10 Travel-Friendly Holiday Games for Kids

The holiday season can sometimes mean long trips with our little ones to visit loved ones in far away places. You can make your journey go as smoothly as possible by anticipating your child’s needs ahead of the trip, pre-planning engaging activities, and of course packing plenty of snacks.

We’re sharing some of our favorite activities to minimize those “are we there yet” moments!

As you pack your activity bag, include small distractions that will instantly bring a smile to your child’s face like a lollipop or sticker reward to help alleviate moments of meltdown.

The activities you pick from the following will depend on your child’s age and interests.

Here are some travel friendly activities to get you started:

Keep your kids occupied with the Cars and Trucks Window Clings for Kids & Toddlers. Choose from vehicles or sea creatures pending on your child’s interest. These colorful foam stickers are ten times as thick as normal stickers and are perfect for sensory play. Your child will be able to create scenes on their airplane or car window and easily rearrange them throughout their journey. 

A great geography-themed game to play while you travel! Bonus points if you get the state that you are currently in. Easy to learn but boasts hours of fun—Guess in 10 is great for keeping your kids occupied while you handle the logistics. Kids get creative with 10 questions to guess the state on the card. 

A compact game by Skillmatics that allows you to learn more about each other as you roll through your train of thought. The aim of the game is to use the compartment cards provided to build a Train of Thought, but it can be modified to be more travel friendly by  simply using the cards to ask questions. Packed with highly engaging, age-appropriate queries, this card game helps create meaningful conversations.

This can be played with the whole family . The best part? It requires zero packing or prep. Simply tell your little ones to look out the window and spot things from the alphabet, beginning with the letter A. Take turns to see how long it takes to get through the full alphabet.

Wild, Farm & Underwater Animals Dot It! is the perfect art activity to keep kids engaged in a mess-free activity on the road. With over five hundred easy-to-peel stickers, your child will use their fine motor skills and imagination to complete eight animal-themed pictures featuring wild, farm, and underwater animals. The small compact box is easy to travel with. 

This one requires a bit of pre-meditation but is so worth it. Simply laminate a few pages from a favorite coloring book, and bring Dry Erase markers with you. Voila! Your children will never run out of  things to color!

Learn phonics, numbers, shapes, and more with themed cards for when you’re on the go. Search and find with prompts like, ‘Something that grows,’ ‘A sign with the number six,’ and so on. Players must shout "Found It!" as soon as they spot the object to win a card. The first one to win seven cards wins the game! 

This is a  learning-based game that’s fun for both kids and parents! Use Riddle Me This to  help kids engage with critical and independent thinking. Here are some easy riddles you can solve with your kids. Warning: some of the answers may leave you all laughing!