Are you traveling with your kids soon? Prevent the constant whine of are we there yet?! with these fun travel games for kids.
We’ve all been there—those long car rides where the kids are bored, cranky, and screen time has hit its limit. But don’t panic! There’s a whole world of analog travel games that can turn your road trip into a fun-filled adventure. Think back to the games we played as kids, sparking creativity, problem-solving, and some good old-fashioned family bonding.
Let’s wave goodbye to the endless “Are we there yet?” and hello to hours of engaging, screen-free fun. So, buckle up and get ready to make your next journey as exciting as the destination!
Quick Picks: Screen-Free Kids Travel Games They’ll Actually Love!
Magnetic Travel Tangram Puzzle
Whether you have kids or teens, the suggestions below will make traveling as exciting as the destination itself.
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Keeping Kids Occupied While You’re on the Road
Once your kiddos are school-aged and know how to read, there are even more ways to entertain them while you’re traveling on your family vacation. Check out the travel games for kids below:
Magnetic Travel Tangram Puzzle
Product Features
- Includes seven flat shapes (tans) that you use to form a specific shape you figure out from a silhouette
- Magnetic design keeps pieces from falling during travel
- 360 Brain-teasing patterns
As a child, I always loved playing and building with tangrams in school. Now that I have kids, I continue enjoying these toys.
The Coogam tangram puzzle book is fun for the whole family. You can all take turns racing each other to see who can complete the various puzzles fastest. Not only do these guarantee a good time, but they’re also an excellent STEM learning activity and help our kids practice hand-eye coordination and observational skills.
Find It Hidden Object Game
Product Features
- Convenient for travel game comes in a sealed container with a tube secured on both ends
- No loose parts
- Great both as a scavenger hunt game and a fidget toy
To this day, this look and find style toy remains a favorite in our house! You shake and move the tube to try and reveal hidden objects inside the beads. This game has accompanied us on many adventures and kept our kids entertained!
Pass the Potato
Product Features
- 30+ phrases and sound effects
- Machine washable
- Comes with 3 AAA batteries
I know… Hot Potato usually is a game where you toss a potato back and forth. But you can pass it back and forth in the car too!
This silly potato is soft and says lots of phrases that will keep your kids giggling in the car.
Magnetic Checkers
Product Features
- All pieces are contained in a folding checker board
- Magnetic pieces won’t fall off the board
- Small pieces make this game not suitable for younger kids
Checkers and chess usually wouldn’t seem like ideal travel games to play with your kids, but if you find a set that comes with magnetic game pieces, you’re all set.
Carpool Chaos
Product Features
- 160 large cards inside a sturdy steering wheel-shaped box
- Fits in seat back pocket
- Includes games, challenges, and hypothetical questions
Carpool Chaos is a collection of cards that offer up various games, challenges, and conversation topics to make long hours on the road less miserable. Whether you have young kids, older teens, or adults in the car, there’s something everybody will enjoy.
Activity Books
Product Features
- Over 200 activities for hours of fun and entertainment
- Includes matching, number puzzles, connect the dots, word puzzles, and more
Every time we go on a long trip, our girls get a new activity book to bring with them. They love doing puzzles, mazes, and word searches to help them pass the time on the road or in the air.
Story Cubes
Product Features
- Includes 9 dice with assorted symbols
- Interactive for the whole family
- Great for kids 6+
Dice games can be excellent options for travel, especially if you’re on a plane with a convenient tray.
Story Cubes are one of my top picks for family travel games. I love how much of a creative outlet they provide for kids and adults alike. The game includes nine dice with different images on them. All you have to do is roll them and make up a story that includes all nine elements.
Travel Bingo
Product Features
- Magnetic board game keeps you from losing markers
- No reading required
- Tin case for easy traveling
- 2 players
- 4+ (small pieces included)
When the pieces are magnetic, Bingo is a great travel game for kids and families! This no-reading version that includes a spinner makes it easy for younger and older kids to play together without having to worry about skill level making it “not fair.”
