Continue to do this until your animation is complete.
• Download a stop motion app to edit your images into a moving picture. 
• Voila! You’ve created an animation!

Make animations based on your road trip experiences!

Activities for Toddlers

The real secret to a pleasant road trip is keeping the toddlers happy. And although they love watching Cocomelon and can pretty much exist exclusively in that world, bringing them back to ours with some hands-on activities is always a good idea.

Here’s a few simple yet toddler-addictive mess free activities for your road trip. Some of these are just genius!

Using a cookie sheet as a magnetic board is simply genius! Toddlers love magnets. They are easy to grab and stick to things. What’s not to love?

Here’s a few different ideas for using a cookie sheet for a magnetic board:

• You can use simple alphabet magnets to keep your toddler happy, 
• or you can go all out and create little magnetic characters and glue them to a magnetic sheet. All you have to do is cut them out once they’re glued.
• You can print out photos of characters and do the same thing. Just glue them to a magnetic sheet and cut them out.

Still as relevant as it was in the 90’s, Bop It! still provides loads of fun for any age. In case you’re unfamiliar with how this game works, it gives you a command to either bop it, twist it or pull it to test your reflexes.

It also helps kids pay attention and follow direction, but it’s simple enough for a toddler without being over stimulating.

Hold a contest to see who can Bop It! the longest.

A tried and true activity beloved by all tiny humans. Toddlers love to scribble and draw. Give them some blank paper and a few colors and you will have artwork to cover your fridge for years and then some!

And bonus points if they have older siblings. Drawing an excellent teaching and collaboration opportunity. Have one sibling start off by drawing a face and then pass on the drawing to the younger sibling. 

You can even start with different shapes and see what masterpiece they can make out of a single shape. 

Paint with paint is a genius idea when you’re riding in a car. These Paint by Sticker books have solid color stickers of different shapes to create a mosaic-like picture. Your toddler will get to “paint” without the mess!

And they get to play with stickers, which is always a hit!

In the midst of thinking of new activities to try out for your road trip, don’t forget the good old fashioned toy bag.

Just grab a handful of your toddlers favorite toys and store them in a small bag. Overstimulation from gadgets and visuals and electronics can quickly cause a little mind to feel anxious and scared. Anxious and scared toddlers tend to cry a lot so give them some of their favorite toys and leave them be for a while. Works like a charm.

Don’t want to tote around a bunch of paper and crayons? No problem! Get one of these Magnetic Drawing Boards and they can enjoy creating art without paper clutter piling up. 

Let’s face it, having just a few drawings to hang on the fridge is a real treat. However, for a road trip, sometimes less is more.

These magnetic drawing boards are perfect for kids ages two through seven. 

Activities for the Whole Family

It’s not a real road trip until you squeeze in some of that classic family fun. Now this is what creates those beautiful memories, so get out your camera and get ready to have a blast!

Here’s a list of some of the funnest games you can take on the road.

A quick Google search for travel bingo should provide you with some free boards to print off. All you need is magnetic tiles and a cookie sheet to make this bingo game car friendly. 

Instead of someone calling out numbers, look for the images outside your window.

Come up with some cool prizes for the bingo winner, like a goodie bag or some candy. 

License Plate Game is a classic, but you can add your own twist or make it a contest. License Plate Game is one of those games you can play continuously throughout the road trip, because I’m sure it would take at least that long to collect as close to all fifty states as possible.

Here’s a could different ideas to keep track of the license plates you find:

• Print a blank map of all fifty states and color in the states of the license plates you see. Coloring in a blank map also tests your knowledge of each state’s location.
• You can also print off labels of each state’s name and put them on a magnetic sheet. Once you cut out all the labels, stick them in a small tin can like an Altoid can. For each plate you come across, transfer the corresponding label to the top lid of the can and whoever has the most transferred wins!

It doesn’t even need to be a monster, you can use any type of creature in this drawing game.  The describer needs to be someone who isn’t driving, for safety reasons. 

Here’s how you play: 

One person looks at an image of a cartoon monster and describes what they see to the kids drawing. The kids draw what’s described and when they’re done, see how the drawings compare to the image. Take turns who picks and describes a monster while the others draw.

You can kick this one up a notch by cutting out the drawings of the monsters and pasting them in a scene together on one single piece of paper. 

If your family is a fan of playing board games, this is perfect for you. 

Gamie Magnetic Board Game Set comes with twelve classic board games including Tic-tac-toe, checkers, chinese checkers, backgammon, and chutes and ladders.

These board games are mini versions of the full size games so they are great for traveling. And they are designed to withstand a lot of shaking and jolting from a car ride. All the game pieces are magnetic so you don’t have to worry about losing your place or pieces falling on the floor. 

There are so many possibilities for entertainment when you have a dry erase board and markers. 

You can play games like Hangman, Wheel of Fortune, and tic-tac-toe. You can also make a travel version of drawing games like Pictionary. 

The dollar tree sells small dry erase boards for just a dollar, so if you get one for each person, you can play a word association game like Scattergories. 

No matter what age you are, this game never ceases to be hilarious. Have one person hold the mad lib and say what kind of word they need to fill it in. For example, if they need a noun, adjective or verb. 

When you or your kids fill out the entire mad lib, read the story to find out how ridiculous and funny it turned out. 

This is something you’ll need to print before you travel. Printable Mad Libs can be found all over the internet. If you type in a Google search “travel mad libs,” you can find a bunch of free printables in this specific category.

Goodie bags don’t have to be anything extravagant. You can create simple goodie bags with small toys or treats.

The idea with this kind of goodie bag, is that you award your kids with each destination milestone. This helps them countdown how many milestones are left before you reach your destination.

When you are preparing your goodie bags before your road trip, look at a map of your journey ahead to determine how many goodie bag stops you want to create and how far apart they are. For example, for a six hour journey, you could make three per child. Space out the destinations so they’d get a bag every two hours. 

Giving a child the opportunity to write on something that’s usually forbidden is gold! And as long as it doesn’t hinder the visibility of the driver, even better. 

You can find washable window markers at any local craft store. They usually come in packs of eight or twenty-four in a variety of colors. Window markers wash off easily with soap and water or glass cleaner.

Your kids can have a blast doodling on the windows, or writing messages. They can use the markers to count how many miles are left in the trip. Or you can take any of the drawing games discussed in this article and apply it to the windows!

Have ant-sy kids who like to know how far you’ve gone, and more importantly, if you’re there yet? This is something you’re going to need for your trip.

Before you start your road trip, print out a map of your journey. This just needs to be a map of the area you’re driving, not the whole country like in some other activities discussed in this article. 

Show them the route you’re taking for your trip. With their dry erase markers, they can trace the road on their map as you travel. They can draw “x’s” at the places you stop and add any other doodles to the map. Have them draw their own legend. 

This will help your kids keep track of the trip so they don’t ask that never ending cycle of “are we there yet?”

You’re welcome.

If you find traveling with your family comes with a lot of silence or arguing, using story starters is something to get a light hearted conversation going. 

You can find some road trip story starters at somewhatsimple.com under their travel section. 

If you’re feeling extra ambitious, here’s something else you can do with this idea:

• Record the story. 
• Remember the animation idea a while back? Use this audio to animate your story!

Or you can just save the audio file to listen to later. Either way this is something to treasure for years to come. 

We’ve gone through thirty different road trip activity ideas! Why not document your experiences and make a family movie? Record where you visit, playing games together, telling stories and, yes, even the silly arguments that we all know is inevitable. 

All you need is a phone or tablet and a video editing app. Most video editing apps are free or have free versions. 

The most important thing to remember is to have fun with it, flaws and all. This will be something to look back on when your kids are grown up and you’ll be so happy you recorded this experience. 

Being well prepared makes a huge difference in your overall road trip experience. Whether you’re looking for some quiet time or playing a game as a family, this list is sure to keep you entertained for hours on end. 

More about our TFVG Author

James Brockbank

A seasoned traveller, Dad, and avid sports tourist, James foundered The Family Vacation Guide to share his expert vacation experiences- especially when it comes to being a travelling family man.

Featured in Travel articles such as Travel + Leisure, TripSavvy and SFGate, you know you're reading some of the best vacation tips online.

48 of the Best Road Trip Destinations in the U.S. for Families

There's a little something for everyone in these top spots across the country.

Seattle, Washington

Where to Visit: Pike Place Market

Grab a bite to eat at Pike Place Market and then make your way to the famous "Gum Wall" —the one (and only!) place you can encourage your kids to leave their chewing gum. Then head to the Seattle Great Wheel for the best views of the city, the Seattle Aquarium to spend the day with some new fish friends, or the Museum of Flight where kids 10 and oler can test their flying skills through "The Pilot Experience."

Crater Lake, Oregon

Where to Visit: Crater Lake National Park

Get ready to hear plenty of "oohs" and "aahs!" Trust us, everyone in the family will become wide-eyed when they see Oregon's stunning Crater Lake, which was formed by a now caved-in volcano. Within the national park, your family can enjoy camping, hiking, bike trails, water sports, fishing, and more activities.Your clan can also check out several nearby national forests while you're in the area, including Umpqua National Forest , Deschutes National Forest , and Wallowa-Winema National Forest .

Reno, Nevada

Where to Visit: National Automobile Museum

Skip Las Vegas, and head to this family-friendly destination instead. Gearheads will love Reno's National Automobile Museum, which is home to 200+ vintage and modern vehicles.

If cars aren't your thing, spend the day honing your bowling skills at the National Bowling Stadium . And just an hour away, you'll find scenic Lake Tahoe , which is the perfect place to stretch and take in some fresh air on your way to the next stop.

Anaheim, California

Where to Visit: Disneyland

Just past Los Angeles, you'll find Anaheim, home of Disneyland . While the amusement park will give your family plenty of things to do and see, you can also enjoy a baseball game at the Angel Stadium or a concert at Honda Center .

Grand Canyon Village, Arizona

Where to Visit: The Grand Canyon

You simply can't take a cross-country road trip without stopping at the Grand Canyon ! If you only have time to make one quick stop there, make it Yavapai Point , which offers sweeping views of the entire canyon. But if you can spare a couple of days on your journey, make the drive down south to Kaibab National Forest , which offers even more vistas.

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Where to Visit: Santa Fe Children’s Museum

Known for its unique architectural style and look, this capital city is full of interesting structures, homes, and buildings. Once you've seen your fair share of adobe architecture, head to the Santa Fe Children's Museum , which features please-touch exhibitions for youngsters. Budding artists may also enjoy the Georgia O'Keeffe museum and the kid-friendly Museum of International Folk Art .

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Where to Visit: National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum

Little ones can try their hand at roping and barrel races for free through the museum's "Little Buckaroos Round-Up" on Saturdays. After you've learned all about cowboys, the wild west, rodeos, and Native American culture, make your way to western-themed amusement park Frontier City for more fun.

Arlington, Texas

Where to Visit: Six Flags Over Texas

On this road trip, you'll make your way from Fort Worth to Dallas through Arlington, Texas, home to Six Flags and Six Flags Hurricane Harbor . While you're there, you can also watch a football game at the Cowboy's AT&T Stadium or take in a baseball game at the Ranger's Globe Life Park .

Murfreesboro, Arkansas

Where to Visit: Crater of Diamonds State Park

Try your hand at diamond digging at this one-of-a-kind park. It's the only diamond mine in the world that's open to the public, and just last year, a teenager found a 7.44-carat rock—the largest to ever be found at the park!

Memphis, Tennessee

Where to Visit: Graceland

Pay tribute to the king at Graceland , where you can tour the star's old stomping grounds and see an array of shows. Once you've eaten Elvis' favorite fried peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich at Gladys' Diner , give your kids the history lesson of a lifetime by heading over to the National Civil Rights Museum . End the day eating barbecue on Beale Street .

Cave City, Kentucky

Where to Visit: Dinosaur World

Between stopping to see the stunning rolling hills and pastures in this pretty state, spend some time learning all about the creatures that used to walk the planet at Dinosaur World , and then make the short-drive to Mammoth Cave National Park to see enormous caverns.

Bridgeport, Alabama

Where to Visit: Russell Cave National Monument

In this national park, you'll have access to one of the oldest settlements in the U.S., which was inhabited by Native Americans more than 10,000 years ago. History buffs will love to see the prehistoric artifacts found in the caves while animal lovers will enjoy seeing the hundreds of types of birds on site. And just a few miles away, you'll find the Bridgeport Railroad Depot Museum , where kids can see vintage train and railroad gear.

Atlanta, Georgia

Where to Visit: Georgia Aquarium

Make friends with the fish at the impressive Georgia Aquarium where your kiddos can see all kinds of marine life (including dolphins and penguins!). Before you leave the southern city, you may also want to check out the nearby World of Coca-Cola and the Legoland Discovery Center .

