The bags were almost packed, snacks ready, plans made and only 2 days left until we set off on a two day drive with our 1 year old and 3 year old. All of a sudden, the reality of driving 8 hours a day of with toddlers hit me. In all my planning, I had somehow forgotten to prepare anything for entertaining the kids. Before this trip, the longest we had traveled with both kids in one day was about 3 hours. I phoned my sister-in-law in a panic and, being the super mom that she is, she brought over her car activities and suggested a quick trip to the dollar store. Thankfully, I was able to pull together a great set of activities and my 1 year old ended up shredding tissue paper most of the trip anyways!
When we decided to go on a 17 day road trip the next year, where we would be spending over 60 hours in the car, I made sure to give myself lots of time to prepare (a couple weeks instead of days!).
Using the Road Trip Activity Center I put together, along with some other important Road Trip Tips we follow, the trip was a huge success! I’ve complied a list of all the activities we have found most useful (minimal space and prep with maximum length of play). I hope this helps you enjoy your road trips as much as we do!
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The first 14 activities use a magnetic cookie sheet as a play surface. We bring these with us on every road trip. They work as a tray and magnetic surface all in one and can easily be slipped away when not in use. I bought ours at our local dollar store for minimal cost!
* Although we love all of these activities, I’ve put a star beside the ones that are our absolute favorites!
Arts & Crafts
1. Coloring Books & Crayons
Bring a coloring book and container of crayons. Glue a strip of magnetic tape to the bottom of the crayon container so it won’t slip around on the tray.
* 2. Paper & Stickers
Bring a small pad of construction paper and a ton of sticker sheets (I buy giant sticker pads from the dollar store and cut them into smaller sheets). This activity entertains my kids for hours at a time when we’re driving!
3. Sticker Scenes
With reusable stickers, kids can keep playing with the same scene over and over again. There are so many of these available in every kind of theme, like this Melissa & Doug Farm Set
* 4. Beading with Pipe Cleaners
My kids absolutely love this activity and will bead for about an hour at a time when we’re on the road. I had originally put this activity together for my 4 year old daughter and was thrilled to see my 2 year old son could do it too. Using pipe cleaners instead of string makes it easier for little fingers and prevents the beads from sliding off. I always start the strand off for them by twisting one bead onto the end of a pipe cleaner. Glue a strip of magnetic tape to the bottom of the bead container to prevent slipping and spilling (and if some beads do spill, most will stay on the tray!).
5. Invisible Ink & Mess Free Markers
If your kids love markers and you love a clean car, consider picking up some mess free or invisible ink markers. My favorites are the Mess Free markers from Crayola. The Paw Patrol
Magnetic Activities
* 6. Magnetic Dolls
We love these Melissa & Doug Wooden Magnetic Dolls
7. Magnetic Puzzle
Glue a magnet onto the back of each piece of a small puzzle. Your child can put the puzzle together on their magnetic tray.
8. Alphabet & Number Magnets
Foam letters are always fun to play with. They are entertaining enough on their own or you can make a list of easy words for your child to spell. This set of Magnetic Letters and Numbers
9. Magnetic Animals, Pattern Blocks, Shapes, Etc.
Really, any kind of magnet you have will be fun for your kids to play with on their tray. My kids enjoy sorting and making patterns with their colored circle magnets and love playing with their animal magnets. I think that a Magnetic Tangram Set
10. Felt Scene
This felt scene was a gift for my children, made by their Auntie (who has a lot more patience and talent than I do!). I attached some magnetic tape to the background to keep it in place on the magnetic tray and my kids’ imaginations do the rest!
11. Matching Games
12. Laminated Map & Toy Car
Print out a map or other background for your children to drive their toy cars around.
13. Laminated Road Bingo Card & Stickers
Print out road bingo cards and get them laminated. Use stickers to mark off what you see so your laminated cards can be used again and again.
* 14. Follow Along Map & Vehicle
Toys & Activities
* 15. Lacing Boards
* 16. Plastic Figures (Animals, Ponies, Etc)
Bring a few favorite figures along on your trip for some travel fun. Alternatively, these figures could be special road trip friends that only come out at vacation time to make them more special.
