Awesome Road Trip Activities for Kids of All Ages
If you’re looking for awesome road trip activities for kids of all ages, you’ll love this extensive list of ideas! There’s something here for everyone, but do also check out my ideas for airplane activities for kids, because there’s lots of overlap. This post contains affiliate links and gifted product.
Summer travel season is upon us and so it’s time for road trips! To help you emerge from this season with your sanity intact, I curated a collection of awesome road trip activities for kids of all ages.
To make it easier for you to read through this, I did separate it by age group with a big caveat: there’s so much overlap, you might want to just read through it all anyway!
What makes awesome road trip activities for kids?
Things we look out for
There are a few things that I look out for when choosing what to bring in the car with me to keep the kids busy
- Compact – We often travel with lots of luggage. In fact, since we have a minivan and only have four kids, we often put down two back seats to make space for luggage. We also travel with lots of food since Kosher and food allergies make it hard to eat out. So any activities need to be slim enough to be kept in one or two bags or baskets at the kids’ feet, or in the diaper bag.
- Neat – Obviously, you don’t want kids wrecking the car TOO much, though I’d say the bar for neatness in a car is a bit lower than on a plane. I do share some neat-ish activities that are just practical options for road trips.
- Self-contained – On that note, things that are self-contained and easy to play with without a solid surface score relatively high. Too many loose parts that can go flying off the second you hit a bump can ruin the experience. While you’re more likely to recover dropped pieces eventually, you want something that’ll work even if one or two pieces drop, or that minimizes dropping to begin with.
- Highly Entertaining – Of course since real estate in the car is limited and there is so much time to fill, we look for things that can really entertain. Generally speaking, the size-to-entertainment value ratio is important. Meaning, smaller items can be slightly less time-filling but the larger (but still pretty compact) items on the list MUST truly entertain.
This list has a mix of activities and toys. In general, bringing out fresh things that the kids haven’t played with yet keeps them busier. Think about how long they usually play with something the first time. New items go a long way.
The road trip activities in this list come in a broad range of price points, so you can choose what best fits your budget. If it’s a higher ticket item and it’s in this list it’s because it’ll really go far – and will probably stay fun and exciting for many trips.
Choose from single investment toys, bundled smaller activities, or a mix of both.
Ready for some actual awesome ideas for road trip activities for kids?
Watch the video
As an experiment, I decided to try something new: I created a video version of this list of awesome road trip activities for kids. In the video, I walk and talk you through some of the items in this list – but not all. You’ll find links to the products in this post and some in the video description – so choose your format, or check them both out.
Awesome road trip activities for kids by age
I decided to sort this list by age group, simply because that’s how people tend to search for ideas.
But here’s a quick tip: look for ideas in other groups as well because there’s lots of crossover between them. I just did my suggestions based on a mix of age-appropriateness of the product and appeal, specifically in the car setting.
Travel Activities for All Age Groups
These picks really cover a very broad range of ages with equal or near-equal appeal. Some of them do include choking hazards and aren’t for kids under 3.
Boppo Screen Free Tablet
A screen free tablet? Yes, please! Boppo is a new concept that I first got to try at Toy Fair and I fell in love with it! It is surprisingly engaging for something without a screen, and my kids think it’s epic too – which is what really matters.
It’s got over 40 activities, including arcade games, podcasts, audiobooks, exploration activities like musical instruments, trivia and so much more. And the best part? It’s got things for toddlers through tweens! Really anyone can enjoy it, as I did.
Games like bop-a-mole have you chasing the lights, memory games have you following sequences, musical games have you playing piano and drums… it’s amazing how much you can do without a screen!
And go ahead and get the full bundle that includes three Toppos – that is, functional skins. These toppers add more games to the mix in specific themes: farm animals, outer space, and music.
Boogie Board Jot Pocket
Boogie Board is one that you might see in lots of travel guides and for good reason. These LCD writing tablets keep the kids so busy! But did you know that they make a carabiner version too?
