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Living Well Mom

I help moms with simple, natural ways to look after their families. Find recipes, fun stuff for kids, and simple DIY ideas. Plus natural solutions made easy peasy!

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

Blue i Style

Creating an Organized & Pretty, Happy Home

Lifestyle · Organizing · Organizing on the Go · Travel

Create an Organized Travel Binder + Free Printable Planning Pages

If there is one thing that I have learned in all of our travels – especially our international travels – it’s that it is inevitable that something  will go wrong on any trip. It might be a lost bag, it might be a reservation snafu, it might be a technology failure. But it’s bound to be something.

I’ve also learned, however, that a little bit of planning and preparation in advance can ensure that whatever challenge arises can be more easily dealt with and you can be back to enjoying your vacation with much less stress!   That’s where my organized travel binders and my free printable planning pages come in…

• Overview of Organized Travel Binder Contents
• Phone Number List
• Document Copies
• General Travel Tips
• Destination Specific Info

• Primary phone number (usually a cell phone) where you can be reached. 
• Instructions for calling the destination country from the US {this is helpful if your flight gets cancelled and you need to call to change a reservation, or if someone at home needs to reach you at a hotel}
• Instructions for calling the US from the destination country. 
• Time Difference – If you are making an international call, you’ll need to know the time difference, so I always include the time zone and how many hours it is ahead of or behind home.
• Exchange rate – I update right before we leave on the trip

Below the “General Info” is a section for each day of the trip. I always include both the day of the week and the date, because it can be become hard to keep track of the date when you are traveling.

My itinerary template includes five sections for each day. I copy and paste these five sections for each day of the trip, and then as our travel plans come together, I delete any unused sections under each date.

• FLIGHTS/TRAVEL:
• Airline Name(s)
• Fight Numbers
• Arrival and Departure Times {noting time zones}
• HOTELS:  
• Email Address
• Confirmation Number or Confirmation Details {I only list this on the day of check in}
• I copy and paste the hotel info for each day of our stay. This might seem like overkill, but if someone back home needs to reach you in an emergency {something always on my mind when I traveling without my kids}, it’s much easier for them to have all of your info in one spot for each day.
• TRANSPORTATION: This is where I add notes about:
• Hotel Transfers {whom to look for; will they have a board with our name, etc.}
• Rental Car Pick Ups {rental company name; reservation number; car type}
• Taxi Notes {I always research the expected rate from airport to hotel in advance, as you may get overcharged as a tourist if you don’t know the reasonable rate and confirm it up front}
• Any Public Transportation Info {which train to take, etc}
• TOURS & ACTIVITIES: In this section include:
• Tour Company Name
• Departure & Return Times
• Location or Pick Up/Transfer Info
• Contact Info (including a day of cell number for the guide, if available}
• Confirmation Number or Booking Details
• Activities (such as sights, monuments, museums, etc.)
• Destination Address
• Hours of Operation
• Admission Cost
• REMINDERS: This is the section were I make reminder notes to myself, such as: 
• Check in for a flight 24 hours ahead
• Call to confirm a flight in advance {especially important on very small airlines}
• Call to confirm a tour/activities {often required for activities that are weather dependent} 

The REMINDERS section is one of the most important when we travel! When you are busy enjoying your trip, it’s easy to lose track of the days, and even easier to get so busy having fun to that you forget things like checking in for flights. This might mean you wind up not sitting by your travel companion on your flight home, or it could be much worse… like not getting on a flight altogether.

This is one of those things I’ve learned through experience! Even in the age of technology, some small airlines – like those that provide flights between islands – still require that you call to confirm your flight in advance {usually 48 or 72 hours ahead of the departure time}. Failure to do so can result in your seat being given away to someone else. Here are my anecdotes – feel free to skip to the next photo if you don’t want to hear my travel stories. 😉

I never believed that an airline would really give your seat away if you didn’t call to confirm… until it happened to my friends! In college, I studied abroad in Australia, and some friends and I stopped in Fiji for a week on our way back the US. The small island-to-island airline we were booked on required that you call to confirm. I did, but two of my friends did not. When we arrived at the airstrip a couple of days later, we learned that one of their seats had been given away.  The next flight to the big island wasn’t for two more days, so he miss his flight back the US and had to deal with trying to rescheduling international flights from an island with limited phone service and no internet access. After that, I’ve always been even more vigilant about calling to confirm flights, and that has paid off. On our honeymoon in Greece, we called to confirm our flight from the island of Santorini back to Athens. To our dismay, the airline insisted we did not have a reservation, even when we gave them the confirmation number. The airline requested that we drive to the airport {on the other side of the island} to show them the confirmation, and then finally managed to get us seats on the flight. Dealing with it was a hassle, but had my itinerary not remind me to call to confirm, or had I not had a print out of the confirmation, we wouldn’t have made it on that flight back to Athens three days later, and during the high season in the Greek Islands, finding a hotel for an extra night would have been nearly impossible.

Ok, enough stories… back to the travel binder!

LIST OF IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS

After the itinerary for our trip is complete, I always put together a list of important phone numbers. Download the editable phone list template as a Word document.

On this phone list, I include every number we might need while traveling,  as well as numbers that friends and family back home might need in order to assist us, or in case of an emergency. Y ou can read all of the notes in the template above, but I’ll highlight a few important points:

• US EMBASSIES: If you passport were lost or stolen while you are traveling abroad {or if you were the victim of another crime}, you would have to contact the nearest US Embassy or Consulate for assistance. Most embassies have a daytime phone number, as well as an after hours emergency number, so be sure to note both.
• In the event that your passport needed to be replaced, you would also need copies of several documents, including a copy of your drivers license and your passport. I always travel with a copy in my binder and leave a copy, a copy in my email {or Google Drive}, and a copy at home with a family member who could fax it to me. Here is a full list of requirements from the Department of State .
• AIRLINES: Many airlines have different numbers to call for reservation changes, and for baggage. If you miss a flight or lose your luggage while traveling, it can save a lot of time and hassle to have each of these numbers at your finger tips {otherwise you may find yourself on hold and being passed around endlessly – trust me on this one!}
• CREDIT CARDS: If your wallet were lost or stolen, you would need to have all of the numbers on hand to quickly call and report it / cancel cards. All of the relevant numbers are listed on the back of your cards, but that doesn’t do any good if you don’t have your cards, so save the hassle by adding these numbers to you phone list. 
• In order to report your cards stolen, you may also need to know your account numbers, therefore it’s a good idea to make a copy of each card that you are traveling with and leave the copies with a family member. I don’t recommend putting these copies in your binder, or emailing them to yourself, since this risks the info getting into the wrong hands.
• Also be sure to inform your banks and credit card companies of your travel plans before you leave. Failing to inform banks/credit card companies of planned use abroad can result in fraud concerns, and if the bank cannot immediately reach you, they may freeze your account, rendering your card unusable for a period of time.
• Check with your financial institutions regarding foreign transaction fees. The fees can vary widely, so make an educated determination of which cards you want to use abroad so that you won’t be surprised by the fees when you return
• FAMILY / WORK / SCHOOL: It’s always good to list numbers for all of the people you might need to reach if you were to be delayed or in case of an emergency. Don’t rely on having these numbers programmed into your phone, because phones can be very unreliable when traveling abroad. Include even those numbers you have memorized, as it’s easy to forget a number when a stressful situation arises, or someone else back home might need to call for you if you get stuck somewhere.

I’ve used different tabs to organize my binders over time, but I now typically include a tab for DOCUMENT COPIES, GENERAL TRAVEL TIPS, and then a tab for each major destination. I sometimes also include a FINANCIAL TAB, as I’ll explain below. DOCUMENT COPIES

• I’m not including any photos of this section of my binders, since the documents contain personal information, but documents you should include here are:
• Print outs of flight confirmations
• Copies of your passport and drivers license
• Copies of any travel insurance documents
• Any other documents you might need to make the trip run smoothly
• As noted above, I DO NOT include copies of credit cards in this section, but you should leave a copy with someone at home in case they are stolen and need to be reported
• I do not include print outs of hotel and tour confirmations or maps in this section. I instead put those documents behind the tab for each city/town, which I find makes it faster to find what you need throughout the trip.
• This is a good place in the binder to put any general info that you might want to reference quickly while traveling, such as: 
• Instructions from your cell phone carrier about how to get your phone working when you arrive {this may require international codes; etc}. If you arrive and your phone isn’t working, finding this info online won’t be an option.
• Tipping customs {who to tip, when, and how much}  
• A conversion cheat sheet {I make my own based on the exchange rate at the time}
• Basic questions/phrases if you are traveling to a place where you don’t speak the language
• Guidelines for appropriate attire {important if you’ll be visiting small villages or religious sites}

• In order to receive your VAT refund , you typically have to identify yourself as a tourist when paying for goods and request a special tax invoice from shop owners. You then fill out a form at the airport and provide your tax invoices prior to departure. 
• The amount of your potential refund can add up quickly when you are traveling and purchasing goods and gifts, so you don’t want to miss out by failing to keep receipts organized! This is why, for our trip to South Africa, I included a dedicated financial section with information about which purchases qualified for refund, and pocket to keep all of the eligible receipts/tax invoices in one place. This made it very fast and easy to fill out the form and have our refund processed at the airport before flying home to the US. 

• I put document copies relevant to each location behind these tabs, such as hotel confirmations, documentation for rental cars being picked up in this location, tour bookings, etc.

• Maps & Driving Directions: 
• When we travel, we love to explore at our own pace, so we often end up renting a car to drive from town to town. Any time we will be driving abroad, we always rent a GPS for that country {either from the rental car company, or from a third party if necessary}. But while a GPS makes driving in an unfamiliar country much less stressful, it’s also not fool proof. Like all other technology, GPS isn’t reliable all the time, and the last thing you want is to be lost between destinations in a country where you don’t speak the language enough to get directions.
• I always put an overview map from each Point A to Point B in my travel binder. Having this map provides a good check against the GPS. Before setting out to drive to a new town, we always zoom out on the GPS and ensure that the route looks somewhat similar to our printed map to make sure we are headed in the right direction. 
• We’ve discovered that often the American spellings for towns are different than the local spellings {Fira vs. Thira for the main town on the island of Santorini, Greece, for example}. There are often also towns with similar spellings. This can cause confusion when you are inputting the destination into your GPS, so checking against a printed map makes sure you don’t waste time driving in the wrong direction {this is another “trust me” moment”}.

• I also like to print out the turn by turn directions from Google maps, and include those in the binder as well. I only reference these directions if we run into trouble getting where we need to go via GPS, but it seems that at least once a trip I need to refer to these directions, and when I do, having them is a life saver!

• DESTINATION TRAVEL TIPS: 
• We like to visit a lot of small towns when we travel {to get more of a local feel}, and I often end up consulting more than one travel guide in order to find complete info on each place we are visiting. Rather than having to carry multiple bulky books with me, I simply make copies of the few relevant pages and put them in the binder behind the tabs for those destinations.
• I do the same with destination specific travel tips that I’ve found from online review sites or recommendations from friends . I copy and paste the info into a single document and put it in the binder behind the tab for the city/town.