Ocean Springs, Mississippi

Where to Visit: Gulf Islands National Seashore

Get ready for a beach day when you arrive in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Here, spend the day kayaking and camping in the backcountry.

New Orleans, Louisiana

Where to Visit: Café Du Monde and French Quarter

Indulge aspiring little musicians in the sounds of this city with a day spent in the French Quarter , where bands perform live on most street corners. Load up on yummy beignets at Café Du Monde and then walk around the neighborhood to see the historic buildings.

Orlando, Florida

Where to Visit: Disney World

Treat the family to another day at Disney and visit one (or all!) of the nine parks, including Magic Kingdom , Epcot , and Animal Kingdom . And if you simply can't get enough amusement park fun, head to Universal Studios and visit Hogwarts at Harry Potter World or fly with superman at Marvel Super Hero Island .

Mount Pleasant, South Carolina

Where to Visit: Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum

Just across the river from historic Charleston, you'll find some of America's most impressive ships and aircraft carriers. Plus, your family can even camp and stay overnight on the historic USS Yorktown. And with so many gorgeous beaches just a few miles away, you'll probably want to spend a few days in the area.

Charlotte, North Carolina

Where to Visit: NASCAR Hall of Fame

On your journey, be sure to make a pitstop at this North Carolina Institution. Grownup gearheads will love seeing the historic cars while kiddos will have a blast at the Disney and Pixar Cars 3 Exhibit. Afterwards, make your way to Discovery Place and watch an IMAX movie together.

Cass, West Virginia

Where to Visit: Cass Scenic Railroad State Park

Take your youngsters on the train trip of a lifetime at this West Virginia State Park. Ride historic steam-driven trains while taking in stunning sights of the Appalachian Mountains. While you're there, you can also spend the day biking, fishing, hiking, or picnicking on the grounds.

Williamsburg, Virginia

Where to Visit: Colonial Williamsburg

Kids will be so much more interested in American history when they can see it all reenacted right in front of them. Plan to spend two days here—the first in historic Williamsburg, the second at the Busch Gardens amusement park .

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20 Great Road Trip Activities and Printables for Kids

Sustainability has become an important concept in our society. Now most Americans at a young age are taught to “reduce, reuse, and recycle.” With this in mind, we can make significant headway toward preserving our planet.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re traveling with grade-schoolers, tweens, or older kids, and you don’t have to rely on iPads and audiobooks. Combine a few everyday items with a little ingenuity into your packing list, and you can provide your family with their own fun games and travel activities.

And if you’ve got a car- or truck-obsessed kid, you can stock up on these fun, printable road trip games and activities to keep them entertained on your next road trip.

Road Trip Activities for 3- to 5-Year-Olds

Different activities work better for different kids and age groups. For preschoolers in the 3-5 age range , arts and crafts will tap into their creativity and help them learn motor skills.

Music can be fun, too. How many rounds of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” have you sung during a road trip?

And pre-K and kindergarten kids are doing more academic learning these days, like sounding out words, counting, and simple math, so you’ve got more options than ever.

1. Magnets and Cookie Sheet

A cookie sheet is an easy DIY magnetic backdrop for numbers, shapes, and letters. Your kids can arrange them any way they want, and they’ll stay put!

Give kids simple math, spelling, or counting challenges. Ask them to see what kind of geometric patterns they can make — or just free them up to get creative and have fun with the magnets on their own.

2. Vehicle Matching Game

A road trip is a perfect occasion for kids to see lots of vehicles and learn what they’re called. With the free printable for this vehicle matching game, kids draw lines from each word to the picture of the vehicle that matches it.

Your little one stays entertained while they learn to recognize and name the vehicles they might see on the road.

3. Sticker Books

Sticker books allow young kids to be part of the story. Even if they’re not old enough to write yet, they can use the stickers to help them tap into their creative side. Stickers that can be used and reused are a special bonus, expanding the hours of fun on any family vacation.

4. Counting Cars

Our Counting Cars printables are a great way to teach your kids counting skills and naming the various kinds of vehicles they’ll see on a long car ride. Each page holds several cards, with each card showing a traceable numeral and a picture of that many trucks, cars, buses, or other vehicles.

By tracing the numeral on each card, your kids get to practice writing numbers and counting. And afterward, they can use them as flashcards or playing cards, with different suits: 4 of Cars, 6 of Trucks, 9 of Fire Engines, and so forth.

5. Felt Boards

Children can use a portable felt board to tell stories with pieces of felt, or learn how to arrange different sizes, colors and shapes in creative ways.

The soft pieces have the advantage of not having any rough edges. And felt sticks together, so the pieces hold to the board easily during playtime, then can be collected in a neat and handy storage bag when the play is done.

6. Trace the Truck

Tracing can be the first step toward the skill of free drawing. The movement lays a foundation for the fine motor skills involved in drawing and handwriting. Learning to copy from simple outlines helps children develop an eye toward establishing their own creative approach later.

And here’s a bonus: Once your child has traced the drawings, they can use the designs as coloring book pages to keep the fun going!

7. Magnetic Jigsaw Puzzles

You can create magnetic jigsaw puzzles by sticking an adhesive magnetic dot to the back of puzzle pieces. Then they’ll stick to a cookie sheet, and your kids can move them around at will. They can put puzzles together in the car without worrying about them getting jostled around by bumps in the road or losing pieces.

8. Vehicle Vacation Maze

Here’s a great way to introduce younger children to the concept of maps: The vehicle vacation maze is a winding road that passes alongside landmarks like buildings, lakes, and trees. They can encounter road construction zones, stop signs, and other typical road trip sights, too.

Your kids can draw their way down the road on the paper to guide their vehicle to its vacation spot. Simultaneously, they’ll see how charting a course goes along with an actual journey, and how both can be a lot of fun.

Besides navigating the simple maze (and learning how different choices can result in progress or dead ends and backtracking), kids can learn to distinguish between different sights along the way. Hotels, gas stations, restaurants, storefronts, and homes become familiar both on the map and in real life when they appear on the roadside.

9. Velcro Popsicle Sticks

All kids love popsicles, but you can use the sticks for more than just eating. Wash them off (or just buy them fresh at a dollar store!) and attach Velcro to them so your kids can attach them and create different shapes. You can store your Velcro popsicle sticks in a zipper bag or box to keep them together.

10. Auto Alphabet

What letter of the alphabet does the word “car” begin with? How about “airplane” or “helicopter”? The Auto Alphabet game can help teach your children about word meanings, letters, and sounds. Each card contains a picture of a vehicle, the word for that vehicle, and the letter that begins the word.

Your children can trace the letters on each card, which can help not only their fine motor skills but also their memory and word association. Kids will learn that A is for ambulance, B is for bus, C is for car, D is for dirt bike, etc. It’s fun to see a vehicle for every letter in the alphabet!

11. Wikki Sticks

You may not have heard of Wikki Stix , but they can be a great road trip activity for kids. These are made of brightly colored yarn attached to a flexible stick with a touch of nontoxic wax.

It’s a simple combination that allows children to create shapes from flowers to butterflies to animals! They’re perfectly safe and infinitely changeable, which makes them great for unleashing children’s creativity and imaginations.

Road Trip Activities for 6-10-Year-Olds

Kids who are a little older will need activities a little more advanced and involved to keep them engaged. Imagination in this age group is tempered by the beginnings of logical thinking and questioning, and developing a greater ability to think of things in sequence.

They’re also learning greater problem-solving skills, so the games and activities you pick for school-age kids should be appropriate for their increased skill levels, focus, and attention span. Here are some travel tips and road trip ideas for them.

12. Lacing Cards

Our printable Lacing Cards allow kids to practice craft and motor skills — cutting, threading a needle, and sewing. They embellish different images with yarn by lacing it through the front and back of the card using the guide dots placed along the edges of the pattern.

Parents will need to help prepare this activity, which requires glue, scissors, and a large plastic needle to thread the yarn. It might be a good idea to have mom or dad sit in the back seat to help (or, even better, prepare this activity before the trip, at a rest stop, or during an overnight stay).

Parents can glue the printable to a file folder or thick cardstock paper. Kids can cut out the shapes with safety scissors. With some help, kids can thread the plastic needle with yarn and poke it through the cardstock, lacing the yarn around the edges of the truck and bulldozer.

13. Mad Libs

Mad Libs is one of those classic travel games that’s a longtime tradition on road trips. There are no moving pieces. All you need is the book, a pencil, and two or more people to play. They’re a great way to teach parts of speech and encourage creative thinking.

In a Mad Lib book , one person reads the “story” and prompts the others to fill in the blanks with a type of word — noun, verb, adjective, or adverb — without knowing what the words around them say. The resulting story gets crazy once the words are all filled in, and the bizarre sentences leave everyone in the car laughing.

14. Road Trip Bingo

On the road, kids can see a lot of things, if they look closely enough — cars and trucks, of course, but also cows, horses, buildings, trees, fire trucks, signs, highway cones, etc.

Another longtime favorite among road trip games, Road Trip Bingo can keep kids occupied with the scenery for long stretches. Our printable adapts it to be played from the car seat.

It’s like a road trip scavenger hunt: Kids call out the things they see and circle each one on their card. When they get five in a row, they can yell BINGO!

15. Coloring Books

You’re probably familiar with coloring books from school classrooms, where students use crayons to color inside the lines. Cars can get hot, though, especially during summer (when most families take their vacations). You don’t want crayons to melt in the car — especially if they’re left there by mistake — so colored pencils are the better alternative.

Coloring is another way to encourage creativity , as well as the fine motor precision necessary to stay inside the lines. But precision isn’t necessary on a family road trip, just as long as your kids are engaged and having fun.

16. Paper Bag Puppets

A car trip is more fun when you invite an imaginary friend along. And would you rather just imagine one — or make one come to life? Paper bags can be transformed into all kinds of puppets , from kangaroos to mice, from lions to owls.

Get creative with construction paper cutouts and glue sticks (again, parents might need to help). A long road trip can fly by when you’re in good company.

Road Trip Activities for 11-13-Year-Olds

Children ages 11-13 can tackle more complex logical problems and hypothetical situations. Older kids are more capable of engaging in abstract thinking and scientific exercises, which are introduced in school around this time.

Here are some car games, fun things to do, and road trip tips for this older age group.

17. I Spy Road Signs

I Spy Road Signs is a variation on Road Trip Bingo, with more specific objects to look out for. Begin by downloading our printable covered with pictures of various road signs. Each time your child spots a new kind of sign, they can circle it or draw a checkmark next to it.

Older kids can spice it up by competing to be the first person to spot a certain kind of sign, or to spot the most of a certain sign. At the end of the trip, they can count up the number of circles or checks to tally how many signs they spied.

18. Maps and Atlases

Most kids in this age group already know how to use an electronic map via the GPS on their phones, so you can keep them engaged by designating them to navigate a fairly straightforward leg of the trip. Kids get a sense of control when they know where they’re headed, not to mention a sense of importance and responsibility for being chosen as navigator.

But the inclusion of paper maps or atlases on your trip can add another aspect to the fun. There’s an art to recognizing symbols and reading a paper map. So before you leave, print out a blank map of the area where you’ll be traveling … or just use an old paper map from the glove compartment.

Mark out your planned trip route so your kids can follow along, letting them mark off each landmark (towns, rivers, national parks) as you pass. They can draw each landmark and decorate the map however they want. After the road trip is finished, they can bring home a memento of their trip to look back on. It’s like having a travel journal in map form.

19. Road Trip Word Search

A word search is a great language game for this age group. Tie it in with your trip by using the words for things you might see on a road trip. Kids circle the names of different kinds of vehicles, roadside sights, and structures they encounter along the way, such as bridges and toll booths. It helps with observation, focus, and spelling skills.

20. License Plates From all 50 States

The license plate game is another road trip favorite. In this version, you can make it even more fun by starting with this printable map of all 50 states. Whenever kids spot a license plate from a new state, they color in on the map the state that represents it. At the end of the trip, they can total up all the states they’ve “collected.”

If you want to extend the fun, laminate a few copies of the printable map and give everyone in the car dry-erase markers to use. When the trip is over, the ink can be wiped away, and the maps can be reused on your next trip.

In addition to games, don’t forget goodies and road trip snacks, and maybe create a playlist of your kids’ favorite songs or podcasts. There’s a lot you can do to make the best road trip ever for your kids — and a learning experience, too. By tailoring activities to their interests and age levels, you can make each vacation an adventure: not just when you get to your destination, but as you head out on the road and return, too.

The Best Family Road Trips for Every Age

Whether you have a toddler or a teen, we've got you covered

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• 0-18 Months
• 12-18 Years

We’re dedicating our  March features  to family travel. Read on for insightful guides to the best road trips for different ages, the best hotels with amenities for children , and the changing face of family trip planning , as well as inspiring stories of traveling with a newborn , family travel post-divorce , the lowdown on family campground culture , and more.

