Boredom Busting Road Trip Games for Kids

Are you planning some fun family road trips this year? Keep your whole family entertained with awesome road trip games for kids. Cause let’s be honest a long road trip can get boring for kids but if you prepare ahead of time it can be an unforgettable family vacation.

Easy road trip activities can keep your kids busy for hours on a long trip which means a lot less whining and happier parents. It’s a Win-Win for everyone.

You’ll find the best car games like the license plate game, magnetic games, fun arts and crafts, road sign bingo, Mad Libs, printable car games, and more. Plus make the ride easier with simple travel accessories & gadgets like travel trays.

Be ready for your next family vacation with these fun road trip games to make traveling with kids easy and fun.

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Best Road Trip Games & Travel Accessories

Travel Games for Kids

Magnetic Games

My kids can keep busy forever playing bingo on the long car rides or plane rides. Here is one of the Bingo sets that we use and love. It is a self-contained metal box with magnets for the game markers so you don’t lose pieces all over the car.

The bingo set is small enough to easily fit in your carry-on or backpack. It is even great for little kids because it is all animal pictures with no words to read. There is also a fun Hangman game for older kids.

License Plate Game

This is a favorite car game for families. Kids and parents look out the car window to find different states on the license plates of passing cars & trucks.

Make it easy to play with these bingo cards and see who can find five in a row first.

Car Bingo

Want a more traditional travel bingo where the kids need to watch out the car window? Here is a great game we use that has sliding windows to mark the items you find. It’s kind of like a road trip scavenger hunt with kids searching for road signs, cars, trucks, stop signs, buildings, bridges, and more.

This bingo game comes with four playing cards so I play with my boys when I am not driving. It’s tons of fun and keeps the kids distracted on the drive.

Tic Tac Toe

Play a fun game of Tic Tac Toe with this easy portable pocket board game. I love that there are no pieces to lose just flip over the Xs and Os.

Hangman

This cute Melissa and Doug Hangman Set is a great travel game for older kids. All the pieces are attached and there is nothing to lose.

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Mad Libs

Remember playing Mad Libs as kids! It’s a great way to pass the time finding words to fill in the blanks of the sentences provided. Kids can come up with some pretty funny answers so it can be very entertaining. They might even learn something while having fun.

Related Article – Save Money on Kids Travel Games & Gadgets at Dollar Tree

Audio Books

Listen to audiobooks while you drive as a whole family or download some for your kids to listen to on an iPad. You’ll find tons of options on Amazon Audio for all ages. Or see if you can check some out for free from your local library.

Arts and Crafts For Car & Airplane Rides

Wiki Stix

These super fun bendable wax sticks are great for car rides, plane rides, and keeping busy at restaurants. We were given these at a restaurant one time and have been using them on trips ever since. Kids can use their imagination to make all kinds of creations.

The Wiki Stixs are reusable so the kids can play with them over and over again throughout the trip. The best part is they are mess-free and easily fit in your purse. I usually store them in a large zip lock bag.

Related Article – Easiest Money Saving Tips For Family Vacation

Color Wonder

Have you tried these amazing Color Wonder markers and coloring books by Crayola? They have “magic markers” that allow the color to only show up on the special paper. No more worrying about your child coloring the airplane, car, or restaurant seats.

The coloring books come in a wide variety of characters and many come with the markers. Find one with the character your child loves and let them be free to color anywhere.

Paint by Stickers

Paint by Stickers is a new fun activity book for kids. It is kind of like paint by number but uses stickers instead of paint. The book has stickers with different shapes and numbers which you match up with picture outlines to complete the picture. A fun and time-consuming activity.

This one is great for younger kids to elementary age.

This one is a little more intricate and for kids at least age 7 and up.

Coloring Books for on the Go

The Play Pack Grab & Go packs are small packages with everything your kids need to color. Each pack contains crayons, a coloring book, and stickers. They come in a variety of popular characters so you’re sure to find your child’s favorite.

I like to throw these in my purse while traveling for airplane rides and restaurants. It’s great that everything you need is ready in this small zip lock pack.

Related Article – How to Travel with Kids | 15 Travel Tips to Survive Road Trips

Travel Accessories for Road Trips

Snack and Play Travel Tray

When you are on a long car ride, your kids need a flat place to play with their toys and eat a snack or meal. We have the Star Kids trays for our boys and it works great for all their activities and eating. It even has a higher edge so that their toy cars, crayons, or other items don’t roll onto the car floor. 

