• Start Here
  • Home
  • Books
    • Classics
      • 20th Century Classics
    • Early Chapter Books
    • Easy Readers
    • Folktales
    • Holiday Books
    • Middle Grade (8-12 years)
    • Nonfiction
    • Picture Books
    • Read Aloud Chapter Books
  • Games
  • Kids Activities
    • Arts and Crafts
    • Literacy & Writing
    • Math
    • Playful Activities
    • Science
    • Toddler
  • Parenting
  • Unplugged Shop

What Do We Do All Day

Books and Activities for Kids

You are here: Home / Games / Screen-Free Travel: Road Trip Games for Kids

Screen-Free Travel: Road Trip Games for Kids

June 19, 2018

Pin71
Share115
Tweet

Here’s the scene. The whole family is looking forward to vacation. You are going somewhere exciting and new! There will be sun! Sand! Surf! Mountains!

The problem? It’s one heck of a car ride.

So what, you’ll just pull out the iPads, right?

Sure, it’s easy to strap on the headphones and give each kid his or her own screen to watch what they want, but will it challenge their critical thinking skills, improve literacy, strengthen math skills, enhance family bonds?

MY LATEST VIDEOS

What about instead of the packing screens, you take along a hefty arsenal of screen-free, old-school road trip games for kids? And what if they are car games that parents will like, too?

So, here’s your challenge. Take at least one road trip without using screens (OK, GPS is fine.) and instead try some of these road trip games. You could even start with a shorter trip. Say, one hour in the car, all together. See how it goes. Promise a big bowl of ice cream if you all get to your destination in one piece. I bet you can do it!

Screen-free road trip games for kids and families.

Below I have two categories of games to play in the car: thinking games, which require just you and your brains, and hands-on games, for kids who like to have something to do with their hands.

Thinking Road Trip Games

These thinking games are super old-school and great road trip games. No props, necessary! If you have tried out my list of 20 waiting games, then you will recognize a few of these. But, there are plenty of new ideas, here, too!

The addition game

The first person says a number. The second person says a second number and adds them together, declaring the sum. The next person says a third number, adds it to the sum declared by the second person and declares the sum of those! Continue on as long as you wish. Decide ahead of time if you will limit the game to single or double digit numbers.

Invent a song

One person chooses a theme. It can be any theme from apples to zebras. Another person has to invent and sing a song about that theme for at least one minute.

Word association

A classic game! One person says a word and the next person says the first word that comes to their mind. This goes back and forth until everyone is laughing themselves silly.

The alphabet game

Family members look out the windows and call out the letters in the alphabet in order as they spot them on road signs. The first person to get to Z wins!

Alphabet categories

One person chooses a category such as “fruits” or “animals”. Players alternate calling out words from that category in alphabetical order. Alternative: players take turns doing the entire alphabet’s worth of words in one category.

Tongue twisters

Learn a few tongue twisters and see who can repeat them the most times without messing up. Here are a few tongue twisters to learn.

Two truths and a lie.

Everyone takes a turn making three statements. Two are true and one is not. Family members try to guess which is the lie.

How many can you name?

Name a category and your child has 10 seconds to name as many things in that category as possible. Make categories general (“animals”) for young kids, and specific (“animals with no teeth”) for older kids.

Silly sentences.

One person chooses 5 random letters. Kids come up with sentences in which each word starts with the designated letter. For example, HRTB. Harry read three books.

Invent limericks.

Try your hand at inventing limericks!  They lend themselves to lots of giggles.

Word chain.

Choose a topic, such as food. The first person says a word, the second person says that word plus his own, the third person says the first two words plus her own, and so forth, continue until someone can no longer remember the word chain.

20 Questions

Animal, Vegetable or Mineral? One person thinks of a thing and everyone else gets to ask up to 20 yes or no questions in an effort to guess what it is! This is a classic car game for kids!

Hands-On Road Trip Games

We absolutely must have travel games to play, either single player or multi-player. I also have a list of travel games here, but I’ve included more favorite road trip games below! (Affiliate links included.)


Auto Bingo! We have a couple of these and we love them! Perfect for extra-long car rides.


I love Table Topics To Go to start conversations in the car that aren’t about whether or not one sibling has moved across the invisible “territory” line.


I have written many times about my love for Mad Libs! Such a great game, and excellent for building literacy skills with humor!