When my twins, Michaela and Talia, were 10 years old, we set off on a six-week mother-daughter road trip, driving from Boston to Vancouver, Canada . We ran through the spray at Niagara Falls, hiked around the lakes in Grand Teton National Park, and accomplished the girls’ goal of eating mashed potatoes and gravy in 14 states. Sure, there were a few meltdowns, a tornado warning, and a grumpy day or two, but years later, it’s a trip we still talk about with fondness.

Whether your children are babies, teens, or any age in between, a road trip can be a memorable family holiday—as long as you tailor your travels to your kids’ ages and interests. We’ve outlined ideas for traveling with kids at different stages to help spark your road trip wanderlust.

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Best for Traveling With a Child Ages 0-18 Months

Hit the beach.

If you’re planning your first road trip with your baby, stay close to home. Think family-friendly beach getaways, like Cape Cod, the Outer Banks in North Carolina, or Southern California’s coastal towns. Any place where you can spend time outdoors while adapting to your child’s eating and sleeping schedules can be a baby-friendly road trip destination. A cottage by a Wisconsin lake or even a Florida condo with a wading pool could be perfect.

Travel Tip: Many babies will sleep in the car, particularly if you plan your drives for their regular nap times (and use a car sun shade to block out excess light). As they become more mobile, take frequent breaks. A quick stop to run around a playground can sometimes head off an “all done in the car” tantrum.

Halfpoint Images / Getty Images

Best For Traveling With a Child Ages 2-4 Years

Touch and do.

Toddlers and preschoolers are active and hands-on, with little tolerance for long drives, so organize your road trip around things that kids can do or touch. Visit farms to feed the animals or an aquarium with a touch tank. Walk through outdoor markets to find new-to-you foods to add to your picnic lunch. Collect shells at the ocean or gather colorful autumn leaves as you walk in the woods. Forget about seeing “the sights” and simply explore.

Travel Tip: Consider road tripping with grandparents or with friends who have kids of similar ages. The youngsters will have companions, and the adults can swap childcare duties for some quiet grown-up time. And always make sure you know where the closest bathroom is (or pack a portable potty). 

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Best For Traveling With a Child Ages 5-7

Hands-on experiences and museums.

Engaging, hands-on museums like the Children’s Museum in Indianapolis, the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, or The Exploratorium in San Francisco, are good for this age group. Consider an island-to-island road trip among Washington State’s San Juans , or go from beach to beach along the Maine coast. Kids in this age group continue to enjoy farms, markets, and outdoor adventures. They’re not too young to pack snacks in their own small daypack and join you on a hike.

Travel Tip: This is also the perfect age to involve your kids in trip planning, as they’re keen to do things themselves. Read books about places you’re planning to visit and have them draw pictures of things they want to see. Give them a journal or trip box to collect road trip mementos. 

Walter Bibikow / Getty Images

Best for Traveling With a Child Ages 8-11

Historical trips.

By elementary school, many kids are curious about other people and time periods. On an East Coast road trip, walk Boston’s Freedom Trail and Black Heritage Trail , then talk with the Wampanoag people and “settlers” at Plimoth Patuxet Museums . In New York City, visit The Tenement Museum , which recreates immigrant life on the Lower East Side.

On the other side of the country, learn more about Asian cultures and heritage in San Francisco’s Chinatown, at the Manzanar National Historic Site where Japanese Americans were interned during World War II, and in Orange County’s Little Saigon, home to one of the nation’s largest Vietnamese communities. 

Travel through Indigenous cultures in the Southwest at sites like Mesa Verde National Park and remote Chaco Culture National Historical Park , or spend the night in a Navajo hogan . Your youngsters might appreciate quirkier museum stops, too, from the JELL-O Gallery Museum in upstate New York to the SPAM Museum in Minnesota.  

Travel Tip: This is a good age for national park road trips, car camping, and longer day hikes, whether you tromp past the geysers in Yellowstone National Park , hike through the volcanic sands at Idaho’s Craters of the Moon , or try to spot alligators in the Everglades .

Carmen Martínez Torrón / Getty Images

Best for Traveling With a Teen

Cultural experiences.

Whether experiencing diverse cultures or embarking on outdoor adventures, teens can take on greater challenges than younger children. Consider a road trip through the South along the U.S. Civil Rights Trail . Explore human rights issues at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights and help your teens understand Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy at the National Historical Park in Atlanta that bears his name. The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute shares that city’s role in the civil rights movement, while the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka, Kansas, walks you through the history of segregation in the U.S. and the landmark Supreme Court decision.

Or plan a Midwest city-to-city road trip and let the teens find their favorite neighborhoods in Cincinnati , Chicago , and St. Louis . Do the same with Seattle , Portland , and San Francisco , as you drive the Pacific Coast. For the outdoorsy, you can organize a hiking-focused road trip and tackle sections of the Appalachian Trail.

Many teens enjoy sleeping in unusual places, from funky motels to yurts in the forest. Bunk in Astoria’s colorful Atomic Motel as you start an Oregon Coast road trip or roast marshmallows outside your travel trailer at Waypoint Ventura in southern California.

Travel Tip: Include fun food quests on your trip. Plan a taco crawl along Tucson’s South 12th Avenue, go for dim sum in Oakland or Monterey Park, or hunt for sugar cream pie in Indiana, key lime pie in Florida, and blueberry pie wherever it’s in season. 

And if your kids want to plan your road trip around stops for mashed potatoes and gravy, go for it. You’ll create some delicious family memories.

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Printable Road Trip Games with a Fun DIY Travel Binder For Kids

featured activities for kids featured on home page free printable road trip This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Family road trips can be long and boring but with a little planning ahead, you can have a fun selection of printable road trip games that will keep your kids (including preschoolers, tweens, even teens) occupied for hours.

Today I’ll show you how to easily make a DIY travel binder (no craftiness required) that’s a perfect way to store and use printable road trip games for kids.

Your whole family will thank you for this fun activity!

Best of all, you don’t have to be crafty or DIY-included to make this homemade travel binder; it’s really easy to make and the supplies are simple too.

We’ve had some great trips in the past, and honestly some downright terrible ones, so I have a few tricks up my sleeve.

Road Trip Activity Binder

For our most recent trip, I came up with this road trip activity binder. I made one for each of my children. It’s simple and filled with fun games to play on a road trip that worked well to keep them busy…and off their tablets and phones!

The best part of this DIY kids travel binder is you can add whatever activities you like and easily personalize it for each child. Plus can reuse it again and again for future road trips!

Another nice feature is it includes an attached dry erase marker and holder so your kids won’t lose their markers in the dark crevices of your car!

Y ou’ll find a huge list of printable road trip games and activities from more awesome bloggers and sites below.

• 1/2″ binder with a clear pocket in the front (I found 6 at BJ’s for $8)
• heavyweight sheet protectors
• 1 dry erase marker per travel binder *dark colors work best
• craft cord (I used a shoelace-type craft cord at Walmart that works great)

• decorative mini duct tape
• optional – map of the route you’re traveling through Google Maps or other software (see more below)
• free printable travel activities

How to Make a Kids’ Travel Binder:

You can download the free printable cover for your child’s travel binder by clicking here .

Write your child’s name at the top.

Insert this cover into the front of the binder.

Now make the simple holder for your child’s marker.

Cut off a 2-3 inch section of the decorated duct tape. Cut a small 3/4-1″ section of tape and add to the middle of the long piece’s sticky side.

Do this again for a second piece.

Using the dry erase marker as a guide, attach the tape to the middle top of your child’s travel kit binder.

Add two pieces of tape to the sides – this adds extra strength to the marker holder.

Now, cut off about 2.5 feet of craft cord (you’ll need enough cord to comfortably reach around any pages in the travel kit binder.)

Tie one piece to the top of the dry erase marker. Hot glue this in place.

Tape the other end of craft cord to the marker holder.

And you’re done with the attached marker and holder for your travel kit!

Map Activity Road Trip Printable

The free printable map activity is my favorite part of this kids’ travel binder. It’s perfect for elementary-aged kids on up because they can follow along as you travel.

It’s a great way to teach kids how to read maps in this age of GPS too! Plus you’ll hear less “Are we there yet?” with this simple addition!

I did include these map printables in my younger children’s binders (Josh, age 6 and Luke, age 4) simply because they like to follow their older siblings and I knew they would still enjoy it.

Kids can trace the route with the attached dry erase marker and they’ll love seeing the progress you’re making.

I recommend going a step farther and plan out your route including stops so your kids can see exactly how far between stops.

Go to Google Maps or some other map program. Map out your route and stops.

Then save and print out pages, depending on how long your trip.

Our trip has 5 pages for each way – 5 for traveling to Grandma and Grandpa’s house and 5 for traveling home. I uploaded each page to the free Paint program and added stars to mark where our stops with a big star for our destination.

This simple road trip binder printable alone will make your trip easier !

Last, but not least, print out activities for each of your children, depending on their ages.

Including Bingo…

Even a travel journal…

Free Printable Travel Games for Kids:

I spy / scavenger hunt games.

• Free printable iSpy travel game – traffic signs (Living Well Mom)
• Meander & Coast – travel scavenger hunt for tweens
• Make and Takes – for preschool – elementary age kids
• Live Laugh Rowe – summer vacation I spy printable

Bingo Games

• Travel holiday bingo game – Living Well Mom
• From Playdough to Plato – bingo + scavenger hunt, story starters, I Spy, and more
• Crazy Little Projects – road trip bingo

License Plate Game

• Grab our own fun License plate game with a map right here.

Coloring Printables

• Disney (includes coloring pages, printable memory games, activity pages, etc.
• Crayola (includes tons of other games like mazes, bingo, + more)

More Printable Travel Games & Activities for Kids

• Kids Activities Woo – Printable Pinwheels
• Classroom Jr – Summer writing prompts
• Kids Activities Woo – printable mad lids
• education.com has a huge select of activities including fun facts for each state, bingo games, drawing tutorials, mazes, matching games and more.
• Mother’s Home has several printable road trip games including hangman, tic tac toe, battleship and more.
• Mom’s minivan has over 100 fun car ride games and activities for kids
• Minitime has 25+ few road trip car games to choose from
• Picklebums – cute free drawing prompts
• Country Cottage – Dr. Seuss Cootie Catcher

Get the Printable Travel Games Set

Get everything in one place with the Ultimate Travel Games Bundle!

This exciting set features 30 printables, including:

• 7 iSpy games – including restaurants, car models and colors, highway signs, and more
• license plate iSpy
• 2 scavenger hunts
• 9 bingo pages
• 4 classic games – tic-tac-toe, dot connecting, battleship, hangman
• 5 drawing prompt pages
• 2 travel journal pages
• 1 reward coupons page

Click here to get yours now!!

While these this handy travel activity binder and road trip printables can’t make the miles disappear, together, they can definitely help make the whole trip go by faster and smoother for the whole family.

Happy travels!

More Road Trip Tips:

• How to Take a Road Trip with Kids & Not Go Insane
• 7 Tips for Road Trips with Kids
• 49+ Brilliant Ideas for Enjoying a Road Trip with Kids
• Your kids might also love this super easy-to-make DIY Travel Coloring Kit !

Just pin it below to find the instructions later!

Dear Mom, Join the Living Well Mom Insiders

About erika.

Erika Bragdon is a flower essence practitioner and a second-generation homeschooling mom with 3 kids at home and 1 in college. She enjoys her chickens, goats, and gardening on a small farm in New Hampshire, and is passionate about sharing flower essences and more ways to renew body, mind, and soul with moms.

Tammileetips says

June 20, 2015 at 7:07 pm

This is a great way to keep the kids entertained in the car. I remember how bored I always got on road trips growing up.

June 21, 2015 at 10:26 am

Such a great idea. We used to buy coloring books for trips, but I like your idea better because it is personalized for the route!

June 21, 2015 at 3:58 pm

I love this idea! We’ve started a no tech in the car rule with our grandkids. It had gotten to the point where they fought over an iPad during the less than 10 minute drive from our house to theirs. I think a version of your travel binder will be fabulous even on our short everyday car rides!

valmg @ Mom Knows It All says

June 22, 2015 at 8:47 am

Using the map for the route you’re taking is a great idea! I’ve never seen anyone do that before.

Andrew says

June 22, 2015 at 9:11 am

Great idea! I have to admit, I still like to play the scavenger hunt game while on road trips! 🙂

Glenda Cates says

June 28, 2015 at 8:47 am

I love this and would not only be using it for travel but for local trips as well. As it would keep kids entertained no matter where you are going. Plus if you end up somewhere and have to wait for any amount of time they could bring it in with them to work on. So I would like to thank you for taking the time to share it with us.

