20 Screen-Free Road Trip with Kids Activities That Everyone Will Love
Post Summary: How to make road trips fun with this list of road trips with kids activities, including things they can do on their own.
Long road trips with kids can be an exercise in patience, creativity, and—let’s be honest—endurance. As much as I love the open road and the promise of adventure, I’ve learned that hours in the car with a restless child can quickly turn from excitement to overstimulation to a disgruntled, angry family.
The key is finding things that engage their minds, encourage creativity, and minimize the use of screens.
Over the years, we’ve driven across the country and back and tested countless road trip activities for kids, refining what works and what doesn’t. Below, I’m sharing the best ideas I’ve found, ones that are easy to pack, simple to execute, unique, and, most importantly, fun!
READ MORE OF OUR ROAD TRIP ARTICLES BELOW
How to Survive A Road Trip With A Toddler
The Essential Road Trip Packing List
Road Trip Trivia For The Open Road
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25 Fun Road Trip With Kids Activities
The kid’s road trip activities below are primarily geared toward school-aged kids and up. If you’re looking for tips for baby and toddler-aged kids, check out our post on how to survive a road trip with a toddler.
1. Would You Rather
When road-tripping with adults, I prefer a fun list of curious road-trip questions, but with kids, I tend to think easy “this or that” questions are more effective. Questions like, “Would you rather have a pet dinosaur or a pet unicorn?” or “Would you rather have your own personal robot or a magic carpet?” It inevitably leads to fun conversation and silly debate. Challenge your kids to come up with their own this or that questions. It’s fun to see what they come up with!
2. Road Trip Questions
If you’re going on a road trip with older kids, you might enjoy a list of family-friendly road trip questions that inspire you to connect and hopefully share a few laughs. You can do silly questions like “What three things would you bring from our house in the event of a zombie apocalypse?” to curious questions like “If you were the parent for a day, what would you do?”
For more inspiration, you can check out our road trip questions post with a section dedicated to families.
3. Twenty Questions
Twenty Questions is a classic road trip activity for kids that never gets old. The premise is simple: one person thinks of something—a famous person, an animal, or even an object—and the rest of the car asks up to 20 yes-or-no questions to figure out what it is. You might start broad with “Is it alive?” or “Can you find it in a house?” before narrowing down the possibilities. The challenge lies in asking the right questions and making shrewd guesses, which keeps everyone entertained and thinking critically.
4, ABC Game
This game is incredibly simple, yet it never fails to keep us entertained on road trips with kids. I swear we’ve spent entire stretches of highway wholly absorbed in it. You pick a category—say, animals or foods—and take turns naming something that starts with each letter of the alphabet in order. For fruits, one person might say “avocado,” the next “blueberry,” and so on until you reach Z. It sounds basic, but the challenge of coming up with something for those tricky letters (looking at you, X, and Q) makes it surprisingly fun and keeps everyone engaged.
5. Letter Association Game
Another fun letter-play game that’s a riff off the above game is the Letter Association Game. First, you come up with a category like “animals.” One person names an animal, and the next player has to come up with another animal that starts with the last letter of the previous one. So if someone says “turtle,” the next person might say “elephant,” followed by “toucan,” and so on—no repeats allowed!
What’s great about the game is that you can choose the difficulty level depending on your kids’ age. If animals feel too easy, try categories like TV shows, cities, or foods. It’s simple, adaptable, and can stretch on for miles!
6. Alphabet Memory Game
This memory game starts easy but gets hilariously challenging as the list grows. Pick a category—vegetables, sea creatures, colors, whatever sounds fun. The first person kicks it off with a word that starts with A, like “apple.” The next player repeats “apple” and adds a word that begins with B—“apple, banana.” The third player keeps it going with C—“apple, banana, cherries”—and so on, all the way to Z.
It’s a fantastic way to stretch those memory muscles while keeping everyone engaged. If someone forgets a word or mixes up the order, they’re out (or, if you’re playing just for fun, they can take another shot). For younger kids, try an easier category, like animals. For older kids and adults, go for something trickier, like movie titles or historical figures. You’d be surprised how tricky it gets by the time you hit the letter M!