All You Need Is a Pencil: The Stuck in a Car, Plane, or Train Activity Book: Games, Doodling, Puzzles, and More! This is a fun book of activities with no plug-in required. Don’t forget to pack a pencil!


Magnetic travel games. We have a magnetic sudoku set that has gotten a lot of use and you can find loads of different magnetic travel games for road trips, like Sudoku or Tic Tac Toe, depending on your children’s interests.


How about a classic Rubik’s Cube? I’ve never been able to solve the darn thing…

Wherever your travels take you this summer, these screen-free road trip games for kids are essential to have. Screens in the car keep families from interacting with each other (okay, so that is not always a bad thing…), they discourage looking out at the world and kind of defeat the purpose of getting out of the house!

And, hey, if you really need the family to retreat to their own corner of the vehicle, put on an audiobook the whole family will love. I have just the list of audiobooks for family road trips that you need right here.

Best audiobooks for family road trips

Happy (screen-free) travels!

Fun screen-free car games for kids
Want Your Kids to Love Being Unplugged?
Subscribe to our newsletter and as a thank you, receive 10 waiting games kids can play anytime anywhere.
Your email will *never* be shared or sold to a 3rd party. Click here to view our privacy policy.
Pin71
Share115
Tweet

by: Erica posted in: Games 2 Comments

« Nonfiction Earth Science Books for Kids
The Big Gigantic List of Adventure Books for Kids »

Comments

  1. jessie says

    June 19, 2018 at 2:40 pm

    For longer trips, I use a ticket system (modified from one I found on momsminivan.com) with my kids. Every twenty minutes of good behavior, they get to grab a slip of paper from my ticket bag. Each slip is marked, with most being worth one ticket, and a few being worth multiple tickets. They can then trade tickets in for things like choosing what’s on the radio, 20 minutes of screen time, choosing a snack or treat at our next stop, or, if they save up most of their tickets for the trip, cash! Not only has this helped ensure good behavior and limit screen time, it has also eliminated the begging for snacks at every gas station. I spend most of the trip reading out loud to everyone – an organic book on tape!

    Reply
  2. Martha says

    November 15, 2018 at 3:08 am

    Here is a list of some fun road trip games that you can play with your friends and family on a long road trip:

    1. “I Spy”
    2. The License Plate Game
    3. The Alphabet Game
    4. Twenty Questions

    Reply

Feed My Comment Addiction Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

STOP THE WHINING!

SAY, "YES I WANT TO UNPLUG MY KIDS." JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER LIST AND GET 10 WAITING GAMES YOUR KIDS CAN PLAY ANYTIME, ANYWHERE.

Join over 12,000 parents who subscribe to the most useful newsletter on the planet. 

    We won't send you spam (yuck). Unsubscribe at any time.

    Search

    rss facebook twitter pinterest google plus

    new

    Categories

    What Have We Done Lately?

    Sprinkle Rainbow Joy Around Your Living Room

    (Pirate) Game of the Month: LOOT

    Picture Book Biographies of Women Artists: The Visual Arts

    Books about Women Performers Who Dazzled the Crowds

    9 DIY Bookmarks for Kids: Never Lose Your Place Again!

    Children’s Books with Characters Who Have Medical Challenges

    President Books for Middle Schoolers to Help Them Think Critically


    We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
    Copyright 2007-2018 What Do We Do All Day? All rights reserved.

    EXPLORE MORE:

    Awesome Newsletter
    Favorite Resources for Parents
    100s of Book Lists
    Gigantic List of Indoor Activities
    Best Games on the Planet
    Stay At Home Parent Resources


    Privacy, disclosure and copyright policy

    Copyright © 2019 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks

    Want Your Kids to Love Being Unplugged?
    Subscribe to our newsletter and as a thank you, receive 10 waiting games kids can play anytime anywhere.
    Your email will *never* be shared or sold to a 3rd party. Click here to view our privacy policy.
    Want More Free Activity Ideas?
    Join our email list and as a thank you gift I'll send you a list of 10 waiting games that will make your kids smarter.
    Your email will *never* be shared or sold to a 3rd party. Click here to view our privacy policy.
    Want your kids to love being unplugged?
    Join our newsletter and as a thank you, I'll send you a list of 10 waiting games.
    Your email will *never* be shared or sold to a 3rd party. Click here to view our privacy policy.
    We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you keep using this website we will assume you are OK with that. Read our privacy policy for more.OKRead more