• INFO TO BRING HOME: In addition to filling your binder with all of the info you may need while traveling, you’ll also want to be able to easily add to the binder throughout the trip. The easiest way to do this is to put a bunch of clear plastic sleeves at the back of the binder, and then move the sleeves to the appropriate sections as you fill them up.
• Invoices & Receipts: Make sure to hold on to the invoices and receipts from hotels, rental cars, tours, etc., so that you can compare them to your credit card statement after you return home. More than once we have discovered that we were overcharged {or double charged}, and it’s much easier to resolve this if you have the documents on hand.
• I always like to pick up brochures and post cards from each place we visit. They help me remember the trip, come in handy to recall names of places if you decide create a photo book, and make it easier to give recommendations to friends later on. Putting all of the brochures from each destination in a clear plastic sleeve in the binder keeps them from cluttering up your purse or luggage, and makes it easier to find them again when you need them {even if it’s years later}.

IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY – DOWNLOAD THE FREE PRINTABLE PLANNING PAGES !  Make sure to also pin the image below so that you can easily find your way back to this post for all of these tips when you’re ready to put together your organized travel binder!

• Paper copies of documents are your best friend because technology failures are inevitable/unavoidable when traveling abroad.
• Always keep a copy of your itinerary, phone list, passport, and drivers license in your email {or on the cloud} and also leave a copy with someone at home.
• Leave a copy of your credit cards with someone trusted at home {but don’t carry copies with you or keep them in your email for security reasons}.
• Print your name, address, phone number, email, and a local number where you can be reach at your destination {like a hotel}, and put it inside each suitcases near the top. In the event that your luggage is lost or damaged, this can help the airline trace it back to you even if the outside luggage tag is torn off.
• Research international data usage costs with your cell phone carrier before you leave. Outbound and inbound calls may be very different prices, so it can be beneficial to make callback arrangements with those at home to save money. Your cell provider can also give you tips regarding which settings to change while abroad to eliminate unnecessary data usage, which can add up to big savings. Also remember that Facetime and Skype are free if you have a WiFi connection, which can save money over making standard phone call.
• Research requirements for confirming flights on small airlines. Failure to confirm the required time in advance {sometimes by phone} can result in your seat being given to someone else.
• Some small airlines, ferries, etc., have luggage weight limits much lower than those for international fights. Research these weight limits in advance, and plan accordingly. If you will be returning to the same city later in the trip, consider asking the hotel to store some of your luggage and pack into a smaller bag for your side excursions.
• Research the luggage capacity of your rental car. Most rental cars abroad are smaller than we are accustomed to in the US. A typically four passenger car in Europe, for example, is unlikely to have luggage space for four large suitcases. Pack accordingly, or make arrangements to store luggage at a hotel if you’ll be returning to that city later.
• Research tipping customs/recommendations in advance and estimate how much cash you’ll need for tipping tour guides, etc. In some locations, it’s not easy to get to an ATM for more cash, so be prepared and have tipping money set aside.
• Renting a GPS is highly recommended, but having paper maps and printed directions as a backup can be a life saver!

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How to Make a DIY Travel Binder for Kids (+Free Printables)

Today’s Guest Post is from Amanda Tallent at thezebra.com . She is sharing this great resource to make a travel binder for a road trip with kids.

NOTE*** The content on this page may contain affiliate links, we may make a commission. And, as an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.   More information: disclosure page .

Thinking back on your own childhood travel memories, what do you remember most? It might be that you left your favorite toy at the airport or playing the licence plate game on a road trip.

Whatever memory you carry along, you can aim to create those same experiences for your kids. 

Family trips are fun and adventurous but also challenging.

Related Content by Family Travel Fever:

• 17 tips for a memorable road trip with a toddler
• Driving tips for your next winter road trip

First, make sure you are prepared before you get in the car. Get your gear packed , have your car ready (especially if you are headed out for winter driving ), and by all means have plenty of activities for the kids.

Throwing your family out of their routine means that kids can be less than cooperative. Keeping them occupied while in the car or on a plane can also test your patience. Luckily, with some preparation and practice, you can raise some great travelers. 

A travel binder is a great way to encourage a love for travel at any age. You can fully customize them with games and activities your kids love.

If you have little ones that like to color, add plenty of coloring pages. If your kid enjoys puzzles, add mazes and word scrambles.

With special travel-themed printables, your kids can even track the details of their trip and record their memories. 

To start a travel binder, you’ll need:

• 1 binder (at least a ½ inch)
• Crayons, colored pencils, or markers
• Gel pens (glitter or metallic)
• Road Trip stickers
• Pencil holder or container for the crayons
• Sheet Protectors
• Printable activities

Instructions :

Gather all the printables before the trip and decorate the binders. Decorate the front by creating a front page and slipping it in the clear sleave on the outside.

You could print a map of your destination, print a photo of something you will see on your road trip or by color a piece of paper for the front.

Before heading out on the road gather all the printables and punch holes in each. You can pre-load the binders with some for the kids to start right away. Additional activities can be kept in a separate folder to hand out as the kids finish their pages.

Keep some art supplies in their backpack or the backseat of your car.

Once your child finishes all the activities, you can print more and replace or refill their binder so there’s always something new to do. 

Check out these travel-themed activities (from The Zebra ) to start your collection of printables.

They created printables for kids preschool–fifth grade and included 24 other printables for you to use. They include pages of tic-tac-toe squares, car coupons, a coloring map, and loads of activities for your kids.

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Free Travel Binder Printables for Kids

By: Author Kelli Miller

Posted on Published: June 23, 2017  - Last updated: November 4, 2023

Sharing is caring!

Are you planning a big family road trip soon? Hitting the road with kids is a family tradition that lots of people share each summer.

But as you’re riding along, you might expect your kids to get a little restless and irritable. Or worse, they may start shouting that age-old chorus “Are we there yet???” An easy way to get your kids excited about a road trip is to make up a travel binder they can bring along. But a binder is no good with nothing in it!

That’s why I’ve rounded up this list of fun  travel binder printables for kids! These printable activities are fun to bring on a road trip for kids of all ages!

Pack even more fun in your kids’ travel binders with these printable  road trip activity sheets  too!

Don’t just gather the below into a binder! Make sure to print out binder cover printables , too! That will make it easy to find your travel binder on your shelf or to distinguish between each kids’ binder.

While I love word finds and Dot to Dot Printables , this list goes so far beyond just those into LOAD of ways to keep your kiddos entertained on the road.

Table of Contents

Travel Binder Printables:

1. Bring along this printable  Restaurant I Spy  activity and challenge the kids to spot each one as you ride alone!

2. Pack some yarn to use with these adorable  Summer Lacing Cards !

3. Hand out this  Printable Road Trip Scavenger Hunt  activity to help the kids spot the sights!

4. Your older kids will love writing down their travel memories in this  Printable Travel Journal !

5. Keep track of the states you travel through with this neat  Editable Travel Map Printable  for kids!

6. These fun  Printable Travel Game Cards  will keep your kids happily entertained in the backseat!

7. Remember the license plate game? Get all the kids involved with this  License Plate I Spy  activity!

8. Play an old-fashioned game of BINGO with this  Road Trip Bingo Printable !

9. Help younger kids work on letter recognition with this printable  Alphabet I Spy Game !

10. Hand out crayons for the kids to use with these  Summer Coloring Pages !

11. These fun  Princess Dot to Dot Printables  are great for kids to work on as they ride!

12. See who can spot license plates the fastest with this  Printable License Plate Dash  activity!

13. Follow along the traveling alphabet with this printable  Billboard Alphabet Order  game!

14. Help the kids think up their own stories with these  Printable Road Trip Story Starters !

15. Here’s another I Spy game kids will love: a  Summer Vacation I Spy Game !

16. During the summer, you’re bound to see plenty of buzzing insects. Bring these  Insect Do a Dot Printables  for the kids!

17. Have a Star Wars fan in the family? They’ll love this printable  Star Wars I Spy Game !

18. Your little dino explorers will really “dig” this  Dinosaur Connect the Dots Printable !

19. This printable  Summer Activity Sheets  pack is full of easy activities for kids to do on road trips!

20. Preschoolers will have fun with these cute  Circus Do a Dot Printables !

21. If you have two kids or more, bring these  Printable Tic Tac Toe Games  and let them play a few games!

22. Work on alphabet skills and writing with this fun  ABCs of Summer Printable Journal !

23. Are your kids being a little…challenging on vacation? Try rewarding them for good behavior with these  Printable Car Bucks !

24. Use dot stickers with this collection of  Printable Do a Dot ABCs  for preschoolers!

Travel Binder Printables and Resources:

These affiliate travel resources for kids from Amazon are perfect additions to your collection of travel binder printables!

• Melissa & Doug On the Go Felt Friends Craft Activity Set with 188 Felt Stickers
• Kids’ Travel Journal (Interactive Diary, Notebook)
• National Geographic Kids Ultimate U.S. Road Trip Atlas: Maps, Games, Activities, and More for Hours of Backseat Fun

How to Make a DIY Travel Binder for Kids +FREE Printable Activity Pack!

Our family loves to travel ! But the getting to & from part, like driving or flying to our destination is what we could do without.

As an adult it’s not so bad, but with kids it can honestly be so hard sometimes!

To make the time go by faster, you have to have something prepared to keep kids busy & occupied. A DIY Travel Activity Binder for kids is an awesome way to keep kids busy when traveling!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. That means if you click & buy or sign up for a service through my link, I will receive a small compensation at no additional cost to you.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. See my Disclosure page for details.

Making a DIY Travel Binder for Kids

First, decide if you want to let the kids use dry erase markers on the pages of your travel binder, or just regular pencil & crayons/markers. (Depending on the age & maturity of your kids.)

If you want to reuse the travel binder for several trips, it’s super easy to make a fun travel binder/road trip binder for each child to use on family vacations.

Here’s What You Need:

• A 3 ring binder with clear cover like this one (1/2 inch or 1 inch is big enough, but not too big). Get different colors for each child if you have more than one.
• 3 hole punch and/or sheet protectors – if you want some pages to be reusable, or a place to store some pages.
• Crayons or colored pencils – we normally stick with the colored pencils, and/or dry erase markers (or regular markers or gel pens for older kids).
• Pencil pouch with 3 rings for all pens, pencils, etc.
• Printable activity sheets

Optional Items to Include:

• A clever pencil/pen holder like this one if you want to put one of these just on the inside of the notebook to keep it handy.
• 3 hole notebook for them to write in (use it as a travel journal too) or draw in.
• Graph paper would be fun to draw on if you have a Minecraft fan!
• A print out of the route to your destination off of Google Maps. This way the kids can follow along on the map as you drive/fly.
• Additional items in the front & back half-pockets of the notebook, like drawing stencils, these auto bingo cards that we love, coloring bookmarks, or other crafts,
• other drawing/craft supplies,
• ear buds that might get lost,
• little play figures or small toys that are easily lost (dinos, toy cars, etc.),
• small travel games like a deck of cards or magnetic travel games (we have a few like these that we love ),
• an eye spy activity bag like this,
• small snacks,
• flash cards on a binder ring,
• modeling dough (like Play Dough or Silly Putty).