Erika Bragdon says

June 28, 2015 at 12:10 pm

Great idea, Glenda! Thanks!

Nichole Moreland says

July 10, 2015 at 1:03 pm

Can you please elaborate more on how you printed the map? I am trying to put a binder together for our family vacation and I cant figure out how to get as nice of a map as you have! Thanks

July 10, 2015 at 2:54 pm

Hi Nichole, I used Google Maps to plan out our road trip route. There’s not a built-in way to print out whole map segments, so I saved a screen shot of each segment. (The number of screen shots would depend on how long your trip and how detailed you want the map to be.) Then I opened a new custom “design” in PicMonkey (sized 2550×3300 pixels – the size of regular paper), uploaded the map screen shot, and added text and graphics (a star for stops, along with the town/city, etc.)

Hope that helps! Good luck on your trip! 🙂

Heather Gaughan says

April 19, 2016 at 4:49 pm

Hi Erika! I am a travel agent and have a blog. I linked back to your site for an entry I was doing about travel binders. I included your site as one to check out for tips and forms. I hope that’s ok!

July 6, 2019 at 2:34 pm

This is awesome! I will definitely be making a binder for each of my kids. We have a 12 hr road trip next week. Thanks for the list of great printables also.

July 9, 2019 at 2:26 pm

Have a great trip, Amy!

Bridget says

June 23, 2020 at 4:13 pm

We are from NH now living in SC. About to make the summer trip back to NH for a few weeks. Thank you for the tips! My 9 yr old is going to love the binder idea!!!

July 6, 2020 at 10:56 am

Hope you all enjoy it and have a safe trip! 🙂

Jenifer Yoon says

November 17, 2020 at 1:08 pm

Thank you for putting the Road trip binder and links together. I’m not sure when you originally made the post but you may want to go back over the links, several of them didn’t work or link to anything or for I heart organizing there was no license plate game. I just wanted to let you know.

November 18, 2020 at 12:01 pm

Yes, it’s been a few years and we do need to update it. Thanks for letting me know.

Mallori says

November 5, 2021 at 12:33 am

Where did you find the license plate game with pictures of the license plates?

November 8, 2021 at 10:57 am

The original version doesn’t appear to be available any longer, however we’re finishing up our own kids travel set with a similar option and much more! It will be available very soon!

SNK Social Fame says

February 23, 2022 at 6:02 am

Thank you for the introduction of a range of information that is very interesting to see in this article. Thanks for sharing this information.

January 28, 2023 at 6:19 pm

Where did you find the picture for the front page?

February 6, 2023 at 1:24 pm

Hi Rice, I made it myself from a graphic image. It’s been a long time though. Hope you like it!

threads Bay says

September 1, 2023 at 1:15 pm

This is a great idea for a travel binder! I love the free printable games too!

September 9, 2023 at 2:03 am

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Living well is a journey not a destination

40 Free Printable Road Trip Games & Activities

By: Author Jacquie Fisher

Posted on Published: May 19, 2023

Categories Travel Fun

Grab these free printable road trip games & activities for your next car trip and keep the kids busy!

We are gearing up for a HUGE family car trip this summer and I’m on the look-out for some road trip activities to keep the kids off their phones & busy en route 😉

40 Free Road Trip Activities & Games for Kids

Since we love to travel, I’ll be sharing a handful of posts over the next few months with lots of tips & ideas for family travel!  We’re also sharing many of our favorite travel items along with affiliate links to each so you can see if they’re a good fit for your family too. (Be sure to see our 40+ Road Trip Essentials & Car Organization Items too!)

Here are a few of the ways we get ready for a trip:

• Keep the car organized with these 27 Track Hacks & Road Trip Tips
• If your kids enjoy audio books, movies or educational apps, be sure to sign up for the Amazon FreeTime Unlimited FREE Trial before you go!!
• Have ad-free on-demand music for your trip: Try the Amazon Music Unlimited 30-Day Free Trial
• Grab this FREE Printable Road Trip Planner: 10 Things to do Before Your Next Road Trip
• And check out these NEW ideas — 15 Road Trip Printable Games & Travel Activities !!

The trip is going to be much longer than we thought — 10 days through 11 states covering 2600 miles!!

I know – crazy!  But we’re really looking forward to it — we believe that family travel is a great way for kids to learn all kinds of things.

It’s going to be a monster of a trip with lots of overnight stops and quite a few hours in the car.

Soooo …. time to start planning on how to keep everyone busy, happy and fed 😉

How Do You Entertain Kids on a Road Trip?

It’s the age-old question — how to keep kids busy and engaged on long car rides?!  The first thing I always tackle is putting together a binder for the trip that’s chocked full of fun (& free) printable activities.

I’m telling you — this little binder has been a huge help on our trips!

The fact that our kids have had something to look forward to each morning when we load up the car is incentive enough for them to not drag their feet when we have to pack up.  And it’s been wonderful to have a way to keep them writing and reading using fun activities on our trips.

I’ve included links below for each of the resources we’ve found including affiliate links for items that will help you put together your own road trip binder.

Tips for Making a Road Trip Binder

I have three goals when I create a car trip binder for kids, tweens or teens:

1.  Include surprise activities they can do both on their own & with others in the car

2.  Find fun things that will keep them off the tech for a while

3.  Get the kids interested in the places we’re visiting on our trip — because that’s one of the reasons we travel, right?!

First, print off a variety of travel games & activities!

I search for games they really enjoy (for example, Mad Libs are a big hit with us right now) and fun pages like coloring or design printables.

We also play the license plate game as a family every summer so that’s a big one for us too!

I look for maps & activities that highlight places on our travel route, worksheets that share fun facts about the states we visit and anything that gets them writing — like some fun travel journal pages.

Printable Road Trip Games for Kids, Tweens & Teens

Here’s a huge selection of printable road trip games & activities to make things easier for you!

Just choose the ones that fit your child’s age and ability! Or if your short on time, check out the 15 printable road trip games & travel activities in our Road Trip Pack!

• All for the Boys has some wonderful car activities — 12 pages of mini games & puzzles the kids will love!!
• Enjoy some fun family discussions with this free set of 20 Questions to play with your kids !
• I love this Travel Battleship game from Mothers Home!
• Play the License Plate Game with this free printable state map.
• Salt and Pepper Moms has a fun printable car game sheet and a travel journal page too.
• FreePuzzles.net has 6 printable car games including mazes, hangman and car bingo.
• Enjoy these 5 printable car games from In the Playroom (for US & UK travel).
• I Heart Organzing has some wonderfully colorful Road Trip BINGO and Alphabet I-Spy to keep the kids entertained.
• And you know how much we adore Scavenger Hunts!  Here are a few gems:
• Road Trip “Find It” for Tweens from Carla Schauer
• City, Suburb & Rural Scavenger Hunts from Mom’s Minivan
• Make & Takes has a fun coloring scavenger hunt too

If you need more ideas, browse all the Printable Road Trip Activities and Games on Etsy too!!

And if you happen to be heading to Disney World or Disneyland, check out this set of printable Disney Games & Activities for your trip!!

Road Trip Activities & Travel Printables to do in the Car

Try these Kids’ Travel Journal pages that are perfect for encouraging a little writing & recording the trip while on the road!

For some great state-by-state learning, visit Education.com and print out the State Puzzle Sheets for each state on your trip.

I like to include a Kids’ Road Atlas or map with the binder too.  We get ours free with our AAA membership and it’s a great for kids to learn map reading skills!

Activity Idea: Have your kids highlight the route you’re taking in the atlas and they can follow along as you drive.

Younger kids might enjoy driving a Hot Wheels car along the route as you travel.  Older kids will be intrigued to see what interesting places you might be passing en route.

More Kids Activities for a Road Trip

If your kids have a cell phone or camera, print this FREE Photo Scavenger Hunt for them to complete on the trip!

Enjoy this Hotel Scavenger Hunt from Moms & Munchkins if you’re spending the night on the road.

Picklebums has these cute and open-ended Road Trip Drawing Prompts.

Doodle Art Alley has a set of Summer Coloring pages that can be used individual or as a family coloring activity.

How to Organize Car Games & Activities in a Binder

Next, I organize all the printables into a Road Trip binder!

One thing that works well for us is to sort the pages by travel day. This way, I know that each morning of our trip there will be new activities for our kids to do!

I separate the printables using manila folders (which is great in case we want to pull out the items for one day).  Then I use a 3 Hole Punch with all the printables & manila folders and insert them into the binder.  Each set is labeled with the date so it’s easy to see.

In addition, I include a 3-Ring Pencil Pouch with the following items:

• a nice set of Colored Pencils ,
• a regular pencil & pencil sharpener,
• and an eraser.

We don’t bring markers in the car ( I learned why the hard way ).  And crayons tend to melt in the summer heat. So when we travel, we’ve found that a set of colored pencils is the way to go 😉

We also love to have these Storage Folding Lap Desks so the kids have an easy place to read/write during our trips!

I also put their summer reading logs (see all the FREE Summer Reading programs here!) in the back of the binder. We do a lot of reading & audio books in the car ( grab a copy of this free Summer Reading Log to use on the trip !).

Last, I created a fun cover for the binder along with an autograph page for the back of the binder. It’s fun to have when you’re visiting a lot of family so everyone can sign a fun note.

Here’s a front & back cover for the road trip binder you can download for FREE!

There you go — step 1 in preparing for the Ultimate Summer Road Trip!

More Road Trip Ideas:

15 Printable Road Trip Activities & Travel Journal for Kids & Tweens

The Ultimate Road Trip Guide: Why Getting There is Half the Fun

10 Things to do Before Your Next Road Trip {with free printable checklist!}

More Summer Ideas:

20 Amazing Summer Scavenger Hunts

105 Activities that Make Awesome Summer Memories

Welcome to Epic Travel Plans!

Epic Travel Plans

Destinations that will leave you Breathless. Plans to make it happen

Best Road Trip Games for Young Kids: 15+ Free Printables

Need free printables to keep young kids busy on a family road trip? Me, too! Here are my favorite road trip games for kids aged three to about eight.

I’m planning a four-day cross-Canada road trip with three kids between three and seven. On my own. No tablets or DVD players. Yikes! My husband will be driving the moving van, so entertainment is solely up to me. How to stay sane?

Well, I found some GREAT free printables for family road trips online. Many are for kids older than mine, so it took some sifting. 

But, wow! There are some INCREDIBLE free road trip activities out there. Here I share my favorites with you.

Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links to excellent travel-related products. This means that if you use the links below to make a purchase, we’ll receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you!

How to use these free printable road trip games for young kids:

• Print them out and put them into a binder. This gives your child a portable desk, AND keeps everything together and tidy. 
• Slip them into sheet protectors , where it makes sense. This is an easy and cheap way to make them reusable. 
• Add a zippered pouch with crayons, washable markers and dry erase markers. 

And wa-la! Hours of quiet time. (Here’s to hoping!)

1. Road Trip Banner

But FIRST! Pinterest is FULL of fun ideas for family road trips, and this is one of my favorites. 

A simple, visual way to “map out” your road trip for your young kids is to string it up in your car! Use string, yarn or even gold duck tape as the road, like Grey House Harbor . Include your overnight stops. Interesting landmarks you’ll see along the way. Planned stops. And then move your car along as you go.

I’m guessing my kids will still ask, “Are we there yet” a million times. But at least I have something to point to. And it’s fun for me, too!

Use my simple Road Trip Banner Printable to create your own!

2. Free COLORING MAPS Printables for Family Road Trips

For simple maps young kids can color, head to Where Exactly Maps . Where Exactly Maps provides free printable map coloring sheets perfect for inspiring your little travel wanderer.

Maps include United States, Canada, Europe, United Kingdom, North East Asia, Africa and South America. Each one has two versions: simple, with only the country name, and complete with province/state names. 

While there, also check out the tectonic plates coloring sheet and labeling printable! A great road trip printable for your little geologist. Can work for both older and younger kids.

3. Road Trip COLORING PAGES for Young Kids

I love the coloring pages from Doodle Art Alley . They have a fantastic variety, and appropriate for various ages and skill levels. Countries and states or provinces. National parks. Transportation. Plus so many other fun ideas, like seasons, nature, animals and princesses.  

Two other great kids coloring pages for family road trips are:

• Transportation Color By Number Printables from Captain Coloring Book. Includes a ship, plane and helicopter. These are great for preschoolers because they’re color-coded.
• Vacation Color By Number Printables from All Kids Network. A huge variety, including beach, ice cream and transportation printables. These simple coloring pages have the color words for the legend so they’re great for early readers. 

4. TRAVEL BINGO Free Printables Game for Family Road Trips

There are a LOT of travel bingo printables out there. Most are best for USA-specific road trips, with license plates, flags, signs and fast food restaurants only found there.