17. Mini Magna Doodle Board
With these Mini Magna Doodle
18. Puppets & Finger Puppets
My kids can’t resist smiling at a puppet show, even after a long day of driving. Unfortunately, my imagination runs out well before their attention does! Check out these adorable Melissa & Doug Zoo Friends Hand Puppets. There are so many designs available or you can make your own sock puppets at home before you leave.
19. Old School Games
Your kids don’t need to be entertained with a physical activity during your entire trip. Don’t forget to play some games you remember from road trips as a child. Some of our favorites: I Spy, 20 Questions, Rhyming Words, The Alphabet Game…
Music & Screens
Technology may seem like the easiest way to keep kids entertained while driving, and in many ways it is, but when we’re on a road trip we like to make the journey part of the experience and my kids seem to disappear when they have a screen in front of them! We limit the usage of technology (except read alongs and music), but it sure is great to have when the kids are starting to go crazy and your hotel is still an hour away!
*** 20. Read Along Books
, Fancy Nancy and Thomas the Tank Engine, to list a few. Before you go, you may want to check the length of each book (if it’s less than 5 minutes, it’s not worth bringing) and make sure there are cues for page turns. 
* 21. Old Phones
22. DVDs
If you have a DVD player in your vehicle, bring along some of your children’s favorite movies and shows. Our kids tend to loose the ability to focus on anything else after they’ve watched a show in the van, so we only watch a couple on any given trip and save them for later evenings when we know we’ll be arriving at our next destination right after the end of the movie.
23. Music for Kids AND Parents
I don’t know about you, but I have a very short window of sanity while listening to kids’ music. The best option for us has been to find music that everyone in the family likes. We have a collection of kid appropriate songs from musicals and current artists that we all love. There’s something magical about us all singing along to the same songs in the car!
24. Snacks!
And last, but not least…
25. Sit Still and Look Out the Window!
Chances are you’re going to be passing some pretty cool scenery on your trip. Encourage your kids to take in the beauty of the world outside the car and point out the things you’re passing to them. As important as it is to have activities available for your kids, it’s also ok to tell them that you’re all just going to sit for a bit, even if it’s just to give yourself a break from passing things to the backseat.
Road Trip Activity Center Storage
We purchased a set of stacking plastic bins that sits between the two middle seats of our van. This has been a game changer! We had to try a couple of options before we found a set that fit perfectly and didn’t have drawers that would fly out every time the breaks were touched, but it was so worth it! I fill the top two drawers with snacks and use the rest for activities. When we’re not on the road, we store all of our road trip activities in the plastic bins at the top of my son’s closet. For short road trips, I can easily grab a few activities and for longer trips, all I need to add are the snacks!
When we’re on the road, I usually have a bag at my feet or behind the center console that holds the read along books, coloring books and construction paper. I use resealable bags to store the magnets from each of our magnetic activities separately.
If you have particularly avid artists, the amount of artwork created on your trip might get overwhelming. On long road trips, we take along a folder for each child to store their artwork in and a bag for other goodies our children want close by.
I find the key to keeping organized on the road is to take 2 minutes to put everything back where it belongs every time you make a stop. It doesn’t take long and prevents the back seat from becoming complete chaos!
Putting Together Your Activity Center
You don’t have to spend a lot of money to have a great set of activities for road tripping! Besides our bins and cookie sheets, I only had to purchase some craft supplies from the dollar store, the rest we already owned (most had been gifted to my children for birthdays and Christmases). Take a look through your children’s toys and take out the items that would be perfect for on the road. Gather different activities and supplies throughout the year – you could even suggest some of these activities to people looking for gift ideas for your kids.
On our first road trip, I wrapped each new toy, snack and activity in a single sheet of tissue paper with one piece of tape (I wrapped them as we went). The kids loved getting their new gifts as we drove and, as I mentioned before, my 1 year old spent most of the trip playing with the tissue paper. Now that the kids have seen most of the activities already, I don’t bother with wrapping them. When we’re not on the road, I store everything away so it will all be fresh and exciting when we’re traveling.
I hope you have found some inspiration with this list of activities. Now it’s time to plan an adventure with your little ones! Check out my Ultimate Guide to Surviving (and Enjoying) Road Trips with Young Kids for some more traveling tips!
What are your favorite road trip activities? Share in the comments below!