Related Post: On the Go Travel Snacks for Kids [Nut-Free!]

Put your binder together.

• Make a cover sheet. Each child can create and decorate their own sheet to go in the front of the folder. Together you can also design a really fun one on Canva for free! Use my link & get a free 30 day trial to Canva Pro to try out all the awesome extra features in the Canva Pro version!
• Depending on the age of your child & what they’re interested in, you might want to print a few extra pages of the activity pack. The drawing prompts, word game, Mad Libs story, tic-tac-toe game sheet, & others are fun to use multiple times!
• Punch holes in any sheets that you want to and add them in. Then put whatever pages you want to in the page protectors, so that the kids can write on them with the dry erase markers.
• Fill up the pencil pouches as you see fit, add the cover sheet in the cover, and you’re ready to go! Take this with you to your hotel room or restaurant too, if your kids want to continue the fun!

What’s Inside the Travel Activity Planner & How to Use It

There are over 15 black & white pages (which gives your printer & your wallet a break!) in this travel activity binder.

This printable activity pack is for kids ages elementary & older, but many pages will work for younger kids too.

I love this pack because you can get several uses out of it!

● “My Travel Binder” Cover Sheet

Kids can color it before you leav e & slide it in the outside, clear pocket of their notebook. It’s a fun activity to help them get ready for the trip!

● An Alphabet Scavenger Hunt

Have the kids (or the whole family) find something that starts with A, B, then C, & so on, until they’ve spotted items for each letter of the alphabet.

This would be fun to do alone, or as a competition & see who can find items for each letter the fastest.

If you want to play together as a group, you could pick a theme like restaurants, or transportation. Or play without a theme & try to convince each other as to why your item should be the one to pick for that letter of the alphabet!

● Colorful States United States Map Printable

If you’re on a road trip or flying, kids can keep track of the states you’re driving through or flying over with this map.

If you’re on a road trip & not leaving the state you’re in, then the kids can make up a new coloring system & still use this to have some fun.

For example, they can assign different colors to the states they’ve been to, states they want to visit, states their parents have been to, etc.

They could even color the states alphabetically (could use different colors for each set of letters- like all states starting with A are blue), or use them like a Zentangle & do a different set of doodles in each state!

Besides reinforcing alphabetizing skills, this also helps kids learn geography & state abbreviations.

● Word Games

Our family loves word games! This would be a fun one to do on your own, together as a family, or as a competition. To win, see who can come up with the most words from the phrases listed.

If you leave the back blank when you print, the kids can also write more travel related phrases on the back & continue the fun!

Related Post: Top Tips to Reduce Car Sickness in Kids

● the license plate game.

This game is fun on your own or against others, but might be better suited for older kids. Younger kids could play it in teams with an older kid or an adult.

Color in the states that you see license plates from & whoever has the most at the end of the whole trip is the winner!

● Road Trip “Mad Libs” Type Silly Story

Our family LOVES Mad Libs! We like then so much that we sometimes do them at home during dinner time! We’ll also read over old Mad Libs we did before & laugh our heads off!

This Road Trip Mad Libs story is one I made up myself, with help from my son. We had a good time testing it out, haha!

● Games, Drawing Prompts & Travel Coloring Sheets

The rest of the travel activity pack has 4 different mazes, a tic-tac-toe sheet with 11 game boards drawn out & a place to keep score (they can always draw more boards on the back too), 4 travel-related coloring sheets, & 6 drawing prompts.

The drawing prompts are actually my favorite out of the rest of the pack, because they’re perfect for all ages to use & be creative! You could print out several of the full-page prompts & have kids draw/color something different each time!

At the end of the trip, it would be really fun to see all the different pictures. You could even take pictures of them to add to your vacation photo album!

More Printables to Keep Kids Busy

Need more kids’ printables to add in? Try these sites:

• Reinventing Robin’s Coloring Printables
• Education.com Printable Travel Games
• Krazydad Mazes
• All Kids Network Color By Number
• Crayola Free Places Coloring Pages (states, countries & landmarks)

Get Your FREE Vacation Printables Pack Today!

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Road Trip Binder with Free Printables

Would you like to comment?

Such a great idea! I love that it's all contained. And also that you could switch out and add more pages as she finished and got bored with pages.

That is such a fantastic idea!

I totally love these ideas! I had never thought of making an I-Spy bag like that! I bought all the beads, buttons, and different things to look for in an i-spy bag, but never got around to sewing one. This is much better! We have lots of road trips planned starting later this month and these will be great ideas to use!

This binder is amazing! I wish I had this when my guys were little!

These are great! I did a similar thing when my kids were younger and they loved it!

This is seriously so smart! I will definitely be using this in the future.

This is such a great idea. I don't have very young children anymore but I sure could have used something like this for long road trips. We just brought along, snacks, a notebook or coloring book and crayons. Sharing with other moms of young children!

What a great idea - we love road trips, so I'm going to try this next time!

I love this! Such a great idea

I just came back from a 20 hour road trip with two kids and I wish I had this!! I'm definitely doing this for the next road trip.

Thank you so much! Ypu are a life saver I have 6 kids. This is going to save our trip!

This is great for traveling to beaches as I have a 5 year old who loves this

What a great idea! Thanks for sharing.

Love all the ideas! Thank you for sharing. However, you might want to look into the backstory of hangman and trade it in for something else. It has hugely racist undertones to it. In my classroom, we build something seasonal, flowers, snowmen, etc. When it's built, the game is over :-)

Thank you so much stopping by! If you have any questions, please leave them here and I'll try to answer ASAP!

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Travel Binder Printables

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Welcome to the Travel Binder   printables series! If you’re an organization freak like me who just loves having everything all nice and tidy in one spot, this travel planning binder set is for you!

It will organize your vacation in an incredible way, making sure that you can spend time focusing on what you’re vacationing for: FUN!  There’s also a great selection of travel printables for kids included!

There are different sizes of spines to fit whatever binder size you have on hand…no need to go out and buy another binder. Just use one you already have and you’re good to go.

If you do need a binder, here are the appropriate ones on Amazon:

• 1 inch binder
• 1 1/2 inch binder
• 2 inch binder
• 3 inch binder
• 4 inch binder

Travel Binder

What’s included in the Travel Binder …

• Travel Binder Covers
• Travel Budget
• Travel Journal
• Travel Information
• Hotel Information
• Daily Travel Itinerary Planner
• Destination Ideas
• Vacation Bucket List
• Attractions
• Packing List
• Daily Wardrobe Planner
• Packing List – Kids
• Super Maze Travel Game
• Alphabet Game Travel Game
• Word Search Travel Game
• Tic-Tac-Toe Travel Game

My Favorite Pages

It’s kind of hard to choose my favorite pages of these travel printables because they are all very helpful, but I do have a few favs. 🙂

This Travel Budget printable is a must! Going on vacation can definitely be a budget-breaker for sure! Track your meals, groceries, drinks, before trip spending and during trip spending on this much needed printable!

This Daily Wardrobe Planner will help you plan your travel outfits in advance. Print out a copy for each person going on vacation!

This Hotel Information printable is a great way to track all your hotel information. Leave a copy behind so family and friends back home have a way to get a hold of you if need be!

This Packing List printable is PERFECT! It lists everything you need to pack! Clothing, toiletries, medicine, leisure items, accessories, and miscellaneous items. Yes, it has a check-off box too!

• Kid Activities

Traveling with kids? I have you covered with these travel binder ideas! Here are a few Kid Activities printables to keep them occupied for bit.

See what others are saying about the binder…

Get the Travel Binder printables here .

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DIY Travel Binders for Kids (Free Printables!)

• Posted In: Moments

Travel Binders – a solution you need for traveling with little ones!   iPads and movies don’t allow interaction.  Sisters Know Best is ALL about interaction!  The more the merrier.  Varied ages make things even better!  Get back to the basics with some classic travel-themed printables to keep your kids busy in the backseat. 

Travel binders are a great activity for road trips.  With the right preparation, you can customize them to fit your child’s interests. From coloring pages to puzzles or even games the whole family can play, all you have to do is download and print. Easy peasy! You can customize your travel binders for specific interests.  Customizing a binder based on destination would be cool too! 

Once your kiddo finishes their activities, just add new ones to keep them entertained. Travel binders are also a great way to keep the excitement of a trip going and allows your family to capture the memories on paper.  They will be a treasured family keepsake.  No doubt.

To make your Travel Binders, all you need to get started is:

• 1 small binder
• Crayons, markers, or colored pencils
• Printables of your choice

To begin, check out these travel-themed printables from Fun Learning for Kids of all ages. They rounded up more than 250 printables for kids. The Spruce has amazing printables as well.  Your kiddos will love their travels and practice skills like writing, math, and creative thinking. These activities are so much fun, we’re certain you won’t hear “Are we there yet”! 

For your next road trip, make your little one their own special travel binder.  Pack it away in their backpack or the backseat of your car.  Keep some colored pencils nearby as well. A clipboard works great to secure the page being worked.  These printable activities will make being on the go a breeze!  And encouraging learning?  Why!  That’s a bonus! 

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DIY Travel Binder for Kids (+Free Printables)

January 9, 2020 By Cher Leave a Comment

The excitement before leaving for a family trip is unmatched. Whether it’s holiday travel or a vacation, packing up and leaving the house for something new can bring lots of fun and lots of challenges. Traveling with young kids means breaking from routines and it can be hard to burn off energy in confined spaces. Even with plenty of entertainment like movies and iPads, you may run out of ideas to keep them occupied. 

Packing a travel binder for each of your kids is a great way to ensure that there are planned activities available in case the electronics die or when you need some quiet time to yourself. You can also customize each binder to your child’s age and interests by finding special printables. Even better, older kids can keep memories of each trip inside their travel binder. 

To create your own binder, you’ll need:

• 1 binder (at least a ½ inch)
• Crayons, colored pencils, or markers
• Printable activities 

Optional materials: 

• Pencil pouch
• Sheet protectors
• Dry erase marker

Roundup all of the printables for your child’s travel binder and keep the supplies in their backpack or the backseat of your car. Once your child finishes all the activities, you can print more and add them in for the next travel opportunity. 

Activities for preschoolers

Activities for grades K-2

Activities for grades 3-5

Check out these travel-themed printables from The Zebra for kids of all ages. From puzzles to games, they created printables for kids preschool–fifth grade. You’ll find pages of tic-tac-toe squares, car coupons, a coloring map, and loads of activities for your kids. 

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The Shirley Journey

Finding Joy in the Journey

Best Road Trip Ever! Free Printables for your Travel Binder

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #RoadTripHacks #CollectiveBias #ACME

Summer is winding down, but that doesn't mean your road trips come to an end! We take several road trips through the year, not just during summer. A successful road trip in our eyes means everyone arrives happy! This is much easier to do with snacks, drinks, and plenty of activities to keep the kids entertained.

Of course, we'll have the DVD player in the car and Charlie has a tablet, but screens don't entertain little ones the entire time. We created a travel binder that can stay in the car that is perfect for road trips.