This is slim, compact, and very entertaining in a soothing way. It’s fabulous for ages 3 through adult (yes, I enjoy it too) thanks to the high quality stylus and the complete erase at the push of a button.
Hand2Mind Soothing Swirlers Sensory Tubes
Sometimes kids can get anxious during road trips, and Hand2Mind’s mini sensory swirlers are the most charming little calm-down tools. They can clip onto backpacks, and are a cool toy for kids to just have and hold, rather than an activity that you pass back when they get bored.
It comes in a 4-pack, which just makes it feel like it was created for a family like ours. Each one is a bit different, and it’s just perfect for siblings to share.
Ideas for Toddlers
Toddlers are a challenge in the car especially when they rear face. But their standards are also pretty low, and they can get excited with anything new you pull out. Especially if your kid does not have an adult sitting next to them, be very careful to avoid small parts on road trips.
Glo Pals Light-Up Library
When it comes to toddler road trip activities, books are a bit of a challenge. While they can look at the pictures, they can’t quite read it to themselves, and unless a parent is sitting next to them, they might miss out on being read to.
But the Glo Pals Light Up Library flips that on its head. It features a little “magnifying glass” that allows kids to discover the lights hidden in the book set. This discovery aspect, as well as the fact that kids LOVE magnifying glasses and anything that lights up, turns it into a self-entertaining toy for littles.
Plus, you now have books to pull out to read in your hotel room too! J loves reading these books, and the themes appeal directly to his interests.
Wishy Washy Water Reveal
Water painting books are a big hit for travel, and this version really is quite different from the ones I’ve seen before. Wishy Washy Water Reveal is a modernized version that features calm colors and avoids overstimulation.
It focuses on color learning, with each page highlighting another color. Kids paint it with water using the enclosed water brush, and then it air dries. It can be repainted again and again, and the brush stores right within the book. The cover has a magnetic closure.
Travel Do a Dot Pages
Do a dots are a really fun way to entertain kids on the road, and this travel themed set was actually created by me for my own kids! Make sure you bring along a travel clip board with storage so that it turns into a functional road trip activity for them.
Road Trip Activities for Preschoolers – ages 3-6
The preschool age group is a bit of an easier one to find awesome road trip activities for. They are often old enough that they won’t put things in their mouths, and can do a bit more than toddlers.
Mudpuppy Space Bingo Magnetic Board Game
A and J have been very into outer space lately, and I find that appealing to their interests with road trip activities really keeps them quite engaged. This Bingo game is perfect for the two of them to share.
The game play is so simple, and A picked up on it in minutes. Just spin the spinner, and mark off the spot on your board that corresponds. Take turns spinning the dial and see who can get a row first. But if you get the minus one, you need to remove a marker.
The game is graded for four and up, and it’s quite accurate. A three-year-old like J with decent social skills can play too, but with a bit more hand-holding.
World’s Smallest – 1. Scratch Art Light Box
World’s Smallest is a line of miniature but fully functional toys made by Super Impulse. Pretty much all of their toys are really cool for travel, but I’m sharing two favorites creative toys here.
First up is the scratch art light box. A pull-out drawer has a stylus and scratch art sheets. Place it on top, make your art, and then press the button on the side ot light it up.
The kit is so small it just fits right in the palm of my hand. It’s something I like to keep in my handbag for “boredom emergencies” in general and it’s perfect for road trips.
World’s Smallest You Create Artist Drawing Kit
Next up from World’s Smallest is this tiny little drawing kit. It has six working colored pencils, an eraser, sharpener, and sheets of paper.
Kids don’t just enjoy the activities. They also really get a kick out of the miniature charm of it all.
Fun Ideas for School age kids – 7-10
As kids get older, entertaining them without screens gets harder. But it’s not impossible at all! Look for things that suit their interests, that mirror what they play with at home in travel size, and that is fresh and new.