Here are my two favorite travel bingo printables for kids that work for pretty much any road trip location:

• Meander and Coast : Super cute, has a good variety of things and is mostly country-generic. The only thing is the American flag, which isn’t a big deal to me.
• Stuffed Suitcase : A fun road trip games printables pack, including four versions of travel bingo and calling cards. Because more than one kid means you need more than one version, of course! I also love the “I Spy” game. The rest of the pack is fantastic for older kids.

Open to buying an all-in-one road trip printables bundle? Check out this one from BE Family Travel on Etsy.

5. Easy Road Trip WORD SEARCHES for Young Kids

I’m a big fan of word searches. When I was young, my mom had search races with me and let me win sometimes! Good memories. And they’re great for early readers. So long as they’re easy. 

Here are some great easy road trip word search printables:

• Easy Summer Word Search from Puzzles to Print. An easy, friendly word search with eight words. The longest is only six letters. 
• Let’s Take a Trip Word Search from Word Game World. More challenging, with 20 words. Most words are short. The longest is sunglasses. 
• Short Vowel Word Search from Teachers Pay Teachers. This word search isn’t specifically about road trips or travel, but it’ll work! It’s perfect for early readers to build confidence and have fun coloring, too.

For a small cost, you might just want to purchase this easy road trip package from Little Wiggles Design on Etsy. It’s fantastic for ages 3 to 5.

6. “I SPY” Road Trip Games for Young Kids

A fantastic resource for “I Spy” free printables is Paper Trail Design . They’re the perfect balance of easy AND challenging for young kids. How is that possible, you ask? Well, take a look! 

The images are simple, but of various sizes. Quantities are all below 10, but together sure add up. You have plenty of fun themes to choose from, like ice cream, mermaids and Star Wars. Or classic options, like transportation, camping, road trip, animals and weather. 

Other great “I Spy” printable games for road trips include Outdoor Adventure and Summer Fun from Picklebums.

What should they pack in their suitcase, carry-on or road trip bag? Check out this Kids Vacation Packing List . 

7. “I SPY ” RACE Game Printables for Family Road Trips

A fun and easy twist on the “I Spy” road trip game is Awesome Alphabet Road Trip I Spy Printable from Sunny Day Family. It’s cute, and it’ll take early readers a while to get to Z! 

For early readers, they can simply cross off the letter when they see it. Stronger readers and writers can write out the word or license plate combo they saw.

8. Simple Road Trip SCAVENGER HUNT Printable Games for Young Kids

There are a lot of road trip scavenger hunt printables out there. Similar to travel bingo printables, I found many had USA-specific items that wouldn’t work that great for my young kids on a cross-Canada road trip.

But I DID find a couple of great generic ones! My favorite is from Make and Takes (illustrated by Juliann Law ). The items on the list can be found on any road trip. Like power lines. Birds. Bike. And the pencil-sketch style of these drawings is beautiful. I I hope they inspire my own little artists! 

Another road trip scavenger hunt printable I love is this car color search from Productive Pete . A simple concept, perfect for building confidence and working up to the tougher ones!

9. DRAWING PROMPTS Printables for Family Road Trips

My five and seven year olds LOVE drawing. We go through SO. MUCH. PAPER! So, these free drawing printables from Picklebums are perfect for young family road trips.

My favorite free printables for road trips include:

• Road Trip prompts, like “what’s in the truck” and “where does the road go.” The last one is SO Mary Poppins!
• Make a Face is a great reusable drawing prompt. Put it in a sheet protector to use with dry erase markers. I can hear the laughter!
• Drawing Challenge Cards is excellent for early readers. Plenty of drawing prompts for hours of entertainment. You could also pull a card out whenever they get bored. 

You may also like TIPS for Traveling with OLDER PARENTS

10. Road Trip DICE DRAWING Games for Young Kids

During online learning, my daughter’s kindergarten teacher had them play this roll-a-monster game from Embracing Motherhood. It’s been SUCH a hit in our household! I bought large dice for each of my kids. And wa-la! A perfect free printables road trip game for young kids.

Here are my favorite roll-and-draw free printables for young kids:

• Roll-a-butterfly from Printoteka. Because butterflies are awesome.
• Roll-a-monster (3 options) available on ARTimus Prime.
• Drawing games from Drawing How to Draw, including roll-a-face and roll-a-landscape.

Put them to work AND get them excited for your family trip! Check out this Kids Packing List with Pictures . Even preschoolers can use it!

11. PUPPET THEATER Road Trip Activities for Young Kids

My goodness, there are SO many super cute finger puppet printables on Pinterest! If your kids are into animals, fairies, princesses, or robots, just pick your favorites! I’ll prepare a set for my 2 year old, and let my oldest two color and cut out their own. 

Here are three of my favorite finger puppet free printables for family road trips:

• Animal Finger Puppets from Highlights. Print in color, cut out and tape into rings. As easy as you get!
• Farm Animal Finger Puppets from Arty Crafty Kids. Kids can color before cutting and taping into puppets.
• Noah’s Ark Animal Finger Puppets from The Confident Journal. No taping involved, but you may want to pre-cut the finger holes. 

If you’re open to paying a small amount, you really should check out the finger puppets from Pukaka on Etsy. They’re SO cute! Family puppets. Monsters and aliens. Monkeys and circus performers. And characters from your favorite kids book.

Note: I highly recommend printing at least two copies per child. Even if you print onto cardstock, I can see these ripping pretty quickly. And then there’d be tears. SO. MANY. TEARS. Consider yourself warned!

12. GLASSES Printables for Family Road Trips

Check out these free printable glasses from Picklebums. I LOVE this idea for dressing up and making the family road trip extra exciting. Combine them with a crown , and you’re all set.

13. Road Trip MAZE Printables for Young Kids

Mazes can be a great way for young kids to pass the time on a road trip. Choose from many different themes that your kids are interested in on Pinterest. 

Here are my favorite mazes for family road trips:

• Vehicle mazes and country mazes from Muse Printables. This huge collection of easy mazes is perfect for family road trips.
• Seasonal Mazes from Superstar Worksheets. Beautiful free printables to celebrate the changing of seasons.
• Transportation mazes from Emma Pelling at Smiling Art. Elegant and unique. My seven and five year olds will love coloring them in. Plus the counting challenge, too.

14. PLAYDOUGH MATS Free Printables for Family Road Trips

Check out these playdough mats from Picklebums. Slide these into sheet protectors and you have perfect playdough entertainment for a family road trip. Add a pitstop challenge! Have them find leaves, flowers and pebbles to use in their creations. 

My favorite free playdough mat printables for road trips include the bugs and pirates sheets. You can also support this shop by paying a nominal amount for the city playdough mat.

You may also like Best Trips with MOM

15. TRAVEL KIT of Free Road Trip Games for Kids

Here’s one of my favorite travel activity packs for young kids, offered free from Somewhat Simple . It has a few special gems that set it apart.

Like the Made You Laugh jokes, which my daughters will absolutely LOVE. The color Slug Bug travel game, which is simple enough for all three of my young kids to play. And the Do Not Open Until tags, which are perfect for building fun and anticipation along the way. Think: Bubbles for a playground stop and glow wands when it gets dark!

16. TRAVEL JOURNAL Free Printables for Young Kids

Keeping a travel journal is SUCH a great habit to teach kids. On my first solo trip, my mom gave me a journal. And I’ve been keeping them and re-living my travels from them ever since!

The style of travel journal for young kids will obviously be different from older kids. Since my kids are new to writing and practicing their sounding skills, I want a travel journal with a blend of writing and drawing. 

Here are my favorite FREE road trip journals for young kids:

• Travel Journal Printable by Dover Publishing. Simple writing prompts with images for weather and rating. 
• My Vacation Printable by Five Marigolds. Cute and friendly style, with simple writing prompts and a drawing section.
• Travel Journal Template by Kids Travel Books. A cute 26-page, A to Z kids travel journal with writing and drawing prompts. Some pages are best for international travel but most work for any type of trip. 

In the end, I had a specific vision for a kids travel journal to engage my early readers, and couldn’t find it. So, I built it myself. If you’re open to a small purchase, check out our Kids Travel Journal Printable for Early Readers .

What are your favorite road trip printables for young kids? Any tips for the rest of us? Share in the comments below!

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11 U.S. Road Trips Kids Should Experience Before They Grow Up

Nov 6, 2020

See recent posts by Courtney Elko

The classic family road trip should be experienced by every kid at least once in their lifetime (more if you can withstand the are-we-there-yet’s!). When the vacation is about the journey, the memories last even longer. Kids will remember the quirky roadside attractions or the funny jokes dad told in the car more than the amusement park ride that lasted three minutes. Road trips allow families to reconnect and truly experience a journey together. These are our picks for the best road trips kids should experience before they grow up.

1. Pacific Coast Highway 101 Road Trip

Technically, the Pacific Coast Highway 101 (which becomes Pacific Coast Highway 1 in California) runs from Seattle all the way to San Diego for a total of 1,650 miles. You could do one ultimate family road trip and drive the length of Pacific Coast Highway or you could conquer half in two different vacations.

The Northern portion of a Highway 101 road trip would run between Seattle and San Francisco for about 1,075 miles. Near Legget, California, Highway 101 splits and families can continue on 101 or continue the drive down the coast and take Pacific Coast Highway 1 to San Francisco.

Pacific Coast Highway 101 Road Trip Stops 

• Seattle, WA:  The iconic Space Needle and Pike Place Market are a must when in Seattle. The Seattle Great Wheel gives a great birds eye view of the skyline and the Seattle Aquarium is small enough to do in an hour or so.
• Cannon Beach, OR:  After a long ride in the car, a walk along Cannon Beach is exactly what everyone needs.
• Portland, OR:  Portland offers one of the nation’s best science museums, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. You might also rent bikes and stop by a kid-friendly brewery.
• Columbia River Gorge:  Located about 30 minutes from Portland is the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, which features gorgeous waterfalls, hiking trails, the Lost Lake and the “Fruit Loop,” an area with lots of pick-your-own berry farms.
• Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area:  Located along the Oregon Coast, these sand dunes stretch for more than 40 miles. Families can rent ATVs and ride the sandy hills, go horseback riding or take a hike.
• Gold Beach, OR:  After playing in the sand dunes, it’s time to hit the rapids! Families looking to pick up some speed can hop aboard a jet boat that rushes down the Rogue River (but you can also slow down to enjoy nature along the way).
• Eureka, CA:  Once you’ve reached California on your Pacific Coast Highway Road Trip, you will be taken back in time to a Victorian-era Old Town where there are mansions to tour and hundreds-of-years-old trees that reach high into the sky.
• Leggett, CA:  For what could possibly be the most memorable drive on your Pacific Northwest road trip, make a stop in Leggett. There you can drive through a Redwood tree. The Chandelier Tree, which is so large most vehicles can fit through the center of it, is located in the aptly named Drive-Thru Tree Park.
• Mendocino, CA:  This pretty village offers gorgeous Northern California Coastline. Families can get out of the car and into a canoe, take a hike or bike ride or just stroll the village to admire all of the historic New England-style homes and buildings.
• Santa Rosa, CA:  For Snoopy and Peanuts  fans, Santa Rosa is a must! It is the adopted hometown of comic creator Charles Schulz and families can visit his museum to see original works, as well as create their own!
• San Francisco, CA:  Whether San Francisco is the start, stop or middle point of your Pacific Coast Highway road trip, there’s lots to do. Visit Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 39 and Alcatraz.

Recommended Hotel:  Omni San Francisco Hotel 

Related:  28 Roadside Attractions Worth a Stop on Your Next Road Trip

2. Pacific Coast Highway 1 Road Trip

The Southern portion of Pacific Coast Highway 1 runs from San Francisco to San Diego for about 575 miles (turning into I-5 at Dana Point). With coastal cliff views almost the entire way, it might be the most picturesque road trip your kids will ever experience.