To create your travel binder, you'll need a zip-around binder to store all of your activities for the road. Inside that binder, you're going to put a couple of clear zipper pouches and clear sheet protectors . Now, grab a some dry erase crayons , an eraser, and some printable sheets and you're all set!

I've created 3 free printables for your new travel binder!

• Castle Coloring Page
• At the Zoo Coloring Page
• I Spy from the Car Page

My suggestion is to use a laminator to laminate any sheets you would like to reuse often. I sent all 3 of my sheets that I'm sharing with you through my laminator to preserve them. By laminating them, Charlie can use the dry erase crayons on them, wipe them off, and reuse them over and over again!

If you'd like to just print out some sheets to color once or twice with dry erase crayons, you can slide them into a sheet protector. Some great sites to grab free coloring pages and activities: LEGO Marvel Superheroes , Disney Family , and Crayola .

If you're really interested in the BEST Road Trip Ever, enter to win  “The Best Road Trip Ever” sweepstakes ! The more travel stories that are shared, the higher value of the prize car! As of right now, they're already up to the 4th tier car, which means you could win a 2015 Ford Escape! Wouldn't that make for an awesome start to your road trip!

Now that I've got you thinking about that new car for your road trip, you'll need some snacking supplies! You know how we feel about our snacks! At ACME right now, there are a ton of snacks perfect for road trips. You'll find them labeled Best Road Trip Ever under the normal price sticker.

Personally, a Mountain Dew is essential to me surviving a road trip (or any day, really). Some people are coffee people, but I need a Dew. I do like cans best, but they don't travel as well, so we buy bottles for the road. The boys get water or juice pouches, so some Capri Suns were a great item to grab before hitting the road. Everyone can use a Gatorade, so the little bottles are perfect for travelling.  As far as snacks go, we bought some individual pre-portioned snack bags for the boys because they were on sale, but I also grabbed some Wheat Thins (they are definitely one of my favorite munchies), some caramel Quaker Popped Mini Rice Snacks and some Snickers Bites (we'll keep them hidden upfront with us).

Do you have any favorites you bring on your road trips? We like to have a little bit of everything!

Be sure to share your Best Road Trip ever for a chance to win big! I'd love to hear about your dream travels!

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Kelly @eclecticmommy says

August 17, 2015 at 6:26 PM

Love the idea of a travel binder. Laminated coloring pages is genius! #client

Jessica says

August 25, 2015 at 11:53 AM

A travel binder is such a great idea! And, my kids would love the i spy game! Can’t wait to make this! Thanks so much for the great idea!

Tanya @ Mom's Small Victories says

August 27, 2015 at 12:16 PM

Very clever, we could have used these on our trip to Florida this summer! Thanks for sharing with Small Victories Sunday Linkup. Pinning to our linkup board and hope you found some great posts to visit this week!

April Ockerman says

August 27, 2015 at 12:59 PM

I am going to save this post and share with my sister. She has little ones that could use this to keep them occupied in the car. Love it!

Kallee says

August 27, 2015 at 2:51 PM

Our best road trip was when we went and visited Niagra Falls!

Sarah G. says

August 27, 2015 at 5:17 PM

Love these ideas for road trips! Thanks for sharing!

Laurie says

August 27, 2015 at 9:27 PM

I wish I still had little people to use these fun printables!

Diana Rambles says

August 27, 2015 at 9:48 PM

This is a really great idea. Love it!

Ashley S says

August 27, 2015 at 10:07 PM

Love this! Definitely printing them out for my lil guy.

Jeannie @ For what it's worth says

August 27, 2015 at 10:26 PM

Your printable is adorable, wish we’d had a binder like yours while we were making so many trips to Dr. trips this summer.

Censie says

August 27, 2015 at 10:56 PM

What a fun idea! I am going to save this! I could see this coming in handy for road trips. So cute!

Chelley @ A is For Adelaide says

August 28, 2015 at 12:09 AM

I love the idea of a travel binder! We go on a big road trip twice a year for doctor appointments for my oldest- I”m going to make her one of these for our next trip.

Shasta L Walton says

August 28, 2015 at 9:22 AM

We love road trips and these printables are such a fun idea.

August 28, 2015 at 10:11 PM

We have a couple of “regulars” for road trips: beef jerky (everyone loves it and we only eat it on road trips), Chex Mix (not something I normally buy), and stopping for a Slurpee somewhere along the way.

Samantha says

August 28, 2015 at 11:13 PM

LOVE these printables!

Tiffany says

August 28, 2015 at 11:35 PM

I agree that screens don’t keep kids busy for long so having something like the acitvity binder is such a great idea. Plus hands on fun is long-lsting fun! I would definitely include Snickers bites in my Road Trip fun since I love how easy they are to snack on and how quickly they can keep hunger under control…

August 29, 2015 at 7:40 PM

I like to bring gatorade and cheetos on road trips. Wipes for the cheesy fingers too!

Melanie says

August 30, 2015 at 2:07 PM

Oh I love the idea of a travel binder, so cool. Need to do that for my kids! We always bring gatorade along something that all the kids like, too

Jane @SustainMyCraftHabit says

August 31, 2015 at 12:32 PM

So great! I love this! Thank you for the printables! Stopping by from Show and Tell Link Party.

Angela Bishop says

August 31, 2015 at 4:03 PM

I love the zipper binder idea! I don’t trust my kids with not coloring all over my car or themselves so I bring a lot magnetic activities. 🙂

Mary, Living a Sunshine Life says

August 31, 2015 at 11:33 PM

That printable binder is a fantastic idea. I think I might do that for some of our homeschooling worksheets. The girls love to work on that stuff while we travel and the lamination makes it a lot sturdier for the car. Thanks for sharing!

Audrey says

September 1, 2015 at 1:37 PM

What a cute printable for little ones! We haven’t done a long road trip in a few years, but holidays are coming.

Thanks for sharing on Creative K Kids Tasty Tuesdays.

Jennie @ The Diary of a Real Housewife says

September 2, 2015 at 10:39 PM

These are perfect! My boys would really enjoy the printables, I guess I need a travel binder now! Thanks for sharing on Friday Favorites! I featured your post and would love to see you there again this week. (Thursday 8est)

Nina Lewis says

September 2, 2015 at 10:49 PM

I’m dropping by from the Ginger Snap Crafts link party. This is such a great idea — and a life saver for parents of fussy young travelers!

I have a link party that I am trying to grow. I invite you to share this ideas (and a couple of other ones) at my Grandma Ideas Sharing Time link party at http://grandmaideas.com . My readers would love this idea as much as I do!

My link party goes from Wednesday through Friday night at midnight Mountain Daylight Time. I hope that you will be able to make it.

All the best, Nina

Julian Green says

June 19, 2018 at 9:27 AM

[…] Free Printables for your Travel Binder […]

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Travel Binder: 30+ Pages for Planning the Perfect Trip

By: Author Nomad Paradise

Posted on Last updated: June 14, 2023

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This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you book or buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. Learn more

A travel binder printable is a simple and effective way to make sure your trip runs smoothly and nothing important is overlooked.

At the end of the day, you don’t want to spend your time on your trip stressing or looking for information. You want to spend your time having fun!

Our travel binder printable has over 30 pages of charts, lists, and schedules to help you organize and plan the perfect trip away!

Travel Binder

Introduction

Our organized travel binder covers a broad range of planning, details, and considerations.

Your binder will be delivered as a digital PDF. All you have to do is open the file, and print out as many of the individual pages as you like.

Maybe you’re a lover of travel journaling. Or maybe you like to create multiple packings lists.

Whatever your preference, you can use any of the pages in the binder as many times as you like. That way, you can create a travel binder that’s perfect for you.

This video shows you all the pages available to print in the binder.

What Pages Are Included

Here’s a list of all the pages included in your travel binder printable:

• Bucket List
• Trip Savings Tracker
• Travel Budget x2
• Destination Ideas
• Pre-Travel Checklist
• Wardrobe Planner
• Custom Packing List
• Packing List for Him
• Packing List for Her
• Destination Overview
• Flight Details
• Accommodation Details
• Travel Details
• Attraction Details
• Foods to Try
• Language Phrases
• Research Notes
• Daily Schedule
• Week at a Glance
• Month at a Glance
• Souvenir List
• Photo and Video Checklist
• Travel Journal x4
• Emergency Contact List

Travel Binder Structure

In order to cover all stages of planning a magical trip away, we have designed pages for the following five stages of travel:

Inspiration and Finance

Trip Essentials

Here’s how you can use the travel binder pages for each phase.

This is your first phase. Your dreamer’s phase. You know you want to go away, but maybe you don’t quite know when are where.

Here, the bucket list and destination ideas pages can help you journal and jot down ideas for your perfect getaway.

Once you have destinations and dates in mind, you can then use the trip savings tracker and travel budget pages.

These will help you set financial goals and save the money needed to to pay for your trip. They will also give you an excellent idea of the total cost of everything.

Once your trip has been booked, a few days, weeks, or months down the line, you can start using our packing pages.

This section contains your pre-travel checklist, wardrobe planner, and three types of packing lists.

These pages you will fill out before you leave for your trip. In this section, you can make sure you pack everything you need.

This includes clothes, accessories, equipment, and all important documents. If you’re looking for packing list inspiration, our pre-filled his and hers packing lists will cover the basics. You can then add extras.

These pages will help you document the important and relevant information you need to have on-hand before you fly and when you arrive at your desired location.

Your flight, accommodation, car rental, and travel details are all filled in on these pages. That way, you can quickly access this key information, and don’t need to search through your luggage or inbox for print outs or emails when at a check-in or reception desk.

The destination overview page you can use to fill in some helpful information about your destination. Even though it’s a good idea to download Google maps for offline use on your phone, it is still an excellent idea to have your itinerary and potential destinations recorded and written down

These pages are your most fun pages. They allow you to plan and organize all the amazing activities and sights on your vacation.

You can use the daily, weekly, and monthly schedules to plot all the fun things you plan to do on your trip.

The language phrases page can give you prompts for key phrases if you’re going to a non-English speaking country.

The attractions and food pages you can fill with all the fun things you want to do and delicious foods you’d like to try.

Lastly, the personal section pages are just for you. This section includes your travel journal and notes pages.

You can use these pages like a diary. The travel journal have space for you to write and doodle, depending on what you prefer.

Finally, your emergency contact page will give you peace of mind, just in case you do need medical help on your vacation.

Travel Binder Summary

From your first dollar saved to the point where you’re flying home, it pays to be organized. A travel binder printable can give you all the support and details you need to plan and organize the perfect trip away.

That way, you’ll always be in control. You’ll always have important information on hand, and you’ll make the most of your time.

Whether you’re fresh out of college and going on an epic backpacking trip, or giving the family and kids a much needed vacation after a busy spring period, travel binders are a powerful tool you can use to keep yourself organized, safe, and in control, no matter where your travels take you.

Wherever in the world you go next, we hope you have a wonderful time!

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Hey there! We are Dale and Doina, the founders of Nomad Paradise. We traveled full-time for over three years, and while we now have a home base in the U.K., continue to take trips abroad to visit new places and try new cuisines and foods. Our food guides are curated with the guidance of local foodies, and their contribution is indicated under each article. We also cook the foods we try abroad, and you can discover how to make them in our 'recipes from around the world' category.

