Make your upcoming road trips and family vacations happy and memorable by keeping the kids busy. How do you do this? Pick up some fun travel games for kids before you go.

Let’s face it, traveling is expensive so let’s find a way to save you money. All you need to do is head to your local Dollar Tree to stock up on road trip games for kids and travel gadgets.

The great part about Dollar Tree is finding all the cheap travel activites for kids that will keep them busy.  It is always more fun and time consuming when they have something new to play with on a trip.

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Did you know that you can purchase Dollar Tree items online and get free shipping to your local store. Huge time saver when your getting ready for vacation.

15 Best Travel Games for Kids at Dollar Tree

Travel Games & Travel Accessories

1. Arts and Crafts 

Do your kids enjoy arts and crafts? Find all kinds of different projects for your kids to do on a trip. Stringing beads is a great way to occupy their time.

Find all different bead colors and shapes, string, and even containers to hold the beads. They also sell pipe cleaners which are great for beading because the beads don’t fall off as easily as the string.

Coloring books, crayons, and stickers are another great busy activity. Find your child’s favorite character and they’ll be so excited.

My kids new favorite are the gel pens and small pads of construction paper. It’s always exciting to get something new to color or create. These would also be great activities at a restaurant, too. 

2. Small Toy Figures

Find all kinds of small figurines and toys at Dollar Tree. Look for a character or animal your child really likes. I have found small animals, dinosaurs, army men, Paw Patrol figures, Star Wars figures, and more.

Buy a small storage container or use a zip lock bag to keep the toys organized on the trip. 

Are you headed to Disney? You will find tons of small Disney Characters from Princesses and Mickey Mouse to Cars Movie cars. These would be a great surprise gift to play with on the way to the Parks.

You could also take them along as “souvenirs” instead of buying the expensive stuff at the parks. They could be surprise gifts while your waiting in a long line or something on their bed when you get back the hotel. 

3. Road Trip Games for Kids

I find lots of small travel games at Dollar Tree. Usually, they have a variety of small board games in zip lock bags, like license plate games, checkers, seek and find games for road trips and more.

These are easy to keep in their own bag container and can be thrown in a purse for airplane rides, car rides, or restaurants.  

Related Article –   11 Amazon Road Trip Games and Accessories for Kids

4. Workbooks and Activity Books 

You can find all different types of workbooks and activity books for a variety of ages at Dollar Tree. Look and find books, Alphabet books, maze books, crossword books, and more. Pick one that your child will enjoy using and stay busy playing with.  

Related Article – Free Trip Cost Calculator to Help Make Your Travel Budget & Save Money

5. Silly Putty and Play-Doh 

So, this item depends on your child and how messy it would make the car. I have given the kids a Tupperware container from the dollar store and let them play with the Play-Doh while we drive.

Another option is silly putty. It’s not quite as messy as Play-Doh and can be used at resturants or your hotel room too. 

6. Working out the Wiggles 

If your headed on a road trip, you are going to need some time for the kids to get out and run a little. I would suggest finding a rest stop along the highway to get out and run.

Dollar Tree has some great items to burn some energy. Pick up a jump rope, football, soccer ball, and bubbles to chase after. Buy them at the Dollar Store and if they get lost on the trip, you didn’t lose your kids favorite soccer ball.  

7. Sand Toys 

Headed on a beach vacation? Pick up some sand molds, buckets, and shovels for the trip. There cheap and if you lose them on the beach no big deal.

Bonus if your flying you just leave them behind at the end of the trip and use the extra luggage space for anything new you bought. 

Tip: Buy a laundry bag at Dollar Tree to hold the beach toys. When you are leaving the beach, all the sand will fall out through the bottom of the bag and you won’t be carrying all that sand home with you.  

Get more Beach tips at 20 Beach Hacks to Survive a Day at the Beach with Kids. 

8. Glow Sticks 

Will you be going to any events after dark on your trip? Pick up some glow sticks for the kids to wear at night and make it a little more fun!