Connetix Pro Constructor Set
My kids are kind of obsessed with Connetix, the aesthetic building blocks from Australia with the faceted surface. One of their newer lines, targeted towards older kids is Connetix Pro. My two big boys absolutely love this one and feel like finally someone made a magnetic tile that is created for them.
There are two reasons these are such a big score for travel. Besides for being an incredibly engaging building toy, they also feature stronger magnets, making them easier to build on-the-go, in my kids’ hands, without falling apart. And the smaller tile size doesn’t hurt either!
I like to repackage things like these into little pouches so that they’re more compact, and from there the kids can play endlessly.
Make it Real City Style Fashion Design Sketchbook
Make it Real is a brand from my childhood dreams. Their fashion design sketchbooks are full of creative inspiration for aspiring fashionistas. For any type of travel, we love the City Style version because of the cool globetrotter tie-in! Of course, they do have other themes to choose from too.
The book starts off with some stencils and stickers to get imaginations going. Then, it offers drawing guidance, including color guides, shading tips, and more. Finally, you have the character pages.
Each character has a few pages, including full-color inspiration, a few wearing just an undershirt and shorts, and a few wearing a very light pencil version of full dress. Kids can spend hours and endless imagination on this.
Shashibo Shape Shifting Cubes
Here’s another toy that I first discovered at Toy Fair: Shashibo. These shape shifting cubes from Fun in Motion toys are compact single-piece toys with endless possibilities. They have magnets inside and different patterns that can be matched up to serve as a puzzle.
They have so many different series now – shown is the artist series – and they can be combined too for extended game play. M and Y have spent hours playing with these little things, for years by now, and they don’t tire of them.
They’re part fidget, part brain teaser, and all fun.
Gelly Roll Retractable Gel Pens
As kids get older, art supplies that don’t take up too much space become real winners. Gelly Rolls are the queens of gel pens, and their retractable (clicky) pens are perfect for travel. Because the caps don’t come off, you can’t drop them.
The Moonlight (pastel) line is new to this line, and a favorite because of how satisfying it is to use on dark paper – and the fact that it works great on light paper too! Stash them in a pencil case and bundle them with a fun notebook.
Plus Plus Packets, Critters, and Scoops
Plus Plus is another building toy that my big ones love and they actually make special small packages. While we’ve used their tubes in the past for airplane travel, I find that their new Scoops are perfect for car travel. They’re mini kits in ice-cream style tubs that allow kids to fish for pieces right in the tub.
The pieces connect and hold, which makes it buildable right in their hands. They have other small packets too, including their packets and critters, that can be used as small road trip activities and then put with the big stash of Plus Plus after the trip.
Road Trip Activities for Tweens and Teens (11 and older) that are actually cool
The older kids get, the bigger the challenge is to find awesome road trip activities. For tweens and teens, look for things that don’t appear too childish. At this age, we find ourselves really leaning into puzzles and similar activities that engage their minds, and art-type things for creatives.
At this age, you also might trust them a bit more with things that you wouldn’t give younger kids in the car.
Learning Resources Scramboozle Number Jumble
Don’t you just love a toy that’s totally self-contained but is still tactile and entertaining? Learning Resource’s Scramboozle Number Jumble is a puzzle game that’s completely enclosed in a kid-hand-sized ball. Kids twist the top, tilt, and shake to match different number and pattern sequences in the included booklet.
My kids can’t get enough of single-player puzzle games, and this particular one is perfect for the car! It’s simply impossible to lose the pieces and that little thing has hours of entertainment in it.
I do like it for bigger kids (10+) for the road, just because it can be quite challenging and we want kids to stay calm in the car. It really works well for that older, harder to entertain demographic.
Bored in the USA Book
While less activity-focused and more planning-focused, Bored in the USA is a sweet pocket-sized book that gives tweens a mission on the road! When we travel, we often have pockets of time that are unplanned. Bored in the USA goes through each state and lists different attractions in a simple and visual format.
