The 15 Best Screen-Free Road Trip Activities for Kids

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It’s almost road trip season! We travel a lot with our kids, mostly by car. Roadtripping with kids can be loads of fun but it can also be a complete disaster. A little advance planning can make all the difference in the world. We have talked about the importance of having a road trip bag full of snacks and activities. Today I want to share some of our favorite activities that we have used many times over the years. Tip: We have a clipboard for each kid to make it easier to do activities.

1.) ColorWonder

We love Colorwonder products. The kids get all the fun of coloring and we don’t have to worry about the mess. We do allow regular markers in our vehicle but prefer to leave the crayons at home. Crayons melt. They aren’t ideal to be left in a car for this reason. Regular markers can make for messy hands and clothing very easily. Depending on your child, markers may not be a good idea. This is where Colorwonder saves the day. No messy hands, clothing, or car. I have linked the car starter kit. You can add whatever character kits that you want but this case is helpful and kids like the stamps.

2.) Dot to Dots and Mazes

These are a family favorite. The kids love them. They are available in different levels of difficulty varying from very easy to extreme. There are letter and number options. We even found one that you had to solve math problems to figure out what number was next. These are nice if you’re road-schooling but might not be the most fun option for a family vacation. We have bought the overall activity books too. I linked the unicorn one that Octavia currently has on her wishlist.

3.) Wikki Stix

One of our favorite screen-free activities! Never heard of Wikki Stix? You are missing out. They are wax coated, moldable sticks. With a little imagination, your kids can build almost anything with them. We have changed how we use these over the years. I will warn you that they can get a little messy. They leave a coating on things they are stuck to for a while. We have let the kids decorate their windows before. We were in Florida so it was hot. The coating on them melted to the window. It came off with a good scrub but it was annoying. More recently the kids play with these on the back of their clipboards. When we are done, everybody gets a wet-wipe to wipe off their boards. There are also pictures to use as a background and build on.

4.) Sticker Books and Stickers

Whatever they are into right now, there is likely a sticker book that will interest them. There are coloring books with stickers and sticker books that have an outline where each sticker should go in the story. Our three year old loves to play with stickers. We take them with us on every trip. The harder sticker books with a story are best for kids that are a little older, 6-10 years old would be preferable.

5.) Would You Rather?

The best part of road trips is getting to spend time together. Whether you buy a set of questions, print them, or make them up as you go along, would you rather is a blast! You will learn things about each other that you never knew. You can ask silly questions or serious ones. That is up to your family. There are even options for different locations or interests like Disney or Harry Potter. Great for all ages. Everybody can get in on the fun!

6.) Mad Libs

Mad Libs are perfect for school-aged kids that know how to read. If your kids are younger, assign an adult or older child to fill them out and read them aloud. We enjoy that even the driver can be involved in the fun.

7.) Spirograph Travel Set

These have stood the test of time. I had one when I was a kid and now my kids have one. We bought some fun colored ink pens to go with it. If you have the travel-sized one, post-it notes fit in the paper spot. This requires some hand coordination and is best for kids with a bit of patience because it takes a few tries to get it right.

8.) Puffy Sticker Activity Books

Melissa and Doug make many puffy sticker activity books/sets. They are cheap but well made. Depending on your kids, these can be used many times. Our middle daughter, Isabella, has always taken very good care of her things. Our youngest, Octavia, is much harder on her toys. They are currently 10 and 3. When we buy these types of toys, Isabella gets to play with them first if she is interested. Mostly, they prefer to play with everything together.

9.) Travel-Sized Games

This is a good way to get kids to play together. There are so many travel-sized games available. Boggle is probably our most used right now.

10.) Cards

Whether it’s normal playing cards or UNO, cards are perfect for passing a couple of hours on the road. It can take a little more work to play in the car but honestly, what else do you need to do? Cards are great for family bonding. The perfect option for big kids and adults. The only downfall is that little kids can’t play. This could be something for the big kids or adults to do while the little kids play with stickers or nap.

11.) Magic Ink Pictures

This is a little book that kids can color with a special marker. They are similar to Colorwonder but very different. Colorwonder works on special paper but the kids do the coloring still. Magic Ink Pictures appear as they are colored with a special marker. The entire picture is already there but the kids are discovering it. Some pages have special invisible games. They can be a little expensive so we don’t do a ton of them but they are a welcome treat on occasion. I have found them on sale a few times and put them away for our next trip.

12.) License Plate Games

You can make them, buy them, or print them. License plate games are classic. Kids have been playing license plate bingo for decades. It’s a classic that even the adults might appreciate. We have one rule for playing Bingo: Whenever anybody sees a new license plate, they have to shout it out to the whole car. We offer a prize to whoever wins. The most common prizes are picking what we’ll have for lunch, picking the next family snack, or $1. Sometimes we offer a family prize such as a stop at a playground after all the kids finish.

13.) A Map

Kids are way less likely to ask the dreaded “Are we there yet? How much further?” if you give them a map. You can buy a big map for long trips, pick up the free maps at a rest area, or print the map(s) of where you are going off of Google maps. Maps are just magical. The kids can follow along as they see the names of towns. Our girls like to work together to figure out where we have made it to when we stop. This helps to give a sense of ownership of the trip too. They get to feel like they are truly involved.

14.) I-Spy

Another classic! There are a few different ways to play this. There is the classic of somebody saying what color they spy and somebody trying to find it. My kids get bored with this pretty fast because the car is not that big and everything outside is just rolling by. I like to make a list of things to find on the road. We treat it more like license plate bingo without shouting it out. We prefer to give the kids different things to find so its less of a competition between them and it’s more about trying to find things. You can find ones with pictures for kids who are not reading yet.

15.) Kid-Friendly Playlist

A kid-friendly playlist is a great addition to a screen-free road trip. We have a few different playlists.

Check out our favorite playlists here: 50 Disney Songs to add to your family road trip playlist and 10 epic Disney songs for your playlist

We hope that these activities will help you enjoy a road trip with your kids more.

Happy Travels!

You might also enjoy:

Our One Big Secret to a Great Road Trip with Small Kids – The Travel Bag

Wanderlust Playlist – Perfect for Travel or Planning Travel 

How to Entertain Children of All Ages On a Road Trip