7. Audiobooks
A great audiobook can turn hours in the car into a shared adventure. On a nine-hour drive to the Oregon coast, we listened to Wild Robot and loved it. Some top picks include The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall for a charming family-friendly tale, The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart for kids who love puzzles and intrigue, and Harry Potter (narrated by Jim Dale) for an immersive classic. If you’re traveling with younger kids, The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne is a fantastic choice.
You can listen to books on Spotify, Audible, iTunes, and Libby ( an audiobook library you can use through your local library). If you don’t have a subscription, you can always do a free trial on Audible for thirty days.
TIP: If everyone in the car has different tastes, don’t forget to pack headphones like this for kids so passengers can listen to their own selections without distraction!
8. Family Podcasts
If you love the idea of listening to something engaging on a road trip with kids but don’t want to commit to an entire audiobook, podcasts are a fantastic (and free!) alternative. With thousands of options available, there’s something for every interest—whether you’re in the mood for a deep dive into history, a laugh-out-loud comedy, or an immersive storytelling experience.
If you’re looking for something light and entertaining, Wow in the World is an excellent science-based show for kids, packed with fun facts and humor. If you love storytelling, Circle Round shares beautifully narrated folktales from around the world, perfect for young listeners and adults alike. Our son loves to listen to Spyology Squad, a storytelling podcast for kids who love mysteries, secret agents, and high-stakes missions.
For older kids and families who enjoy mysteries, Smash Boom Best is a fun debate show that pits two things against each other (like dragons vs. unicorns), while The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel is an award-winning adventure podcast told from a kid’s perspective. And if the whole family wants to learn something new together, But Why: A Podcast for Curious Kids is an excellent choice filled with fascinating facts.
TIP: Download your audiobooks or podcasts before you leave so you won’t have to depend on a reliable signal.
9. Learn A Language Together
Road trips are the perfect time to learn a new language as a family, and some amazing apps can make it a fun, interactive experience. Rosetta Stone is the classic language learning app. Its immersive, visual approach works well for both kids and adults. The “Kids” version is great for younger learners, while the standard lessons help adults dive deep into conversation skills. Babbel is another favorite, especially for older kids (12+) and adults. It’s fantastic if you want to focus on practical, real-world language skills that come in handy during travels.
For younger kids, Gus on the Go is a hit with engaging lessons and colorful characters that teach basic vocabulary in various languages. It’s ideal for little ones aged 2-6, keeping them entertained while they learn. Mondly is a step up for slightly older kids with its easy-to-follow structure and emphasis on real conversations.
10. Polaroid The Journey
No products found.If you’re going on a long multi-day journey like a Utah National Park road trip, a fun idea is to document the journey in a fun and unique way. Gift your child a throwback mini Polaroid Camera and take photos at odd roadside attractions or beautiful destinations. The instant gratification of a photo popping through the slot is a fun memory you’ll cherish together. You can even get a travel scrapbook and tape them in as you go.
Because of the finite nature of film, they’ll have to be sparing with how many photos they take. You can also buy extra rolls of film to be sure you have enough.
Solo Car Activity For Kids
Let’s explore road trip activities for kids that they can do on their own. Let’s be honest: Independent play is a godsend for overstimulated parents.
11. Brain Teaser & Maze Books
No products found.Brain teasers, mazes, and logic puzzles are great ways to keep kids stimulated and engaged. I started my son on mazes when he was four, and he still loves doing them at 8. The key is that I only bring them out when we travel, so they always feel like a fun new thing to him. For younger kids, Highlights Jumbo Book of Mazes is packed with colorful challenges, while The Everything Kids’ Puzzle Book has a mix of riddles, word searches, spot the difference, and connect-the-dots. Older kids might love Mind Benders by Critical Thinking Co. or The Big Book of Brain Games for more of a challenge.
12. Fill in the Blank Foolery
No products found.If there’s one road trip activity that guarantees uncontrollable giggles, it’s Mad Libs. It’s classic for a reason. There’s just something about plugging a random adjective into a sentence and ending up with “The smelly giraffe danced across the moon” that never gets old.
