Road Trip Activities for Kids

Car Colors

Give each child a pen and piece of paper and tell them to choose a color. From then on they have to mark down every time they see a car of the color they have chosen. The first person to spot say 15, or 30 cars of their chosen color is the winner.

Alphabet Soup

This is a game where everybody takes it in turns to come up with words beginning with the various letters of the alphabet. First person comes up with something for the letter “A” (apples), next person finds something with the letter “B” (boat) and so on.

X, U and Z are the most difficult, so it might be an idea to drop those letters. You can make the game harder by choosing categories such as famous people, or places or even animals and fruit.

Personal Bags

Let each child pack a small bag of their favourite toys and games to take with them. Make a rule that they are only allowed to take out one thing at a time, and they can only play with it for a certain amount of time, depending on the length of your journey. Also encourage the kids to swap their toys/games if the journey is a long one so that they get a bit of variation in what they’re doing.

Travel Diary

This one is extremely good for longer journeys, especially when you stop off at various places on the way. Each child will need a notepad and pen. The older ones can have disposable cameras and the younger ones can have art books and crayons. Let them document the trip by taking pictures (or drawing) and writing notes about where they are, what they’ve seen and what they have done on the journey. Not only will this keep them occupied, but it will also give YOU something to read on reflect on in time for the next journey.