Pacific Coast Highway 1 Road Trip Stops 

• San Francisco, CA:  Visit the Painted Ladies (the colorful Victorian row homes) and Alamo Square Park, especially if your kids watched Full House  (or Fuller House ). Then take a ride on a cable car before hitting the road in your own car.
• Santa Cruz, CA:  Only about 90 minutes south of San Fran, Santa Cruz offers families a few unique things to see on a road trip with kids. There’s Natural Bridges State Park and the world’s largest whale skeleton at Seymour Marine Discovery Center. But for a true enigma, visit the Mystery Spot, a small section of the Redwood Forest where balls roll uphill and gravity doesn’t seem to exist!
• Big Sur, CA:  Travel over the most photographed bridge on the West Coast in Big Sur. The concrete Bixby Bridge is 714 feet long and 280 feet high and offers fantastic views from either side.
• San Simeon, CA:  The iconic Hearst Castle can be found in San Simeon will wow your kids (and you). William Randolph Hearst himself would love to have your kids marvel at his theater, billiard room or the library, or his magnificent outdoor pool or the indoor Roman pool, modeled after the ancient Roman baths.
• Santa Barbara, CA:  Hit the beach, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, or one of Santa Barbara’s many museums as you continue your road trip down the West Coast.
• Los Angeles, CA:  Once you reach the City of Angels, take a walk along the Hollywood Walk of Fame or Rodeo Drive. Turn your eyes to the sky at Griffith Observatory or look for movie stars instead on a Legends of Hollywood Tour.
• Buena Park, CA:  Less than an hour from LA is Knott’s Berry Farm, an amusement park that’s more manageable than Disneyland nearby. Knott’s features thrills for everyone in the family.
• Carlsbad, CA:  After roller roasters and log flume rides in Buena Park, head to Carlsbad for some LEGO fun on your Pacific Coast Highway road trip with kids. LEGOLAND California features more than 60 rides and shows, and millions of blocks of LEGOs.
• San Diego, CA:  End your Pacific Coast Highway 1 road trip in San Diego (or drive another 30 minutes and finish the route at the Mexican border). It’s all about the animals in San Diego where families will find SeaWorld and the legendary San Diego Zoo, with the Elephant Odyssey, Urban Jungle and Panda Canyon.

Recommended Hotel:  Rancho Bernardo Inn

3. The Oregon Trail Road Trip

The Oregon Trail runs from Cape Cod to Portland, Oregon, across the northern part of the U.S. It’s quite a lengthy road trip at about 3,100 miles, but surely it can be done more quickly than the early pioneers, whose journey averaged four months! Your kids will see several wonders of the world–Niagara Falls, Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone National Park–on this road trip they need to experience before they grow up.

Oregon Trail Road Trip Stops 

• Cape Cod, MA:  Start your Oregon Trail road trip off with some beach time on Cape Cod. Relax in the sand and surf before gathering your rations and hitching your wagon for the West.
• Rochester, NY:  Rochester offers both American history, and history of toys! It’s the perfect mix of education and fun. The Toy Hall of Fame is located here, where kids can play and adults can feel some nostalgia. Susan B. Anthony’s House and Museum are also located in Rochester and help remind families how far women have come since the Oregon Trail pioneer days.
• Cooperstown, NY:  For baseball history, you’ll want to make a stop in Cooperstown for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Or experience life as a true pioneer at the Farmers’ Museum, which features a recreated historic village and is a working farm.
• Niagara Falls, NY:  Make one more stop in New York and view the three awe-inspiring waterfalls at Niagara Falls State Park, which also happens to be the oldest state park in America.
• Cleveland, OH:  Rock ‘n Roll and roller coasters await in Cleveland (two things that the Oregon Trail pioneers surely didn’t experience). Visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for all things music in Cleveland and then visit the Roller Coaster Capital of the World at Cedar Point.
• Fort Wayne, IN:  If you want to dig into your own family history and find out if your ancestors journeyed along the Oregon Trail, stop in Fort Wayne and visit the Allen County Public Library. This public library, which also features a children’s center and LEGO club, is the second largest genealogy center in the world. Families can search (for free!) the more than 1.2-million physical records and 2.8-million online records.
• Chicago, IL:  If you have an American Girl Doll fan in the family, visit the American Girl Place Chicago, the birthplace of American Girl Dolls. Kids can have lunch with their dolls or get their hair styled together. One of the original American Girl Dolls, Kirsten Larson, represented the pioneer era and would love a visit with your family as you cross the Oregon Trail!
• Des Moines, IA:  Take your Oregon Trail road trip in August and you can make a stop in Des Moines so your kids can experience the iconic, internationally-acclaimed Iowa State Fair.
• Mount Rushmore, SD:  The four presidents carved into this national memorial were chosen because they played important roles in American history. What better stop to make on an Oregon Trial road trip with kids?
• Yellowstone National Park, WY:  Kids will see wildlife, bubbling mud pots, canyons, rivers, forests, hot springs and geysers at Yellowstone. Old Faithful is of course the highlight and the park rangers can tell you when this predictable geothermal wonder will erupt!
• Bend, OR:  After driving across the country and reaching Oregon on your Oregon Trail road trip, you’ll want to go for a hike and get outside. Bend offers several hiking trails, some with waterfall or citywide views. Or you can go tubing on the Deschutes River, a classic pastime in Bend.
• Portland, OR:  You’ll surely be out of rations by the time you reach Portland, Oregon, on an Oregon Trail family road trip so make sure to visit The Fruit Loop, a 35-mile scenic loop of farms where you can pick your own cherries, apples, berries and more.

Recommended Hotel:  Best Western Plus Hood River Inn

Related:  A (Tongue-in-Cheek) Guide to Surviving the Oregon Tail with Kids

4. Historic Route 66 Road Trip

Historic Route 66 was about 2,448 miles long but officially, it no longer exists in its entirety. Today, the trip runs about 2,278 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica and can be done in about two weeks time. On this classic road trip across the American Midwest, Great Plains and Southwest, your kids will surely get their kicks seeing some great Route 66 attractions along the way. You can even begin and end your road trip with a Ferris wheel ride!

Route 66 Road Trip Stops 

• Chicago, IL:  Museum Row, lakefront beaches and Navy Pier fill Chicago with plenty for the kids to see and do as you kick off your Route 66 road trip from this midwestern metropolis. Ride the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier and see if you can map out your entire Route 66 road trip.
• Springfield, IL:  The Land of Lincoln offers some great Route 66 attractions filled with Abraham Lincoln history. Families can take a guided tour of the home Lincoln shared with his wife and kids, visit the Presidential Library and Museum and see Lincoln’s tomb, where you can rub a statue of Lincoln for good luck on your road trip with kids.
• Tulsa, OK : Situated just 20 minutes from Tulsa is the Big Blue Whale of Catoosa. A giant whale structure in a pond, it’s become one of the most recognizable Route 66 attractions. When it was built in the 1970s, it actually had waterslides you could ride into the pond. You can’t use the slides today, but it’s still a cool roadside attraction along Route 66.
• Amarillo, TX:  A small historic portion of Route 66 exists in Amarillo. Families can drive along the mile-stretch of road and stop at one of the antique shops or cafes. Then visit Cadillac Ranch, a true must-see Route 66 attraction. The art installation from the 1970s consists of 10 Cadillacs buried nose down in the middle of an empty field. The colorful cars have been spray painted over and over again, creating an ever-changing piece of art. Don’t forget to bring a can of spray paint to add your own touch. If you’re traveling in an RV on your road trip with the kids, stop at Jack Sisemore Traveland RV museum and see how families have road tripped through the years.
• Albuquerque, NM:  If you’re taking your Route 66 Road Trip in October, that’s when Albuquerque hosts the International Balloon Fiesta and the sky is filled with colorful hot air balloons. If you aren’t in town for the festival, make sure to check out Old Town, where Spanish families settled in the 1700s.
• Flagstaff, AZ:  Flagstaff offers families plenty of space to stretch their legs during a road trip across the USA. There are numerous hiking trails in several state parks. You can even hike through a lava river cave, an underground cave where you will need flashlights and headlamps to guide you over rocks and boulders.
• Los Angeles, CA:  Check out one of the many museums in LA, including the Automobile Driving Museum, where families can explore the classic and vintage cars
• Santa Monica, CA:  Mark the end of your Route 66 Road Trip at Santa Monica Pier where you can ride the Ferris Wheel and see how far you’ve come. Your kids will never forget beginning and ending a Route 66 road trip with a Ferris Wheel ride.

Recommended Hotel:  Shore Hotel

5. Mt. Washington Auto Road

This New Hampshire scenic drive is less than 8 miles long and is a must see for kids before they grow up. While the Mount Washington Auto Road  is short in miles, it’s high in elevation. The road climbs more than 4,600 feet from an altitude of 1,527 feet to 6,145 feet and offers narrow mountain roads without guardrails. You can drive yourself up the Mt. Washington Auto Road, America’s first manmade attraction, or take a guided tour if mountain driving makes you nervous. It takes about 30 to 45 minutes to drive each way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKacMRQgpJM  Mt. Washington Auto Road Stops 

• Mountain Turn-Outs:  There are several turn-outs or pull-off points where you can stop along your Auto Road Road Trip. Stop to admire the view or park the car and go for a hike on one of the many trails.
• Mount Washington Summit:  As the highest peak in the Northeast, the views are outstanding from the top and your kids might see as far as the Atlantic Ocean. At the top, families can explore the historic Tip-Top House, the Summit Stage Office Store and learn more the mountain at the interactive Mt. Washington Observatory Museum.

6. Lake Champlain Byway Road Trip

This family road trip is about 80 miles and can be done in about two and half hours or a few days depending if you want to stop for some overnights. It starts at the Canadian border and runs south to Middlebury, Vermont.

Lake Champlain Byway Road Trip Stops 

• Rouses Point, NY:  The Lake Champlain Byway begins in the small New York village near the border of Canada. Make a quick stop at the small Champlain Historical Society to better understand the area before embarking on your family road trip.
• Grand Isle County, VT:  Visit the Goodsell Ridge Fossil Preserve in Isle La Motte where kids can wonder at the 480-million-year-old fossils found throughout the 85-acre preserve.
• Burlington, VT:  As Vermont’s largest city, Burlington is located on the shores of Lake Champlain between the Adirondack and Green Mountains. While strolling Church Street Marketplace and admiring all of Burlington’s charm, don’t forget to visit the world’s tallest filing cabinet, too. It’s 38-feet tall and a must-see roadside attraction on a New England road trip.
• Shelburne, VT:  Shelburne is home to the Vermont Teddy Bear Company, where kids can make their own bear. The Shelburne Museum is also a must.
• Vergennes, VT:  In Vermont’s oldest city, stop for a picnic at Vergennes Falls Park or MacDonough Park and enjoy the walking trails and waterfall views. If you have time, enjoy an overnight at Basin Harbor Resort .
• Middlebury, VT:  You can wrap up this New England Road Trip with several charming covered bridges like the Pulp Mill Covered Bridge, Halpin Covered Bridge and the Cornwall-Salisbury Covered Bridge.

Recommended Hotel:  Basin Harbor Resort

7. East Coast Road Trip

A full-length East Coast road trip can be a bit overwhelming so we’ve broken this family road trip option into a smaller chunk. For a history-heavy road trip with lots of big city stops (and beach town alternatives), an East Coast road trip down I-95 is filled with landmarks kids need to see before they grow up.

East Coast Road Trip Stops 

• Boston, MA:  Start your East Coast road trip in Boston and walk the Freedom Trail where kids can see Paul Revere’s House, Faneuil Hall and the Bunker Hill Monument. Even if you aren’t a baseball fan, the stories and history at Fenway Park can’t be missed on a behind-the-scenes guided tour. Before heading down the coast, make a stop at the Hood Milk Bottle, a must-see roadside attraction. It’s a 40-foot milk bottle that weighs 15,000 pounds and was one of the first drive-in restaurants in the U.S.
• Newport, RI:  Get out of the car and stroll the Cliff Walk in Newport. This popular 3.5-mile walk shows off the Rhode Island beach coastline on one side and the massive Newport mansions on the other. Mansions like The Breakers (the Vanderbilt’s “summer cottage”) can be toured and kids can see how a Vanderbilt child once lived.
• New York City, NY:  The Big Apple is overflowing with things kids should see before they grow up, including the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Times Square, Central Park, the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall and Broadway shows .
• Philadelphia, PA:  As the birthplace of the U.S., kids can see where the Declaration of Independence was signed, visit Betsy Ross’s house and the Liberty Bell and walk the cobblestone streets that Ben Franklin once walked. But a visit to Philly wouldn’t be complete without eating a cheesesteak and running up the “Rocky Steps” at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
• Baltimore, MD:  After seeing where Betsy Ross sewed the American flag, families can visit Fort McHenry National Monument in Baltimore, where the story of America’s national anthem began. Visit the historic ships along Baltimore’s Inner Harbor and make some time for the National Aquarium, too.
• Washington, DC: As with NYC, the number of things to see in our nation’s capital can be overwhelming for a family road trip. We recommend choosing one or two museums and a few landmarks depending on the interests of your family. The National Air and Space Museum, National Mall, Tidal Basin, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, and International Spy Museum are just a few of your options.
• Charlottesville, VA:  In Richmond, Virginia, families will want to stop at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, the former president’s home and gardens, for a guided tour.
• Fayetteville, NC:  For a look at the U.S. Army’s history, visit the Airborne and Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville. The free museum honors the original paratroopers and Army Parachute Test Platoon, as well as the special operations units of today.
• Savannah, GA:  Some say the cobblestone streets of Savannah are haunted. So take a ghost tour when you arrive and explore the 22 squares in the historic district that are dedicated to important people from the Revolutionary Wartime.
• Alternatively, if you want to sprinkle in some beach time and skip parts of I-95, after Philadelphia, visit Ocean City, MD,  and then Virginia Beach, VA  (both towns offering sand, surf, and boardwalks!) and then pick I-95 back up in Fayetteville.