I have tried two versions of this tray, one with the flaps on the sides like the one below and one without. I have found the one with the flaps on the sides does a better job of staying on their laps and not sliding off.

The pockets on the side flaps are also an easy way for kids to reach their own stuff so you are not constantly handing them things. These trays have been awesome on our long road trips. They fit on car seats too. Here’s my son using the tray with a booster seat.

A new travel tray option that has come out is this tray that has additional pockets to hold small books or art supplies. Both are great it just depends on what you think your child will use the tray for in the car.

Kick Mat and iPad Holder for Your Car

I love having a kick mat on the back of the front seats to stop all the dirt from the kid’s feet and to hold some of their toys on a long car ride. The Oasser kick mat I found has a bonus of holding your child’s iPad to make it easier to watch movies.

There are openings placed in the iPad holder to connect their earphones and charger too. It also has a huge pocket to hold books, 2 drinks holders and comes in a 2 pack.

The mat is a great way to keep the car organized on long trips and entertain your kids. Here is what it looks like in my car. Click on it for more details.

Here is another great kick matt from YOOFAN I found that has smaller pockets that you could use to watch an iPhone on a road trip.

When choosing the kick matt keep in mind you want the pockets to line up with your child’s eye line in the car. With the additional pockets on Osser Kick Matt the iPad holder will be lower but if they are watching an iPhone the higher pockets on the YOOFAN might be better.

Related Article – 5 Best Travel Apps for Road Trips

iPad Holder for Car & Airplane Rides

Want just a holder to hold the kid’s iPads instead of the whole Kick Mat? Try this Inndise iPad headrest mount.

You can strap them to the front car seat on long car rides or you can use it on plane rides by strapping the velcro to the airplane fold-down tray.

Airplane Ride Hack – For airplane rides just fold down the airplane tray and strap the holder on the bottom of the tray. Next, fold up the tray and it will be right in front of your child to watch.

Bonus: it has a sturdy holder just in case the iPad drops.

Neck Pillow

I find my kids are always falling asleep in cars and planes in the most uncomfortable head positions. You know the ones where their chin is touching their chest and they wake up all crabby.

I found bringing along a travel neck pillow helps them sleep better. Plus what parent doesn’t love the part of the trip where they have a quiet sleeping child.

Here are two pillow options. I like that the first one holds up the chin and the neck and has several positions. Both have the added bonus of snaps so that you can attach the pillow to your carry-on and it’s not one more thing you need to schlep around.

Travel Potty

Ever been on a road trip in the middle of nowhere and your kid has to go to the bathroom right now! This is the portable travel potty we throw in our trunk for just this occasion. It’s also a great alternative to the outdoor bathrooms when camping, heading to national parks, hanging out at a beach, or anywhere with porta-potties.

The descriptions suggest buying special bags to use with it but we just use plastic bags from the grocery store. Have a newly potty-trained child in the house? This potty can turn into a real lifesaver on a road trip.

Printable Travel Activities for Kids

Find tons of printable travel activities for kids on our Printables Page. Here are a few printable games we use as road trip fun.

Would You Rather Questions for Kids – Hilarious questions for the whole family to read on a long drive.

Dot to Dot Coloring Pages & Worksheets – Free Printable Dot to Dot games

Alphabet Coloring Pages for Kids – Have fun coloring letters of the Alphabet and playing an alphabet game.

Save Money on Travel Games

If you have time to shop and want to save money on travel games head to your local Dollar Tree or Dollar Store. Check out some of our favorite travel games and gadgets for kids at Dollar Tree.

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Travel Hacks for Families

Be fully prepared for your family vacation with all our best travel tips and hacks for families. Here are a few favorites.

20 Genius Hotel Hacks for Family Vacation – Make staying at a hotel easier!

Cool Beach Hacks to Survive a Family Day at the Beach – Don’t go to the beach without these.

How to Travel Cheaply on Family Vacation – Save money on your next trip.

15 Road Trip Tips to Survive Family Vacation – Make Road trips less stressful & more fun.

Find cool Family Travel Destinations to help you plan your next road trip.

I hope that you found some items on this list to help make your next family vacation easier! You’ll find these road trip games really keep your kids busy and the travel accessories just make your life easier.

Have you found other items that have been a great help on a trip? Please share it with all of us in the comments.

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