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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

Free Printable Road Trip Activity Binder for Kids

What’s Included in Your Free Road Trip Activity Binder

Here’s what’s included in this cute binder:

• Word Search
• Road Trip Bucket List – Fill this up with fun things you want to do on your Road Trip and then check the items off as you complete them.
• Road Trip Journal Page – Kids can journal and draw about things they see and do on their trip.
• Bingo pages (4 pages, so 4 can play) – Use a crayon or pencil to mark things off as you find them. First one to get a Bingo wins!
• Alphabet Game – Each player gets to fill out the form with items they see that start with the letters of the alphabet. When we were kids and would drive to Las Vegas with my parents, whoever spotted the “Zyzzyx” exit first would always win!
• License Plate Game – Each time you see a license plate from a different state, check it off. Whoever sees the most license plates wins!

How to Make Your Road Trip Activity Binder for Kids

These pages are specifically designed to fit an 8.5″ x 11″ 3-ring binder. They will also work with a BIG Happy Planner. You can probably find a binder th cheapest at Walmart or your local office supply store). You’ll also need a 3-hole punch!

Use any paper you like! This is my favorite paper (I have a subscription to it, and I get two reams every few months – every time I print something on it and take it out in public, people comment on how awesome it is).

Also be sure to bring some crayons for the kiddos (but don’t leave them on the seat when you get out of the car in the middle of summer to grab lunch or they will met, askmehowIknow ).

This printable prints best on 8.5 x 11 paper. There is a margin for you to punch holes.

What other travel printables do you have?

There’s more where this came from!

I have the following 8.5×11 travel printables (this is just a handful of what I’ve got available – you can see all printables by clicking here ):

• Printable Camping Planner
• Printable Cruise Planner
• USA Travel Map (color in each state as you visit)

How to download your free printable Road Trip Activity Binder for Kids

You can download your planner inserts by clicking here , or by clicking on the button below. If you have any issues, please email me and I will send you the file or help you troubleshoot.

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Last Modified: Apr 15, 2023 by Tara Gerner Leave a Comment

Free Family Vacation Planner Printable

The free family vacation planner is made of 10 printable pages that make planning a vacation so easy and organized. Reduce the stress of travel prep and avoid the chaos of a disorganized trip with these free travel planner printables. This simple travel binder is perfect for helping you prepare ahead of time and focus on fun with your family and friends.

Are you planning a vacation? If there's any travel in your near (or even distant) future, you need to download this printable family travel planner!

Vacations are exciting and magical, but having fun on the trip is the end result of a lot of hard work, am I right? It's stressful researching and planning all the things, from hotels to flights to attractions to meals to entertainment, and then having to pack (and hope you haven't forgotten anything!), track your budget, and keep everything together. It can be a huge headache!

Enter the Family Vacation Planner, my new travel binder – because it doesn't have to be a headache anymore!

What is a travel binder?

A travel binder is a 3-ring binder or a spiral bound notebook filled up with pages that you've printed out to organize your family vacations. You can make your own travel binder, hand-drawn in the bullet journal style, or you can download a pre-made printable travel planner like the one below.

A typical travel binder includes pages for budgeting, packing, activity planning, and an itinerary. The free download at the bottom of the page includes all those things in a pretty, colorful format.

How I use my travel planner for family vacations

This free printable travel planner comes from a much larger family vacation planner , and that larger one is exactly what I used to plan my family's recent 3-week European vacation. 

You read that right: 21 days of non-stop travel, in 3 destinations with 3 different vrbo rentals, and 5 flights, and 2 train passages. And day after day after day after day of activities and attractions and meals. 

I'm exhuasted just thinking about that trip, because we walked 89 MILES in 19 days (not counting the flying days at the beginning and end), but it was the vacation of a lifetime, and it went off without a hitch.

I designed the family vacation planner because it was what I needed to stay sane in the days leading up to that trip – and it worked! The only major issue we had was that my daughter's luggage got lost on the way home from London, but no planner could have prevented THAT snafu. We had an awesome vacation, and we only went over budget a teeny smidge, and we knew every night what we would do the next day, thanks to my meticulous planning and having written and recorded every detail of our trip in the months leading up to the vacation.

You can do this, too! The Family Vacation Planner makes it SO EASY!

You can download a free sample of the Family Vacation Planner below. It contains 10 of the pages from the larger trip planner, and it will help you to put your vacation together more easily and efficiently than going it on your own. Continue reading below to see what's included in the free planner.

Read on to discover what's in the free travel planner:

Travel planner cover

This is a fun and pretty cover for your  travel binder . See the graphic a few paragraphs above.

Accommodation details

This page gives you a place to record all the details of the hotel, house, or apartment reservations that you've selected. You can write down the amenities offered, what attractions are nearby, the address, check in and check out times, and more.

Expense log

Keeping track of your vacation spending as you go is the best way to ensure you stick to your budget for the week. These pages give you a place to write down everything you've spent. If you don't keep track while you're spending, how will you know if you have enough to cover the trip?

No one wants to come home to a big credit card bill, so do yourself a favor and print out a bunch of these pages.

Countdown calendar

Vacation planning needs to happen in advance in order to make your family trip a success. What are you going to do the month before the trip? When are you going to purchase the airfare? When are you going to book the room or apartment? How far in advance do you need to order new luggage, packing cubes, and electricity converters? There are so many things to do in the weeks leading up to your vacation; you need a place to write down what's going to happen and when.

Packing list

This is a blank list with checkboxes that will allow you to make a different packing list for each family member. Cut the pages in half and hand them off if your kids are old enough to be responsible for their own bags. (Remember, mama, you don't have to do it all yourself!)

Travel checklist

This is a bonus blank list that's just for you! You can use it in any way you like, because I KNOW there are going to be things you need to do and remember that I haven't even thought about. Maybe you need a space to record all the attraction tickets you've purchased or the dining reservations you've made or the group activities you've signed up for or the menu you'll be preparing at the destination or the spots you want to hike to at a national park or the toys you want to bring on the airplane or in the car. This is your space to add your own thing to your  travel binder . Prepare to print more than one!

Vacation at a glance

Think of this as your weekly travel itinerary, or your preview of what's coming up. This is a high level page for the whole family with spaces for what you're going to do and where you're going to eat each day of the trip. I like to print one of these out and leave it with my sister at home, so that she'll know what's going on and how accessible we should be each day, should she need to reach me for some reason.

Travel journal

If there is one thing I have consistently done for every vacation for the last ten years, it's keep a  travel journal . It's simple: a running description of everything we've done for the day, along with what we've spent, and the highlights of the day. I usually end up writing on the back as well as the front. These journal pages also have a spot for your favorite 3x5 photo from the day.

Kids' journal

I LOVE these  kids' travel journal  pages! Each one has a nice big space for a drawing or photo, plus a section to write their favorite part of the day, new experiences they've tried, the weather, and a fun emoji section where they can circle how they felt about the day. (And there are lots MORE choices than just happy and sad!) Giving the kids their own journal serves a couple of purposes: it provides entertainment for a few minutes as they color and write, and it also gives you a priceless souvenir of the trip through their eyes. Even toddlers and young children can use these pages with a little help.

These are the best travel planner printables you'll find!

I promise that these vacation planner printables are going to help you to plan and organize any type of vacation, from a road trip to a beach resort to Disney to a cruise to your own adventure abroad. You can even use them for weekend getaways or a staycation full of day trips. Print them out, put them in a binder, and use them. You'll be so glad you did.

PS. The free sample above will help you to plan your vacation and stick to your budget. But if you want to skip the free sample and go right for the entire Family Vacation Planner, head over to the shop to check it out.

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Free Family Travel Planner Printable

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

Welcome to the Free Family Travel Planner Printable ! It’s that time of year again when we all start dreaming of new adventures, sunny destinations and unique experiences for our families.

If you like to keep things well organized and all in one spot like me, and you don’t have extra hours in your day to waste (hello parents / guardians!) then this family vacation planner printable is for you!

It will organize your vacation in an easy and amazing way, so you can spend time focusing on what is important, spending time WITH your family and having FUN!

Table of Contents

FREE FAMILY TRAVEL PLANNER PRINTABLE

The travel binder comes with 7 pages of family travel printables , to get your adventures started off right. Whether you are taking a plane to your dream vacation to Thailand, or a camping trip to a local National Park, the travel planner printables will save time and make trip planning a breeze.

What’s included in the FREE Family Travel Planner Printable :

• Travel Binder Cover

Pre-Trip Planning Checklist

Packing list.

• Expense Tracker
• Itinerary Overview
• Journal Page
• Kids Journal Page

When travelling with kids, it’s even more important to have things sorted out ahead of time. You can wing it if your kids are flexible, but most times you don’t want to forget their favourite stuffie, or plan activities through their nap or cranky times if you can help it.

There can be so much to do before you actually get to the fun part of actually being on vacation. Let’s make things easier with a pre-trip list. Fill out all those important must-dos like booking flights, rental cars and lodging to checking passports are up-to-date and house / pet sitters are booked. Then check them off, one by one.

Don’t forget vacation essentials like their favourite stuffie, cords to your cell phone or bathing suit. Plus it will save you money on having to buy overly expensive items at your destination. Save your travel money for what you really want to be doing…….having FUN!

There was a time when I liked to fly by the seat of my pants, overstuff a bunch of clothes into a backpack last minute and took each day as it came. That was before kids. Now I try to avoid the extra hassles of not planning ahead, because it means a more relaxing and fun vacation for me as well.

TIP: Print out a packing list one for each family member. If you laminate it, it can be used again and again.

Keep track of your vacation expenses, so you can relax knowing your budget is under control, and you won’t get any nasty surprises on your next credit card bill. Track your meals, lodging, car rentals, tours and more.

• Accommodation Overview

The Lodging info printable is the perfect way to keep track of where you and your family will sleep each night. Leave behind a copy with a family member or friend in case of emergencies.

itinerary Overview

Now we get to the good stuff. Make sure you fit in your top bucketlist activities on your next family vacation. Planning a bit ahead can save you money (like getting deals on Disney passes or attractions at your destination). Track your tours, activities and daily itinerary.

• Journal Pages

Remember all your special family travel memories in the years to come. Capture your trip highlights, funny moments, and those travel fails. Let those become the stuff of family legends. I still read my travel journals from my 4 month trek through Europe and India in my 20’s. You can’t remember everything,

Get Your Free Travel Planner printables HERE!

Ultimate Family Travel Planner

For even more helpful travel planner pages check out our Ultimate Family Travel Planner .

Available today for only $9 with this special link . This planner is usually $24 in my printables shop .

Click here to get the 58 page Ultimate Family Travel Planner for only $9 today.