Recommended Hotel:  Hotel Indigo Savannah Historic District

8. Florida Keys Road Trip

It’s all about wildlife on the road to Key West. Take the Overseas Highway (Route 1) across the water for about 160 miles for a family road trip from Miami to Key West. This shorter family road trip can be done in a day, or make longer stops along the way and spend a few overnights.

Florida Keys Road Trip  Stops 

• Miami, FL:  Kick off your wildlife Florida Keys road trip with the primates at Monkey Jungle in Miami. Families can walk the fenced-in trails and watch the 30 species of monkeys in their own habitats.
• Everglades National Park, FL:  After the monkeys, it’s time for some reptiles on your Florida Keys road trip. A stop at Everglades National Park means a visit with the American crocodile and alligators. Families can take a boat tour to see alligators, manatees, birds and more.
• Key Largo, FL:  After the Everglades, it’s time to embark on the overseas portion of the highway and hang out with some mammals. In Key Largo, families can interact with and experience dolphins in their natural seawater homes within a variety of dolphin encounter opportunities.
• Islamorada, FL:  Just another 20 minutes south on the road to Key West, families can make a stop at the Theater of the Seas in Islamorada. The marine mammal park is home to dolphins, sea lions, sea turtles, stingrays, alligators, birds and more.
• Marathon, FL: Stop at the Turtle Hospital in Marathon for a guided tour of the rehabilitation and release center for sea turtles. Families will learn how they can help injured sea turtles, tour a turtle operating room where many turtles have been saved, and–if timing is just right–you may be able to witness a turtle release back into the wild.
• Sugarloaf Key, FL:  Trade your car in for a boat charter on your Florida Keys road trip and go fishing in Sugarloaf Key.
• Key West, FL:  Once you reach the southernmost point of the continental United States, make sure to visit the six-toed cats at the Ernest Hemingway House and the Key West Butterfly Conservatory. Kids will also love a conch train tour around the streets of Key West.

Recommended Hotel:  Parrot Key Hotel and Villas

9. Appalachian Trail Road Trip

The Appalachian Trail runs through 14 states from Maine to Georgia. But if hiking through 14 states isn’t your speed, there’s an Appalachian Trail road trip that (mostly) parallels the iconic walking trail. It’s still quite a lengthy road trip so families could do the full road trip or portions of it with the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive (see below).

Appalachian Trail Road Trip Stops 

• Mount Katahdin, ME:  The Appalachian Trail technically begins in the North at Mount Katahdin, which is situated in Baxter State Park in Maine. Hiking Katahdin isn’t for the novice hiker so we recommend starting your Appalachian Trail road trip with a smaller hike or night of camping in Baxter State Park.
• Washington Auto Road, NH: This 8-mile New Hampshire scenic drive up to Mt. Washington can be its own road trip (see above) or it makes for a cool drive along your longer Appalachian Trail road trip.
• Woodstock, NH:  In this charming New Hampshire town families can visit the Cascade waterfalls and the Lost River Gorge and Boulder Caves. Arrive at night and take a guided lantern tour through the caves!
• Somerset, VT:  Visit Mount Snow in Vermont in the summer months and stretch your stiff legs with some mountain biking.
• Mt Washington, MA:  Visit the Mount Washington State Forest in the southwest corner of Massachusetts and hike a portion of the Appalachian Trail.
• Cornwall, CT:  Drive across the West Cornwall Covered Bridge on your way through Connecticut. It dates back to the 1800’s.
• Danbury, CT:  Make a road trip stop at the Danbury Railway Museum, where you can ride the rails and tour the museum. The former Danbury train station was a major thoroughfare in the first half of the 1900’s and is also where Alfred Hitchcock’s movie Strangers on a Train was filmed.
• Monroe, NY:  The Museum Village, a living-history museum in Monroe, New York, is a great road trip stop alongside the Appalachian Trail. Kids will love the 200-year-old log cabin, one-room schoolhouse and the general store, all depicting 19 th century rural American life.
• Easton, PA:  After history and hiking on your Appalachian Trail road trip, it’s time for some creativity. Visit the Crayola Factory in Easton, Pennsylvania, to see how crayons are made, play with interactive games, create your own unique crayon, splash at the water table, draw with chalk, paint, sculpt, color and more.
• Lancaster, PA:  At the Turkey Hill Experience, families can learn how ice cream is made. While this isn’t a working factory, kids can star in their own commercial, milk a mechanical cow and create virtual ice cream flavors. The Amish Experience is also worth a stop; families can visit an Amish farm, home and one-room schoolhouse.
• Gettysburg, PA:  Kids can learn about the American Civil War at the Gettysburg National Military Park, where the Battle of Gettysburg (a turning point battle in the war) took place. Families can take a guided battlefield walk, visit the National Cemetery, experience a living history battle demonstration or go horseback riding along the trails.
• Frederick, MD:  Take a stroll through Historic Downtown Frederick and visit the playgrounds and lake at Baker Park. Your kids might also enjoy the National Museum of Civil War Medicine.
• Shenandoah National Park, VA:  The Appalachian Trail runs the length of Shenandoah National Park. Stop for a hike, picnic, some fishing or a bike ride.
• Roanoke, VA:  Visit the animals at the Mill Mountain Zoo in Roanoke where you’ll find snow leopards, red panda, otters, turtles and more. Or go mountain biking or kayaking in the river.
• Asheville, NC:  Get out of the car and head to the treetops with a variety of ziplining experiences throughout Asheville. Some are more daring than others, but all of the courses will have your family seeing Asheville from on high. A tour of America’s castle, the Biltmore Estate, is also a fun, with kid-friendly audio tours.
• Great Smoky Mountain National Park, TN:  Families will love to go fishing, camping or hiking to see waterfalls, wildflowers and wildlife in this expansive 800-acre national park.
• Springer Mountain, GA:  As the end (or start) in the south of the Appalachian Trail, families can complete the Appalachian Trail road trip with a 2-mile hike to the summit from the Springer Mountain parking area. It’s a moderate hike with rocky areas, but offers outstanding views of the Blue Ridge Mountains to complete your ultimate family road trip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHy6n9NAOI0  Recommended Hotel:  Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort

10.  Skyline Drive Road Trip

Skyline Drive (which can also be part of the longer Appalachian Trail Road Trip) runs 105 miles north and south along the Blue Ridge Mountains within Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. You can drive the length of Skyline Drive, which takes about three hours, or choose only a portion as there are four entrances to this road trip.

Skyline Drive Road Trip Stops 

• Front Royal Entrance Station:  Before officially entering Shenandoah National Park, make a stop at Dinosaur Land, a prehistoric forest from the past. Kids will love seeing the (almost) life-size dinosaurs that fill the park. On a family road trip, this kitschy roadside attraction is a must.
• Thornton Gap Entrance Station:  Near the Thornton Gap Entrance Station on Skyline Drive, families will find the Luray Caverns, underground caves that were discovered in 1878. Kids will marvel at the stalactites and stalagmites along the 1.5-mile guided underground tour. A bonus when visiting Luray Caverns is that your ticket also includes the Car and Carriage Caravan Museum, Luray Valley Museum and the Toy Town Junction.
• Swift Run Gap Entrance Station:  Big Meadows is located about 30 minutes from the Swift Run Gap Entrance at milepost 51 along Skyline Drive. Families will find several Skyline Drive hikes at Big Meadows, as well as camping facilities.
• Rockfish Gap Entrance Station:  Continue your Skyline Drive hikes near the Rockfish Gap Entrance to Shenandoah National Park as you reach the southern point of your Skyline Drive road trip and the northern point of a Blue Ridge Parkway road trip (see below).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjWsrkBvTts  Recommended Hotel: Big Meadows Lodge

11. Blue Ridge Parkway Road Trip

From Virginia to Tennessee, this family road trip begins and ends at two different national parks, Shenandoah National Park and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. A Blue Ridge Parkway road trip, which runs about 469 miles, allows your kids to experience two great national parks in one road trip.

Blue Ridge Parkway Road Trip Stops 

• Shenandoah National Park, VA:  Begin your Blue Ridge Parkway road trip at Shenandoah National Park’s Rockfish Gap Entrance Station. This is the point where Skyline Drive ends in the south and the Blue Ridge Parkway starts in the north.
• Natural Bridge, VA:  Make sure to stop at this 215-foot tall natural arch on your Blue Ridge Parkway road trip. Located within Natural Bridge State Park, the Natural Bridge is a limestone gorge carved out by Cedar Creek and as a Virginia Historic Landmark, it’s definitely something kids should see before they grow up.
• Roanoke, VA:  Visit the Roanoke Pinball Museum, where there are 55 playable machines dating as far back as the 1930s.
• Blowing Rock, NC: In this charming North Carolina town along the Blue Ridge Parkway sits a rock formation that juts out from a cliff. The wind blows upward from the Blowing Rock and snow seems to fall upside down here. The lore behind why the wind blows upward at Blowing Rock is a love story between a Chickasaw Chieftain’s daughter and a Cherokee brave.
• Asheville, NC:  A tour of the Biltmore Estate, America’s largest home, is a must on a Blue Ridge Parkway road trip. Built by George W. Vanderbilt in the 1890s, it features 250 rooms, including 35 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms and 65 fireplaces.
• Cherokee, NC:  As the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway, families can visit the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, where kids can experience and learn about the 13,000 years of Cherokee history through artifacts, art work, life-sized figures and special effects.
• Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN:  This expansive 800-acre national park sits in North Carolina and Tennessee and is home to some of the oldest mountains in the world. Finish out your Blue Ridge Parkway road trip with some family camping. There are a variety of campsites and facilities in Great Smoky Mountains National Park; whether you want to rough it on the ground or camp near your car with running water, you have options.

Recommended Hotel:  Hilton Garden Inn Gatlinburg Downtown

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18 Road Trip Goodie Bags to Make Your Kids Smile

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“Are we there yet?” road trip goodie bags will be the solution that you’re looking for to fight boredom on your next family road trip!

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Table of Contents

Road Trip Goodie Bags: Who are they good for?

Containing snacks, trinkets, printable games, and activities, “Are we there yet?” road trip goodie bags are the perfect addition to adding fun and pizazz to a classic family road trip.

In addition, road trip goodie bags are good for children of any age!

At the time of our first epic road trip, our 3 boys were ages 7, 10, and 12. Though our 10 and 12- year-olds wouldn’t have normally played with trinkets or dollar store arts and crafts, in comes the exception!

All 3 of our children, despite their ages, were fascinated by the road trip goodie bags given to them in the form of a ‘gift’ along a boring stretch of Interstate.

Those of you with younger children will need to substitute age-appropriate snacks and toys.

Likewise, parents of girls vs. boys may choose to add in some gender-specific trinkets .

Alternatively, consider adding Itunes gift cards, books, magazines, and sugary snacks suitable for tweens and teens.

In other words, go with the general idea of these road trip goodie bags and add things that will excite you and your kids!

Additional planning tip: For the most successful, grumbling-free adventure, combine the use of these activity bags with my Top 10 Tips for a Family Road Trip .

Likewise, because traveling with kids ages 1 – 4 presents its own set of ‘challenges’, read up on these toddler-specific road trip activities that are sure to keep them preoccupied!

Click the following image to get your FREE family vacation packing list and BONUS Disney Day Bag packing list that is both customizable and printable!

Road Trip Goodie Bags: How much should I spend?

Each and every one of the following items was purchased at The Dollar Store knowing that their use is intended to be simple and short-lived.

They are basically ‘in-the-moment-sanity savers’.

In other words, nothing don’t buy anything fancy or expensive.

I made 18 bags for each of our 3 children. 9 bags for the way to our destination, and 9 bags for the return trip home.

Each bag contains 2 or 3 Dollar Store items with the exception of a few activity bags that contained more expensive items.

Additional planning tip: The total cost for our 54 “Are we there yet?” road trip activity bags was $90.00.

“Are We There Yet?” Road Trip Goodie Bags

“Are we there yet bags” are intended to be small surprises to give your children throughout the duration of an extended road trip.

They do not replace healthy snacks and meals that should be alternated with the candy and treats mentioned below.

Instead, refer to a reliable road trip food list for healthy meal and snack ideas when traveling.

Select bags based on their portability and size, and be sure to purchase treat bags that children cannot see through.