Fun Hotel Hack – Thicker Glow Sticks can be used in the hotel room as a night light.

Related Article – Road Trip Planner Tips Every Parent Needs on Family Vacation

The Practical Stuff 

9. Car Accessories 

Did you know that Dollar Tree stocks cell phone accessories? You can save so much money buying them at Dollar Tree over the big box stores.

So, what can you find? Car chargers that plug into your cigarette lighter, ear buds, USB cables, cell phone cases, and phone holders that clip to your car.

Keep all your devices running on a road trip with the car charger and USB cables. Use the ear buds so you don’t have to listen to the other passenger’s games and music.

Lastly, the clip to attach your phone to your car will make it so much easier to use your direction apps, like Waze.

Wondering what are the best road trip apps? I tried out a bunch of travel apps and found the Top 5 Free Travel Apps to use on your next road trip.  

10. Sanitizer 

The Dollar Store sells individual hand sanitizer wipes and small travel bottles. These are easy to throw in your purse or car when visiting national parks, or really anytime you are out with the kids.

11. Medicine 

Pick up perfect travel size medicine for Tylenol, Excedrin, and Aspirin. They also sometimes have shampoo and conditioner in smaller sizes.  

Related Article – 5 Best Free Travel Apps for Road Trips

Car and Travel Hacks 

12. Eating in the car 

Pick up a plastic shower caddy to hold your kids drinks and food while they are eating in the car. They can easily balance this on their lap and it will prevent spilling.  

13. The Claw 

You know how the kids’ toys are constantly dropping on the car floor on driving trips? It is so hard to bend your arm around the front seat while you’re driving to pick them up and can be dangerous.

Get a claw like the one pictured below and let the kids grab their own toys. 

14. Keep your car clean  

Are your kids constantly handing you their garbage on a road trip? It drives me crazy!

Fix this by giving the kids their own garbage can in the backseat. Take a plastic cereal container that has a flip top opening and put a grocery store bag in it.

This is small enough to fit in the seat and has a top so the garbage doesn’t spill all over. When you stop to get gas, throw out the bag add a new one. Easy Peasy! 

Related Article – 40 Things to Do with Kids on Staycation

15. Busy Bags 

Busy Bags are a great way to keep the car trip exciting. I buy some brown paper bags and put one fun little item in each.

These items could be a small little toy, new car game, or box of crayons and coloring book. I scour Dollar Tree to find a bunch of fun, inexpensive items to fill their bags.

You can also use them as motivation for good behavior on the trip. No whining for the next hour and you get to open another bag. It is amazing what a little motivation / bribery can do to make a great trip. 

Here are a few Busy Bag Ideas 

1.Crayons and new small coloring book with your child’s favorite Character

2. Silly Putty or Play-Doh 

3. Pipe Cleaners (these are so fun create designs and shapes with)- Add a few beads and make a fun project.

4. Gel Pens and Activity Book (mazes, crosswords, letter finding) 

5. Small Figures – Dinosaurs, Princesses, Cars, My little Pony, Farm              Animals etc.  

6. Stickers and Blank Pad of Paper to stick them 

Are you ready now for a great road trips with these fun travel games for kids?  These road trip games and travel accessories for kids should help create an easy and fun family vacation.  Take these ideas and head over to your local Dollar Tree and stock up.

More Ways To Save at Dollar Tree

• Getting Organized is easier than you think! 17 Genius DIY Dollar Tree Organization Hacks 
• Did you know Dollar Tree has the best cleaning supplies?  45 Best Cleaning Supplies from Dollar Tree That Actually Work.
• Dollar Tree has the best Fall decorations. Get inspired in my How to Make Cheap Fall Decoations at Dollar Tree That Look Expensive.
• Make beautiful DIY Christmas Decorations from Dollar Tree and get cute Hostess and Teacher Gifts.

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Don’t have time to shop at  Dollar Tree?  Check out these fun travel games on Amazon and get them delivered to your home.

My favorite is the travel tray we use for the kids to play all their activities in the car.

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