*** Discount added at checkout page. (Use code TRAVELSALE if necessary).

The Ultimate Family Travel Planner will help guide and make planning every aspect of your trip a breeze. It includes:

• Pre-Trip Planning – Blank
• Pre-Travel Checklist – Pre-filled
• Trip Research 
• Bucket List
• Accomodation Research
• Vacation Activities Planner
• Travel Budget – Blank
• Travel Budget – Categories Pre-filled
• Transportation Tracker
• Daily Itinerary
• Packing List – Blank
• 3 Pages of Packing Lists Prefilled – Includes Kids & Baby Packing List
• Outfit Planner
• First Aid Kit
• Emergency Contact List
• Important House Info
• House Sitter Instructions
• Important Pet Info
• Pet Sitter Instructions
• Journey – Route Research
• Journey Road Map – Route
• Souvenirs & Gift Tracker
• Souvenirs & Gifts Info
• Vision Board Page
• January to December Monthly Calendar – Undated 

🌟BONUS 🌟 10 page Kids Travel Coloring & Activity Book including:

• Tic Tac Toe
• Scavenger Hunt
• 2 Travel Themed Word Searches & Answer Keys
• 4 Coloring Pages 

More Free Travel Printables

You may prefer one of our other free printables. You can grab one here:

Looking for some travel inspiration? Check out these fun family friendly destinations & resources:

• Useful and fun RV Gift Ideas
• Travel backpacks for kids, they’ll wear and love
• Best Hawaiian Island for Families
• 7 Day Itinerary Zion, Bryce, Grand Canyon
• Kid Friendly Philippines Vacation Ideas

Printables are for personal use only! You may not alter them or sell, distribute or share them in any form without prior written consent from Packed for Life.

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

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Such a great post for family travel planning. I really appreciate this post. Thank you for sharing.

Pastor Natalie Letstakeamoment.com

It’s definitely time to start planning to travel again! Thank you!

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Thirty Handmade Days

30 Days Blog

Bye Bye Binder: Printable Travel Binder for When You Go Away!

Created On: October 21, 2015   |   Updated: October 1, 2021   |  

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy  here .

Around this time last year I had the opportunity to go to San Francisco with Click Retreat . I wasn’t sure what to expect since I hadn’t participated in any Click events prior.  I went and had the best time EVER so I knew when the chance to go to New York with Click presented itself, I was there 100%.  Before I left I made lists and things for my Mom and Josh who were holding down the fort for me while I was away.  I’ve been asked several times to make a travel binder for when parents go out of town for the babysitters (grandparents, aunts, uncles, nannies, etc).  I didn’t get it done in time for my Mom but thought that I might as well get it done for the future.  Better late than never, right?  Read a little bit about my trip and then scroll down to get your own travel binder!

Once I met up with Amy , Jen , Desiree , and Cindy  in Chicago, we talked the whole way to our destination.  It’s so fun reuniting with such good friends that I only get to see a couple times a year if I’m lucky! I was giddy looking out over New York (pictured above) anticipating the next few days.  And let me just say, it was magical…everything I hoped for in my first trip to the Big Apple.

For one of the nights, Southwest treated us to dinner at the Porch in Bryant Park.  It was the sweetest touch that they took recipes from some of the bloggers who were there that weekend and surprised them by putting them on the menu.  Well played Southwest!

The views were amazing and the rush of the city was evident.  It was the perfect crisp fall evening and I couldn’t have been happier.

I’ll fill you in on more about Click Retreat and why I love it so much another day.  For now I’ll leave you with this.. a travel binder that has all the stuff you need to fill in for going on a trip.   I wasn’t sure what to call it because there isn’t really anything like it at least that I’ve seen.  But hopefully you get where I’m going with this..

Just like all my other binders, you’ll download (below) and fill in the info that you need to. If you are looking for the binder and supplies, here are some that I have used: Affiliate links are used below.

• Divider Tabs
• Sheet protectors
• Binder Pockets – awesome for larger important info to save
• or Dividers with pockets!
• Laminator – check out my laminator post & see why I think everyone should have one!
• Laminating pouches

BUT keep in mind, you don’t have to make a separate binder with these files if you don’t want to.  You can make another section in your Family Binder .  I made them to coordinate with everything I’ve designed in the past.  Since you will be going away, I would definitely suggest making an Always Prepared Binder .

It’s meant to make things easier for whoever is watching your family while you are away.  Some might think it’s overboard.. some might want to add more to it.  Just take what works for you and run with it.  I like leaving information behind just so that my mother-in-law, Mom, Josh, whoever, knows what to expect.  It’s not that I don’t trust them, more that I want them to know what’s going on so they aren’t scrambling to get someone somewhere at the last minute.

Printable Babysitter Notes

Printable Packing Lists

If you’d like to access the other binders, here you go:

Reader Interactions

October 25, 2015 at 11:35 am

I leave in two weeks for a long weekend in Ohio and I will definitely be putting this together for my husband. Thank you!

Printable Shop

Looking to get organized? I’ve got you covered with colorful printables for almost every need!

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Shining Mom

Enjoying the little things

June 29, 2017

15 FREE Trip Planner Printables for Your Next Vacation!

In need of free trip planner printables ? I’m giddy in excitement to share this ultimate travel planner that I’ve just created. I have here over 15 sheets of free travel organizers to help you map out your next travel plans! If you think you’ll be needing them soon, scroll along! This freebie is for all of you, travel buddies. It’s time to plan your next trip. Enjoy!

My heart is thumping in excitement as I write this post.  Ahhh, the word “travel”. How it sparks up so much delight and thrill in my heart! Two weeks from now, we’re flying out as a family, and the excitement is already mounting. My son Kyle can’t wait for the day to come!

Our vacation inspired me to create your free trip planner printables on the blog today. I felt we needed some organizers to make sure we won’t forget anything important for the trip. A little planning ahead, I thought, would make the travel a delightful one for the family. Hence, just last night, I again tried my hands at creating a trip planner.

As always, I love to share what I create. And you know what? Little did I know that my passion for planning has helped me grow this blog to a level that I’ve never expected. My blog traffic has doubled and even tripped because of all of you. Thanks for the warm support to the Shining Mom family!

If you have some extra time today, I am inviting you to look into our shelves of freebies. The Shining Mom’s Printables Library is waiting for you.

Meanwhile, here are the free trip travel planners that we have for you.  Ready to see some of the pages included? Let’s have a quick planner tour!

What’s Inside Your Free Trip Planner?

Vacation Checklists

I don’t know about you, but I certainly am the “list lover” kind of girl. I can smoothly carry on my to-do’s for the day with a list. And when it comes to traveling, I have to see the things sorted out, again, with an agenda. If you’re pretty much like me, I am happy to let you know that this free trip planner has different kinds of checklists for your traveling needs. Hooray!

Travel Details and Recommendations

In addition to the pretty checklists, well, of course, I’ve included travel organizers where you can see your trip details at a glance. This free travel planner includes important schedules and reminders such as flight departure time, hotel reservation details and more! I actually created these particular sheets to make sure we won’t be missing out any in our upcoming travel. And to be sure that we get to have the best experience, I’ve also created a nifty page where we can write the travel recommendations we read or get from friends. Functional planner? But of course!

Outfit Planner, Travel Journal and More!

I also did not forget other travel planning nice-to-haves such as your outfit planner. (Yes, ladies, even your look for the travel needs to be carefully thought of!) And to make sure the vacation memory remains as vivid as it can be, there are also printable travel journal pages included!

Plan a Trip with this Free Travel Planner

Would you like print Shining Mom’s free trip planner already? You can easily do so by simply hopping over HERE . By the way, I have created four travel planner covers for you which you can also print for free. View the cover pages HERE . And… that’s it! You’re ready to lay your plans for your next travel!

Are you travelling soon? Do you have any organizer in mind for a trip that you wish to see in my future post? Feel free to leave your suggestions at the Comments and I’ll see what I can do!

Meanwhile, you might want to check out my Shining Mom’s library of free printables. I have already created thousands of freebies for you. Here are the current top posts that you might like to see:

• Nifty Budget Binder
• Free Meal Planner
• Ultimate Student Binder

Not time to print this planner yet? Pin this post on Pineterst for future use!

I hope you can use this planner, friends! And oh, if you like this post, please pin the topmost image on Pinterest? You’ll help me grow this blog that way and you can also easily access the post in the future. Thanks in advance!  Have a great day ahead!

July 14, 2017 at 1:19 am

You’re so creative!

July 16, 2017 at 8:47 am

Thanks, Kathy!

November 4, 2017 at 8:56 am

This is amazing and just what I needed! Thanks a lot for sharing 🙂

November 4, 2017 at 2:35 pm

You’re welcome!

April 24, 2018 at 8:21 pm

This is so amazing! My husband and I are planning our first ever beach resort vacation, so these will come in quite handy! I found you while doing a quick travel planner search on Pinterest. Thank you for the freebies!

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Travel Planner: Free Travel Packing Checklist

• Pinterest 2.7K

Are you planning to travel soon? Make sure to grab this free travel packing checklist. This checklist includes the most essential parts of a trip, like checking for important documents, finances, health, medical essentials, etc.

This post contains affiliate links and we will earn commission if you buy the products through those links. For more information, please read our disclosures here

As much as the vacation sounds exciting, it can also get pretty stressful. From researching where to go for a vacation to booking the tickets, packing the bags, and putting someone in charge of the house and the pets, the list seems endless.

But this phase of planning and organizing your vacation can be stress free. You simply need to write everything down.

Related: Free Printable My Pregnancy Journal

I recently launched this simple yet functional travel planner set . It includes the most essential elements of what a family trip might involve.

Apart from having a relaxed and fun filled vacation, most important part of traveling is to make sure that you have all the essential documents with you, have the credit card, debit card or travelers checks, packed the required medications (if needed), packed all the winter or summer gear.

Travel Packing Checklist

You also need to make sure that you took care of the mail and delivery services, arranged for the pet care and so much more.

I created this travel packing checklist where all the important tasks that need to be done are listed.

Download Here

This packing checklist has been divided into different sections, making it easier to go through each item.

There are two versions included in the free download package . One is prefilled checklist and other is empty. Prefilled ones cover almost everything you need to do before you leave the house. If it is missing anything, or if you wish to make your own, you can use the empty checklist.

Related: Fun Memory Games for Kids Free Printables

Print as many copies as you want for personal use. Normally you will need two copies to cover everything up. It also depends on the number of members going to travel.

You can print one copy for each person. If you have kids, give them each an empty checklist , so that they can fill it up. You can double check later, and make any corrections.

Kids will feel responsible for taking care of their travel needs if they can fill out their copies.

Want to get even more organized?

This 30 page Travel Binder is what you need. It has all the important components of traveling starting from the travel research, travel budget, travel expenses, destination information.

This is what’s included in the travel binder kit:

• Planner Cover
• Travel Budget
• Travel Expenses

Destination Information

Flight information.

• Packing Checklist
• Travel Research

Outfit Planner

• Travel Checklist

Housesitter Notes

Daily itinerary.

• Emergency Contact Information
• Travel Journal
• Hotel Information

Weekly Itinerary

• Travel BucketList

Petsitter Notes

• Tourist Attractions

Let’s look at some of the pages from this cute travel binder.

Travel Budget Planner

Did you set up your travel budget?