Likewise, buy enough bags to give to your children every 30 minutes to 1-hour throughout the duration of your family road trip.

1. Notebooks, markers, and stickers

Notebook of plain white drawing paper and a fresh new pack of markers. Insert some stickers for a little something extra.

2. Hand-held pinball game

Hand-held pinball game and a snack-size treat. Perfect to keep small hands busy!

3. Portable dry erase board

Travel size dry erase board and sweet and salty snack mix (or other fun snack!).

Everyone loves a good dry-erase board, but be careful, some of the markers’ ink are hard to get out of clothing.

4. Party favors

Why not have a party in the car?

Colorful party favors can be used as a small, fun toy. Add in some gum to keep the kids extra occupied!

5. Minnie Mouse chapstick and Minnie snack bags

Purchase themed-baggies to make individual portions of various snacks. Accompany the themed bags with a coordinating toy or accessory!

Pick and choose the characters of your choice.

6. Word search puzzle book and multi-colored pen

Help pass time in the car by playing road trip word games that involve family interaction and fun!

For silent play, purchase age-appropriate word search puzzle books, crossword puzzle books, or Sodoku puzzle books.

They may not be exciting for kids, per se, but they sure do pass a huge chunk of time!

7. Travel size play dough

Travel size playdough and a sweet treat that perhaps they have never had before!

Bypass this activity if you’re worried that your children are too small to use playdough without getting it all over the seats’ upholstery.

8. Punch balloons or bubbles

Punch balloons or bubbles are a great idea for a pit stop or roadside activity when everyone is needing to get a little energy out!

9. Felt-art or other coloring Kit with a sweet treat

Pre-packaged art kits are an awesome road trip activity and a perfect addition to your road trip goodie bags!

Because these are something that children are not always exposed to, opening this will be a sweet surprise.

10. Glow stick necklaces for nighttime travel

Kids love nighttime travel! Seeing the surrounding citys’ lights is always so fascinating to little ones.

Build on their excitement by gifting them with their own light bracelets or necklaces.

11. Bubble-Goo bubble blower

Insert any off trinket of your choice here. Though I typically don’t like trinkets laying around the house, they’re a perfect match for fighting road trip boredom !

12. Themed crayons and a marching snack-bag treat

How cute are these themed Ziplock baggies?

Check out every square inch of your local dollar store to find these and other clever dollar store items that are perfect for kids!

13. Sporty water bottle and water flavoring

Our kids get a kick out of adding their own flavoring to plain-ol’ water.

For added fun, they love to switch flavors and add more than one flavor to their water bottles to make their own flavor varieties.

Though this is a great addition to your road trip goodie bags, be sure to gift the water bottle when a restroom break is up and coming.

14. Balloons to blow-up and bop around

Another great pit-stop activity! Watch for small pieces around little ones, however, as balloons are known to be a choking hazard.

15. Squish-able bubble wrap and collector cards

A genius, but noisy way to beat road trip boredom!

Who doesn’t love popping bubble wrap? Especially when given your own small supply that is just enough to get under Mom and Dad’s nerves?

Pair this activity with a quieter option, like collector cards such as Pokemon’ or sports cards.

16. Color activity book and a calculator for pushing buttons and computing fun

Kids love pushing calculator buttons, especially when it’s not because they’re doing homework.

Dollar store calculators and coloring books are an inexpensive way to keep kids happy while on the road.

17. Putty, slime, or anything gooey!

You may cringe at the thought of a potential mess, but your kids will indeed have loads of fun with a hand-sized amount of putty of slime to keep them occupied.

Find a unique fluffy slime recipe here!

18. A destination-appropriate travel cup (Disney!)

Where ya headed? Stir up the excitement for your ending point by adding in some toys and trinkets that pertain to your destination.

Disney paraphanelia for a Disney vacation, hiking supplies for a National Park vacation, or sand toys for a beach vacation. Your options are endless!

There ya have it!

Easy peasy road trip goodie bags and surprise treats that can be customized per child!

Trust me, they will keep the kids entertained for hours!

What road trip activity is your favorite way to help pass time? Thanks for responding! Jen

If you liked this post on 18 ideas for Road Trip Goodie Bags , click here to check out our Related Posts:

• Words Games to Play in the Car With Kids
• Road Trip Food List and 9 Essential Travel Food Tips
• Road Trip Activities for Toddlers: Best Tips and Hacks
• Top 10 Family Road Trip Tips That Are A Lifesaver!
• Family Vacation Packing Tips: How to Pack Like A Pro
• Top 16 Tips For Flying With Kids (& Strategies to Keep Them Calm and Happy)

*Before leaving, be sure to check our Travel Resources Page to find exclusive travel discounts and to book hotels, rental cars, and guided tours.*

Jen Brommer is a family travel expert. She has been featured as an authority on several notable travel websites and is a member of the Family Travel Association (FTA), Midwest Travel Network, and TravMedia global media network.

A prominent content creator and influencer on Instagram, Jen has over 150K unique monthly blog readers from countries all over the world. She has spent the last 16 years planning fun, and hassle-free family vacations for her family of 5.

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I can’t wait to use these ideals the next time we take a trip. My son is 12 so I thought of even other ideals I can add to the bags.

Yay! I’m glad you came up with some fun ideas! Our oldest is 13 years-old and, yes, it is still fun picking out stuff for him too 🙂

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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.

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!

Pin for Later

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From saving on gas to driving with kids, here's your ultimate road trip planner

"Easy Travel” is a 10-part series focusing on how to reduce bumps during vacations, anticipate roadblocks and be ready when things aren’t going your way. If you'd like to contribute to our future reporting and share your experience as a source, you can click here to fill out this quick form .

Ina Daly has spent most of her life on the road.

“My dad was a truck driver and that led me to becoming a truck driver,” she said. “What we do in a day, on a daily job would be like a long road trip to most people.”

With nearly 40 years of driving for freight transportation services provider XPO and numerous industry accolades under her belt, including grand champion at this year’s Arizona Truck Driving Championship , Daly is a pro. She’s also a mom and a grandmother who’s happy to share her experiences to make everyone’s road trips better.

“Some of the things I'm telling you are what we truckers tell our family members,” she said. “I've had a lot of accomplishments in my career and going to the National Truck Driving Championships (this month) is a reward, but the bigger reward is being able to share some things … that have the potential to save lives.”

What to do before a long drive

“Make sure that your vehicle’s road trip ready,” Daly said. ”Really pay close attention to your tires, your coolant, your fan belt.”

She notes tire dealers often offer free inspections to ensure tires are properly inflated and undamaged.

AAA spokesperson Aixa Diaz advises getting the whole car serviced before hitting the road.

“If you're a car person and you can, do that yourself at home, by all means,” she said. Otherwise, she recommends getting the oil changed and battery and tires checked professionally. 

To save time and avoid stress, Diaz also suggests filling up on gas the night before leaving and making hotel reservations well in advance, noting that many hotels allow cancellations without penalty up until the day beforehand. 

What do you need before a road trip?

It’s always good to keep an emergency kit with supplies like first aid, a flashlight and extra batteries, and basic tools in the vehicle.

“You want to make sure that if you do have a tire issue, you have the proper tools and jacks in your vehicle to be able to change it,” Daly said. She said warning signals like reflective triangles can also warn other drivers to steer clear in the event of a breakdown.

For road trips, both she and Diaz recommend shelf-stable snacks like protein bars that won’t melt and plenty of water. “Don't think that a bottle or two for everybody is enough,” Daly said. “You've got to have, you know, five or six bottles for everyone.” 

Diaz also recommends wet wipes, blankets during the winter, and any time-sensitive medication or pet food that might be needed in the event of an extended delay.

“These things ideally wouldn't take up too much room in your trunk but they're just good to have in case of an emergency,” Diaz said. “Just think, ‘If I were stuck for a long time, what would keep me comfortable until I was able to (get) help?’”  

A printed map and a general sense of the route can also help in case there GPS hiccups or a phone dies.  AAA’s free TripTik planner can help travelers plot their trips in advance and find rest stops, lodging, food and gas along the way. And its free Gas Cost Calculator can help locate the cheapest average gas prices for drivers when it’s time to refuel.

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What I should know before a road trip?

“Everything can be a distraction in the car – the radio, the kids, etc. But the phone is a big one,” Daly advised. “When you’re driving, that thing should not ever be in your hand.”

More than 3,500 people were killed on U.S. roads in 2021 because of distracted driving, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration . 

Daly also recommends watching out for distracted drivers.

“You can tell a distracted driver by their fluctuating speed,” she warned. “They're drifting in their lane. Their head is looking down instead of focusing on the road. You want to give those people a wide berth.”

How long will a road trip take?

Road trips always take longer than expected because of traffic, construction and other things that arise en route.

Diaz says to expect at least an hour longer than whatever the GPS predicts. Daly recommends leaving at least two hours early.

“You don't want that stressful drive,” Daly said. “You’re hurrying. That lends to bad driving behaviors like tailgating and speeding, which leads to accidents. Don’t put yourself in that situation.”

How many hours a day should you drive on a road trip?

“It just varies so much from person to person, how long they’re comfortable driving,” Diaz said. “We want to err on the side of safety. We want people to be safe on the roads and drive the speed limit and not rush it, but everybody's different.”

Switching out drivers can lighten the load, but no matter who is driving, Daly said, “If you're starting to feel a little, less attentive, maybe a little fatigued, it’s time to take a break.”

What time is best to drive?

“We always recommend, especially during the holidays, leave early in the morning,” Diaz said. “The later you leave in the day, the worse it's going to be because a lot of times during the week … you're going to mix with those commuters on the road.”

“Some people enjoy night driving,” she added. “Once you get to like 8 p.m., 9 p.m. traffic comes down a lot.” 

However, she noted drivers who leave in the evening should watch out for fatigue and plan to drive less than if they started fresh in the morning.

How do you take a good road trip with kids? 

When possible, Daly recommends having a designated passenger to help with kids so the driver can focus on the road.  

Another important thing is to keep seatbelts on the whole way.

“Kids have a tendency to take those off,” Daly said. “Make sure they stay buckled up. I've seen some horrible things out there.”

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What do kids need on a road trip?

Entertainment helps pass the time, but it doesn’t have to be digital. There are all sorts of screen-free road trip games . 

Diaz recommends printing a map or list of sites or cities for kids to watch for along the way.

“You know, yell it out or mark it on your sheet,” she said. “Have some crayons in the car with them so they're following along on the trip, and they feel like they're part of it.”

“Point out historical landmarks and scenery; enjoy nature,” Daly echoed. “That's one of the things that we truck drivers love about our jobs is we get to see the country and nature.”

Stop at points of interest every few hours or simply for everyone to stretch their legs.

And for those times when kids are on screens, make sure to pack car chargers.

What is the best way to save gas?

Don’t speed. 

“Fuel economy peaks at around 50 miles per hour on most cars, and then it drops off as the speeds increase,” Diaz said. “You think, ‘OK, if I just go 70, I'm going to get there faster, and it'll be better,’ but essentially, you're just wasting gas at that point." Fuel economy can be increased by as much as 15% by reducing highway speeds by 5 to 10 miles per hour, she said.

Don’t idle unnecessarily either, like at rest stops.

“Your car engine consumes about a quarter to a half a gallon of fuel per hour while it's idling,” she said. “But a warm engine only takes about 10 seconds’ worth of fuel to restart, so if it's safe to do so, just shut off your engine.”

Story continues below.

What happens if my tire blows out?

“When you blow a tire, kaboom, it freaks you out. Do not panic,” Daly said. “Don't slow down abruptly or brake hard or jerk the wheel because that will cause you to lose control and have an accident.”

“Just focus on steering,” she added. “Slow very gradually, off to the side of the road in a safe area, and you won’t have any issue from your blown tire.”

How do you drive around semitrucks?

“Be aware of our needs and limitations,” Daly said. “You know we’re big. We need a lot of space around us. We have big blind spots. … If you can’t see the truck driver’s face in the mirrors of the truck, the truck driver can’t see you.”

She advised against passing on the right. 

“If you have to pass quickly, don’t linger over there. We see people driving over there for the shade (and it) puts us in a very dangerous situation,” she said. “And don’t cut in front of us and then hit your breaks. People don’t like to follow a truck because they can’t see around us, so they pass us and then cut in front of us.”

“It takes away that safety cushion we leave in front of us,” she added. “When you see all that space in front of a truck, that's not for your convenience so that you can pass us and cut into it. That’s for our safety and yours.”

By the same token, she advised fellow drivers to leave plenty of space in front of their own vehicles, so they have enough room to stop quickly in an emergency. If another driver cuts into that space, she suggested, “Take a break. Slow down again. Recreate that space. Bite your tongue and think pure thoughts.”

That last tip may not be so easy.

What has been your best or worst road trip experience?