Kids can find activities they’d like to do, and spend the car ride helping to plan the road trip. And if you’re traveling through multiple states, this can really support the experience.
Moonbow Stickers and Dot Grid Journal
Moonbow is a small stationery brand that creates beautiful, artistic products. I love the idea of handing a tween or teen a mature-but-playful dot grid journal and having them start recording memories!
Combine it with travel themed (or not) stickers that they can use to aid the creative process or to tack in ticket stubs and other memories. Kids can use it to plan and journal their feelings on the way there, and then memory-keep on the way back.
A sticker album can help too as it keeps them busy organizing stickers on repositionable pages. It might be busywork but that’s what we want – to keep them busy!
Paint by Sticker Portraits
Paint by Sticker is a creative experience that doesn’t require much thought and is totally neat for on the go. The concept is simple: assemble pictures using stickers that correspond to numbers.
The pages tear out for future framing, but that’s also very practical for creating. The Portraits book will be released August 2026, so if you’re buying it before, choose one of their other options. It’s one of their more advanced books, with each page providing lots of entertainment time.
We are working on the portrait of Queen Elizabeth 1 together – M, Y, and I – and even my almost thirteen year old son is really enjoying it. I do recommend you pack along a set of tweezers to make placement a bit easier, but it is optional.
Crazy Aaron’s Thinking Putty
You’re probably gasping “slime in the car?! No way!” But it’s not slime. It’s putty. There’s a difference.
Crazy Aaron’s creates the most epic “thinking putty” – a sensory putty that is DEFINITELY less messy than slime, because it just isn’t as slimy and slippery! Their Better Butter line is light and airy and so much fun to use. My kids love their putties and always put them to good use.
For us, putty in the car is an age thing. M and Y (12 and 10) can use it. A and J (5 and 2) may not. When kids are old enough that they are hard to entertain, they tend to also be more responsible and can handle a bit of putty in a tin. I do love that it comes in a tin, and actually like the larger tins for the car. Kids can play directly in it, avoiding mess. They do also have mini tins if you want it to be more compact, or you just want to minimize the volume of putty in the car.
Foldology Origami Puzzles
Foldology is an origami-style puzzle book, and that is quite challenging but also really cute. It works really well for older kids who have aged out of simpler activity books, and provides endless hours of compact entertainment.
The puzzles start easier and get harder as you go. Kids follow folding rules to create specific images, requiring focus, patience, and visual thinking. Because it’s a small booklet, it travels well, and because it builds in difficulty, it can stretch across multiple trips instead of getting finished in one afternoon.
For the hard-to-entertain 11-and-up crowd, this kind of activity can be a lifesaver.
More tips for finding awesome road trip activities for kids in different age groups
I truly hope that this list of ideas was more than enough and you’ve got your road trip covered! In a nutshell, things that don’t take up insane amounts of space, can be done on kids’ laps, and are interactive and challenging tend to be ideal.
For younger kids, aim for things they can truly do independently. Mix things up with sibling activities and solo activities. Make sure to choose activities that won’t make a mess, and that won’t be ruined if one piece drops. Of course, consider age appropriateness when packing awesome road trip activities for kids.
Some more pointers that I don’t think I’ve mentioned yet:
- Think of what they already love. I actively hunt down space themed activities for my space-obsessed younger two. My oldest loves STEM and my second is into art.
- Keep it new and fresh. Just offering them things they haven’t yet played with is already so helpful.
- Things that’ll surprise them. To contrast expanding on what they love, try for things they may never have heard of, new themes and new experiences (like allowing them to help plan the trip or allowing them putty in the car).
Offer a mix of things to do (like building toys, activity pads, and puzzles) and consider handing them one new larger toy that’ll make the road trip epic.
I recommend that you have activities in a large bag – or you have an extra seat a crate – organized in pencil cases and these jumbo organizing cases. Don’t rely on the packaging it comes with.
Got any awesome road trip activities for kids to add to the list? Comment below!