When you go on a vacation, it is important to look at the financial aspect of traveling. So use these Travel Budget Planner Printable to budget your transportation (car rental, bus rides, etc.), accommodation (hotel, Airbnb, etc), food and drinks, activities, travel insurance etc.

Find out more about your destination using this destination information page. Research and write down all about the place(s) you will visit.

The country, city, capital, languages spoken, religion followed, population, what’s the weather like.

You can also color the world map, coloring the specific areas you will visit.

Plan your outfits according to the weather for each day using this outfit planner page. Print a copy for each member that’s going to travel. This way, you will know exactly how many outfits, shoes, and accessories you must pack.

Travel Bucket List

Write down your travel bucket list for the places, and check each box off when you visit.

Plan each day with this daily itinerary page. Write down the country and city you are in for that day. Plan your activities and the most important places to go. Budget your trip and write down expenses for each activity.

The weekly itinerary page can be used to plan your weeks according to the city you are in and the weather for the day. You will be able to plan your trip efficiently if you know where you will be the next day. It will so much easier to plan your accommodation and transportation accordingly.

Make sure to write down your flight information as well as hotel information and hand it to someone you are leaving behind to take care of your house, your family member or your friend. This way someone will have the information of your whereabouts in case they need to catch hold of you.

If you have someone to look after the house and your pets, make sure to fill out these housesitter notes printables and hand them over.

Housesitter notes have every little detail like your home address, where you will be, your address and phone no of where you will be, and your return date and time.

You can also leave your passwords for WiFi, mail, and package that you are expecting and need to be picked up, the location of all the important keys, etc.

If you are leaving behind any pets, you can fill out this Pet-sitter Notes printable and leave it for the person who will look after your pets while you are gone. Print out multiple copies you have more than two pets.

Free Printables for Kids

This was the overview of what this Travel Planner Binder looks like. Make sure to check it out and download your copy.

Fun Kids’ Activities Printable

Have kids traveling with you?

Keeping them entertained during their travel time can be the most challenging task of all. Worry not; we have got you covered.

Here are some free printables that you can download from the freebies section .

These are not part of this Travel Binder but are free to download separately.

Memory Games : Download these memory games, and print two, four, or more copies of each printable. Cut them along the lines and have the kids match the characters. It keeps them busy for hours.

Maze Puzzles : These maze puzzles are so much fun and interactive games for kids. Print a number of copies of each maze puzzle and hand them out to kids whenever you think it is the right time.

Sudoku Games : Sudoku puzzles are always fun and engaging to solve. Kids will be busy for hours trying to match the correct numbers.

Road Trip Bingo : Make sure kids are busy during the long drive or plane ride. They will enjoy spotting the road signs and images associated with road trips along the way.

These games are sure to keep them busy for some time.

FREE TRAVEL PACKING CHECKLIST

TRAVEL BINDER PRINTABLE SET

MY TRAVEL BINDER

When you download and use this Travel Binder , you will feel much more organized and planned. Do you like to use any organizing tools while traveling? Please share in the comments below.

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10 comments.

Thank you for this! I love travelling but packing stresses me out lol!

Tell me about it. Besides all the things I look forward to, packing is something I don’t … lol.

Just what I was looking for as we gear up for spring break in a few weeks! A list or something I can checkmark off the things I’ve done or packed is something I always have to do, especially before traveling.

So true Jessica. Making a checklist always helps me when I feel overwhelmed. Have a great spring break 🙂

Wow. This looks like a really comprehensive travel planner! Such a useful resource!

Thanks Faith. So glad you liked it 🙂

What a comprehensive bundle of printables! I love a good checklist. I always make them for myself when packing. It will be nice to not have to!

Me too Desiree. I love to make checklists and checking them off as I get the tasks done.

Hi, I have downloaded some of your planners. They are really helpful. Thank you very much for such a great initiative.

A perfect travel planner for me. Thanks

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25+ Free Road Trip Printables for a Truly Fun Family Car Trip

Categories Family Road Trip , Activities for Kids , Family Fun , Free Printable , Frugal Vacation , Roundup , Saving Money , Travel

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Our last road trip activities for kids post has been read more than 50,000 times! And it’s been shared more than 8,000 times.  Wow – people really liked our ideas! It was full of the ideas we came up with to survive travelling with kids on a long road trip.  I’ve got a new tool in my family travel arsenal: Road Trip Printables!

Our last real road trip was 5 years ago and as we plan our next long road trip I’m happy to reread the former one and remember the tips!  

I don’t know how I forgot some of them – I’m adding aluminum foil to my list right now. 😜

This year our kids will be older: 11 and 13.  We expect our ride to be smoother than last time – for one they’ve both got bigger bladder capacity now.   (This time I don’t expect our son to need to publicly urinate in front of state troopers .)

But this time around we are spending more total hours in the car travelling from Ontario to Calgary, Alberta and back.  Dang, Ontario is big – it’s going to take two days just to get to the border from home!

We need some new ideas to keep our family amused during these extra long hours in the car.

I decided to find a whole bunch of free printable road trip car games and make a huge folder of them to spread out over the drive.  

I plan to also bring some plastic sheet protectors and low odor dry erase markers to reuse the best games.  ‘Cause I ain’t bringing a printer on this trip with us.

It would seem like a waste to just amass such a great list for ourselves when we can share them all with you!   So here’s a list of 25+ great free road trip printables – games worth printing for your long drive ahead.

Also, check out our kid-approved list of more  family fun road trip activities and games !

25+ Free Printable Road Trip Games

Don’t miss our kid-approved list of more  family fun road trip activities and games !

New! Save money on your road trip food! Check out:  Travel Recipes: 20+ Meals to Make in a Hotel Room Microwave or Kitchenette 

Fun & Free Road Trip Scavenger Hunt Printable

20+ Best Campfire Pie Iron Recipes (aka Pudgie Pies or Mountain Pies)

Travel Recipes: 20+ Meals to Make in a Hotel Room Microwave or Kitchenette

25+ Family Fun Road Trip Activities and Games to Make the Hours Fly By!

Make Packing Easier with our Family All Inclusive Resort Packing List ~ including special tips for Cuba

Tiny Budget & Big Fun: Summer Vacation in Your Own Town

Sunday 1st of May 2022

this stuff is great!!!

Travel Printables and Checklists

Are you planning your next road trip, camping adventure, or vacation? Before you hit the road, take the time to print off these checklists, road trip games, or camping menus so you can be prepared. Whether you are packing your RV or heading to the airport, it’s important to make sure you have packed the right gear and have plenty to do to keep you and the kids occupied and entertained! These travel printables and checklists are a great resource to help you plan, enjoy, and then preserve your travel memories!

This post includes affiliate links.

• Camping Playset Travel Printable
• Camping Menu Meal Planner
• Camping Food List Menu Plan
• 10 Camping Printables
• Camping Trip Planning Kit
• Printable Camping Charades

Packing List

• Packing List for Travel Checklist
• Travel Packing List
• Kids Packing List
• Kids Sleepover Checklist
• Disney Cruise Packing List
• Disney Daypack List

Road Trip Games

• Printable Road Trip Games
• Road Trip Activities and Games
• Velcro Road Trip Bingo
• Adventure Bucks for Family Travel
• Mini dot marker pages for toddlers
• BINGO for toddlers
• Train Games

Road Trip Planning

• Free Printables for your Travel Binder
• Road Trip Activity Binder
• Brainstorm Travel Planner
• RV Checklist Packing List
• RV Roadtrip Packing Checklist

Travel Countdown

• Countdown to FLY Day
• Checklist of 17 Useful Things to do Before Traveling

Travel Journal

• Girl’s Printable Travel Journal
• Family Travel Memories + US Landmarks
• Summer Travel Journal for Kids
• License Plate BINGO
• Vacation Travel Journal
• Printable Wall Art

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Over 6,200 homeschool resources and growing!

50 Road Trip Printables to Keep Kids Busy on Trips

Published: March 10, 2023

Contributor: Sara Dennis

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.

Are you tired of bored, unhappy kids in the backseat on a long road trip? Instead of handing a tablet to your child to keep them entertained, use these road trip printables !

50 Free Printable Road Trip Games

Road trip activities for kids are a fun way to keep your kids entertained on your next road trip without needing to pull out electronic devices. You can use printable games for the whole family or activity sheets for individual children. The best part is that you’ll find free printable car games for younger and older kids alike!

Road Trip Scavenger Hunt Printables

On a scavenger hunt, children run around looking for items on a list. These printable scavenger hunt ideas change the classic game slightly and have children hunting for items they might see on their next car trip.

Scavenger Hunt Printable – You’ll find scavenger hunt printables at different levels to print for your kids. One includes pictures of the items for toddlers and preschoolers to check off, while the other one includes a longer list without any pictures.

I Spy Road Trip Printables

My kids adore I spy coloring pages when we’re traveling. But sometimes only one child wants to play I Spy. The best way to solve this problem is to print one of these free printables that feature I Spy games for kids.

I Spy Scavenger Hunt – During the next road trip season, print up a few fun I Spy Scavenger Hunt games for older children to play. They’ll stay busy trying to find a blue truck, a bearded motorcyclist, and other items while you cruise down the road.

Road Trip I SPY Printable – Download this pdf file for your younger children. The printables include pictures of people, signs, and other objects, making it the perfect way to keep your youngest kids entertained in the car.

I Spy Restaurant Printables

As you’re driving down the road, you will pass by different restaurants. These fun travel activities have children playing I Spy using restaurants.

Restaurant I Spy – This worksheet includes pictures of the various restaurant logos, so it’s a great printable to give to your non-readers so they can keep track of which restaurants they’ve seen on their road trip adventure.

Printable Restaurant I Spy – This I Spy is a restaurant-themed I Spy printable. Kids won’t be looking out the window. Instead, they’ll be searching the worksheet for the various styles of eateries.

Road Trip Journal Pages

As you’re traveling across the United States, print up some of these road trip journal pages for your elementary or middle school children. The printable activities will inspire your children to write and journal about their adventures on the road.

Kids Travel Journal – This printable pack includes writing and drawing prompts to help your kids get started. It’s a great addition to an older child’s travel binder.

Travel Journal for Kids – This is a twenty-eight-page printable pack that includes free road trip activities, writing prompts, and fun games to play.

Printable Kids Travel Journal – This printable travel journal includes fun road trip ideas for your kids to complete on the next family outing. They can track the weather, the best and worst parts of the day, and the most interesting thing that happened.

Road Trip Story Starters

Have your kids write a story about the next family road trip. It’s a fabulous way to get kids writing while they’re sitting in the car.

Story Starters for Road Trips – If your kids are having trouble getting started, hand them this printable with story starters. The printable includes a variety of ideas that will inspire your children.

Road Trip Bingo

Are you looking for a fun twist on the classic Bingo game? Then take a look at these Bingo cards! The cards are a great addition to any collection of fun road trip games.

Road Trip Bingo Cards – You’ll find seven variations of this road trip Bingo card so that everyone in your family can have their own card. You’ll search for items such as a rest area, camper, or traffic cone as you travel down the road. There’s even a free space in the middle!

Bingo for Road Trips – This simple Bingo card is perfect for your youngest children. It’s not large and is full of fun things to find as the kids look out the window.