I Spy Travel Game
Product Features
- 48 jumbo travel cards with instructions
- Easy grab and go travel game
- Great for older and younger siblings to play together
While playing “I Spy” just from your own imagination is fun, sometimes it’s nice to get a little inspiration. That’s where this set of cards come in. Kids are given a prompt such as “I spy a person riding a bike” or “I spy something shiny.” You and your kids can have fun together with this simple game, plus it’s great for bigger kids to play with their little siblings!
Rubik’s Cube
Product Features
- The classic combination of math, art, and science
- Great for sensory needs and brain stimulation
What toy can you give your child that can keep them occupied for hours at a time?
That’s right–a Rubik’s cube!
These brain teasers are guaranteed fun during long car rides and flights.
Kids Against Maturity!
Product Features
- Includes 600 cards
- Best for 4+ players
- Reading required
As someone with a deep love for “Cards Against Humanity,” I was thrilled to find out they make a child-friendly version we can play with our kids. This easy-to-pack card game offers hours of hilarious conversation and silliness that you and your little ones will enjoy.
Things to Do With Tweens and Teens During Travel
By the time your children hit their tween/teen years, it’s possible they’d rather sit on their phone for the duration of your travels.
When you can lock them down for several hours of quality family time, why not take advantage of the opportunity?
Playing travel games with kids is a fantastic opportunity to have fun and reconnect with older children.
If you need help coming up with ideas to grab their attention, stick around!
Criminal Mind Puzzles
Product Features
- Think like a detective to solve more than 120 crime-themed puzzles
- Spiral bound, 192 pages
Does your family fancy themselves CSI experts? Do you have what it takes to solve a crime? If so, now’s your time to shine!
This Criminal Mind Puzzles book has over 100 crime-related puzzles and challenges. You’ll read clues, look at crime scene photos, and assess evidence to determine who did it. This is a fun travel activity for teens, whether you’re looking for something to do as a group or individual.
Catan Dice Game
Product Features
- Game only lasts 15-30 minutes
- Easy to learn
- 6 colorful, embossed dice and a scoring map
- 1-4 players
Dragging your entire Catan board into the car or a plane might be a bit much. That’s why Catan developed this simple dice game! You still get to build settlements, roads, and cities, but the dice format makes things easier for travel. Pro tip: get a bag or bowl to put this game in for a carrying case.
Foldology
Product Features
- 100 origami puzzles at 5 difficulty levels
- Portable 5″x5″ size
- No previous origami experience required
Foldology is equal parts origami, puzzle, and brain teaser; it’s also the perfect travel game to play with your tweens and teens! Each set comes with 100 different puzzles at various difficulty levels.
Riddle Me This Brainteasers
Product Features
- 50 tricky riddles
- Portable tins are perfect to throw in your luggage
- One of a series for lively conversation
Packed in a convenient tin that’s easy to throw in a suitcase, After Dinner card games are a fun way to kill some time when you’re en route with your family.
I love these sets because they’re affordable, and the company also makes many versions depending on your interests. They have riddles, trivia games, charades, truth or dare, and many more!
Loaded Questions on the Go
Product Features
- 200 creative and playful questions
- Includes 2 pencils and a score pad
We know, getting tweens and teens to open up and talk can be difficult (hey, we remember being “too cool” to hang out with our parents! However, if you want to get them talking, why not make a game of it? Loaded Questions on the Go is a card game with more than questions to keep the laughs and conversations going.
Trivial Pursuit Mini Packs Multipack
Product Features
- 4 decades of trivia questions from the 80s, 90s, 2000s, and 2010s
- 2 or more players
- Great for teens and adults to play together
Does your family have a soft spot for trivia? If so, Trivial Pursuit offers mini packs based on various decades from the 1980s to the 2010s. This is one of my favorite travel games for kids, teens, and adults.
Turn Your Travels Into a Fun Experience With Your Kids
While a tablet or Switch can keep your kids occupied during travel, it won’t last forever. And many of us prefer that our children not stare at a screen for absolute hours on end (don’t get me wrong, we use screens around here, but not for long periods of time).
This is exactly why analog game choices are a great idea for travel (and for when you get to your destination!). And if you want to connect with your kids while traveling, one of these games will really help!
Got babies or toddlers in addition to older kiddos? Me, too! Try these travel toys for babies and toddlers with specific guidance about how to use them to promote learning and fun in the car.