Road Trip Bingo PDF

Road Trip Bingo for Kids – This travel Bingo game is tons of fun whether you’re in a car or in a hotel. It’s super simple, so even two-year-olds can join in the fun.

Try using your drive time to play car Bingo on your next long road trip. You can look out the car window to see what’s outside or search for specific license plates on cars that you pass.

License Plate Bingo – You’ll find a free downloadable license plate Bingo game. Who will be the first to shout Bingo after filling out their card?

Bingo for Car Trips – This Car Bingo game has kids looking outside the car to discover items on their Bingo cards. Kids will be looking for planes, cows, churches, and more!

License Plate Games

These free road trip printables have children looking for license plates from different states. There are several variations of the games, but they’re a fun activity to help kids pass the time studying cars as they travel.

Printable License Plate Game – This travel activity provides a list of all fifty states for you to keep track of the license plates you see as you travel down the road. It’s a fun travel printable that’s perfect for a long car ride.

License Plate Game – Combine geography with a fun license plate game! Color in the state of each license plate you find on the road. Don’t forget to check the license plates of cars at the different rest stops!

Road Trip License Plate Game – This free printable license plate game gives you an image of the various license plates you may see on a long trip. It’s the perfect printable for younger kids as they will have a picture of the license plate they’re looking for.

Altoids License Plate Game for Road Trips

Another great idea is to use an Altoids box to create a license plate game for your kids to play on a long road trip. Make sure the box is empty before you begin!

DIY Mini License Plate Game – Make your own mini-game for your kids to play while traveling. You’ll find a free printable as well as instructions to help you get started.

Printable Road Trip Word Search Puzzles

More fun activities you can print for a long road trip are some free printable word searches . These are great road trip activities to keep your elementary or middle school kids entertained for several hours.

Word Search Road Trip Puzzle – Hand this puzzle to your children and see how many words related to a road trip they can find in the word search. There are approximately twenty words hiding on this sheet.

Printable Word Search – Your kids will love completing this printable road trip word search. They’ll need to search for words such as rest stop, interstate, and destination.

Road Trip Word Scramble

Do your children enjoy word scrambles? Word scrambles are puzzles where the letters are mixed up and kids need to unscramble the letters to figure out the word. These word scramble printables feature words kids will use on a road trip.

Word Scramble Road Trip Puzzles – Are you looking for a word scramble appropriate for younger and older children? This printable includes two different versions: an easy, printable version for younger children and a regular version for older children.

Word Scramble for Road Trips – Print off this colorful word scramble for your kids to complete on your next road trip. It will eat up a lot of time as the kids work to solve the puzzle.

I Spy Road Trip Bingo

Your kids will adore these fun road trip printables that combine two fun games into one. The goal is to spy items outside the car to complete the Bingo cards.

Printable Road Trip Bingo – Kids of all ages will enjoy playing these printable Bingo cards. They even include images to make it easy for even your youngest children to participate in the game.

Free Road Trip Bingo – Can your children find the images on their cards before a sibling? These fun cards are perfect to keep kids entertained while traveling.

Printable Road Trip Scavenger Hunt

On a regular scavenger hunt, kids take off across the neighborhood searching for items on the list. These hunts are created for kids who are stuck in a car for several hours.

Scavenger Hunts for Kids – This list will guarantee good behavior as the kids look out the window in the hope of finding every item on the list. You’ll find two lists available: one for younger children and one for older kids.

Printable Scavenger Hunt – Print and laminate this free printable. Your kids will enjoy crossing off the items they find on the sheet as you travel.

Printable Road Trip Activity Book

Instead of free printable travel games to stave off boredom, try some printable activity books. The books will help your children with their fine motor skills while helping to pass away the time while traveling.

Busy Book for Toddlers – This interactive book for toddlers will keep your kids quietly busy no matter where you are. They’ll have a blast matching the colors, shapes, or animals o your next road trip.

Road Trip Tic Tac Toe

If you’re looking for printable travel games for kids, then don’t miss playing road trip tic tac toe! It’s a great game for a long drive with children bouncing in the back seat.

Tic Tac Toe Printable – Download and print several copies of this printable tic tac toe game. You might want to put the printable into a page protector and use dry erase markers to play.

On the Go Tic Tac Toe – Consider laminating this fun game card to help it last the entire road trip. And think about using snacks instead of markers to play tic tac toe.

Printable Tic Tac Toe – Your kids will love this colorful tic tac toe card! It’s a great way to keep your kids occupied while you travel.

Fun Summer Printables for Car Rides

Summer Fun Worksheets – What could be better than some fun summer worksheets to keep your kids entertained? You’ll find a nice selection of sheets, including a word search, I Spy, and a coloring page.

Alphabet Road Trip I Spy

Try an alphabet game on your next road trip. These games have kids looking to find objects that begin with every letter in the alphabet.

Road Trip Alphabet I Spy – Find an item, or two, or four to fill out each letter of the alphabet! This is a fabulous alphabet game to play with your kids.

Awesome Alphabet I Spy – Can you complete the alphabet by finding an item that begins with each letter of the alphabet? You can play the game individually or as a family while traveling.

Printable Travel Games

Everyone will adore having these printable travel games to complete while stuck in a car for hours on end. You can print them up, hole punch the sheets, and put them into a travel binder.

Printable Roads for Kids – Kids will love running their cars over these roads as they travel around the country. This road trip printable will help to also keep your kids quiet in restaurants.

Road Trip Printables

Road Trip Packet – This packet of printables includes a road trip maze, word search, and a travel bucket list, among other fantastic worksheets.

Printable Games to Play on Road Trips

Fun Games to Play in the Car – What’s better than conversation starters while you’re riding along in the car? One person can start the conversation while the next person answers the questions.

DIY Traveling Activity Idea

Sometimes it’s nice to put together a travel activity that’s a little more involved than a simple printable. These DIY activities are easy to make and will give your children something different to do while traveling.

DIY Travel Activity Kit – Turn a coupon file into a fun game that you can pull out when your kids get bored. If you don’t have a coupon file, you should be able to find one at the dollar store.

Catch a Spider Traveling Activity – This is another fun Altoid tin game you can print and put together for your children. They will need to attempt to catch the right number of spiders. Not only does the game improve your children’s fine motor skills, but it also uses simple math.

Find it On the Road Trip Printables

These find-it-on-the-road printables have kids search cars you pass for specific car colors. It’s a fun way to pass the time at no extra cost!

Car Color Search – Have your children search cars you pass for specific colors. Make sure they check all the cars at the gas stations as well as those on the freeway. They’ll be able to discover each state’s favorite car color!

Rainbow Car Find – Can you find cars in every shade of the rainbow? Print off this fun worksheet and find out.

Do A Dot Travel Printables

Dot marker printables are fun at home. They’re also a great way to keep kids quiet while traveling. You can hand your children a pack of stickers to paste on each dot. Another option is to bring along dot pens in several different colors.

Printable Travel Sheets for Mini Do a Dot – These do-a-dot sheets include images of airplanes, cars, suitcases, and traffic lights, making them fun to complete on a road trip.

Do a Dot Printables for the Car – Hand your child a car do-a-dot printable to complete in the car. Your kids will love having a fun project to complete while traveling.

Summer Do a Dot – If you’re traveling on summer vacation, your kids will be fascinated by these summer do-a-dot printables that feature summer objects.

Drawing Prompts for Road Trips

While writing a story may be fun on a road trip, sometimes kids are in the mood to draw instead of write. These drawing prompts will give your children a few ideas to get them started.

Road Trip Drawing Prompts – These drawing prompts have kids imagine what may be in the various vehicles that they pass. They’ll draw what’s in a truck or where the road goes.

Road Signs Bingo Game

Bingo Game Road Signs – How many road signs will you see on your vacation? Find out with this fun Bingo game featuring road signs that you may pass as you drive.

Printable Road Sign Bingo Game – Your kids will adore playing this road sign Bingo game that’s easy enough for even your preschool children to enjoy.

Games for the Road: Road Sign Bingo – Every passenger will have a different Bingo card as you search for signs. Who will complete their Bingo first?

Road Trip Kindness Activities

It’s easy to think of just our family’s good time while on vacation. But a road trip is also a great time to think about spreading a bit of love and joy as you travel.

Packable Project for Road Trip Kindness – You’ll find fun ideas on how to include small bits of kindness into your travel plans. There are even some printables to download and print to make things easy!

Kindness Activities – Take advantage of these sweet ideas on how to spread some kindness around the country as you drive.

Road Trip Planning Checklist

You’ll find a wonderful selection of travel planning printables below. These printables include a couple of planning checklists and a list of essential items you should remember to take.

Planning Checklist – Have your children help you get ready to travel. These planning checklists were designed so your kids can do some of the packing by themselves.

Checklist for Trips

Road Trip Essentials + Checklist – Are you worried you may forget something? This essential checklist will make sure you haven’t forgotten anything important that you’ll miss when you’re several hundred miles away from home.

Road Trip Packing List

Packing List for Road Trips – This packing list makes sure you know exactly what you need when you’re traveling with kids, such as snacks, technology, or Mad Libs.

How to Make a Road Trip Binder

To make a road trip binder, you’ll want to grab a sturdy three-ring binder so it will hold up to heavy use. Then include some pencil cases with markers, crayons, or pencils. You might prefer to use page protectors and dry erase markers so that your kids can wipe off the sheets each night and have fresh printables to complete in the morning.

Then print up all the printables you believe your children will enjoy, three-hole punch them, and place them in the binder. If you’d like to be super organized, use dividers to keep the pages organized by type of activity.

Road Trip Binder With Printables – You’ll find simple instructions and more printables to include in your road trip binder.

Printables to Add to Road Trip Binder

These are fun printables to include in a road trip binder for any age. You’ll be able to print off coloring pages, a crossword puzzle, or a connect-the-dots printable.

• Connect the Dots Printable
• Printable Memory Game
• Free Printable Mazes for Kids
• Cute Coloring Pages
• Printable Bingo Cards Free
• Follow Directions Worksheet
• Printable Crossword Puzzles

Other Ideas for a Fun Car Ride

Printables aren’t the only option when you’re driving with your kids. You can also play some fun games that don’t require any preparation other than knowledge of the rules and the ability to talk.

Two Truths and a Lie

This game requires that one person tell everyone else two truths and one lie about themselves. The two truths might be: I am a girl. I wear glasses. I am from Mars. Then everyone has to guess which statements are the truth and which statement is the lie.

Play Would You Rather

The idea behind this game is that one person asks a “Would you rather… option A or option B” type question. Then the other people in the car must answer which option they would prefer. It’s a fun way to get a conversation going as people debate the merits of one option over another.

Here are some fabulous would you rather questions for teens to get you started.

In Conclusion

While you may be spending hours traveling around the country in a car this summer, there’s no reason for your kids to be playing on electronic devices the entire time. Create a travel binder for each child filled with some fun printable games for your children and family to play in the car.

Sara Dennis

Sara Dennis is a veteran homeschool mom of six who’s still homeschooling her two youngest kids after the older four have graduated, entered college, and moved on to adult life. She blogs at Classically Homeschooling .

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