You can grab a classic Mad Libs book (my personal preference) or go digital with the Mad Libs app for an easy, paper-free option. If you have more than one child, it’s also something they can do together without the parents, giving you a quick break.
13. Origami Challenges: Folding Fun
No products found.A simple stack of origami paper can turn a dull stretch of highway into an art studio on wheels. My son learns how to do origami at school, so giving him new challenges with fun zany paper like this helps keep his sensory-seeking hands focused. If you have a creative kid, they’ll love the hands-on challenge of transforming a flat square into something recognizable—whether it’s a jumping frog, a fluttering butterfly, or the classic paper crane.
Bring along an easy-to-follow book like Easy Origami for Kids by Naoko Ishibashi, or print out a few step-by-step guides before you hit the road. You can also find origami books at the library. If you prefer a digital option, YouTube has plenty of beginner-friendly tutorials.
14. Paper Plane Contest
No products found.Sometimes, a little friendly competition is just what’s needed to inspire your kids into action. Pack a few sheets of paper and challenge the kids to create the best paper plane. You can even make it a family event, with each person designing their own plane and testing it for distance, airtime, or accuracy. You could also use a book like the Awesome Paper Airplane Book For Kids for inspiration and guidance. The goal? To launch your plane the farthest or to see whose plane can stay in the air the longest.
The best part is the grand finale—plan to stop at a rest stop or scenic pull-off for the “official” paper plane contest. The open space allows the kids to really let their planes fly, and they’ll love having a reason to run around and expend energy. It’s an easy way to get everyone moving and laughing, plus it turns a simple craft into an exciting part of the journey!
15. Paint by Sticker
No products found.Painting with stickers is the perfect travel-friendly solution for arts and crafts without the mess. Instead of markers or paints, this book lets kids create vibrant, mosaic-style pictures using stickers. Each page comes with numbered stickers corresponding to different sections of the image—like paint-by-numbers. It’s easy to do, super satisfying and keeps little hands busy without any cleanup.
You can choose from different styles, from the more simplified Paint By Stickers to the more ornate My Sticker Paintings. Since our son loves sea creatures, he particularly loved the Ocean Animals version.
16. Travel Tangrams
No products found.This classic Chinese puzzle involves using seven geometric shapes (called tans) to form different figures, from animals to everyday objects. It’s a fantastic activity for improving spatial reasoning and critical thinking skills, all while being compact and easy to take on the go.
This Travel Tangram Set comes with a sturdy, portable board and a variety of pattern challenges to solve. It is designed for travel, with pieces large enough for small hands to manipulate but small enough to fit neatly in a backpack or travel bag. While the set is best for kids six and up, even younger kids would enjoy arranging the tans.
17. Block Puzzles
No products found.Similar to Tangrams, this portable Super Block Set offers an interactive twist on the classic sliding puzzle. Its built-in digital display guides players through different challenges. The goal is to rearrange the tiles to match the pattern shown on the screen—simple in concept but endlessly fun and brain-boosting in execution.
With over 500 puzzles of varying difficulty levels, it’s great for a wide range of ages, from younger kids just getting into logic puzzles to older kids (and even adults!) who love a strategic brain teaser. Whether your child is playing solo or competing with a sibling, this little gadget turns downtime into a fun and educational challenge.
18. Back Seat Busy Box
No products found.Busy boxes are a common travel hack for parents road-tripping with toddlers. Essentially, they’re boxes of goodies that your child can rifle through with different toys to keep them entertained. You can DIY one yourself, or you can buy a kit like this that’s geared towards toddlers.
For older kids, a fun idea is to get a backseat organizer like this that attaches to the front seats and has tons of pockets for toys, food, tissues, and drinks. You can fill it up with the toys mentioned above and add anything else your child might like, whether that’s Legos, Play-Doh, stickers, books, Sudoku, race cars, stuffies, etc. The idea is that they are in charge of entertaining themselves with their own backseat busy box.
19. Snack Time as an Activity
No products found.Snacks aren’t just fuel on a long road trip—they’re entertainment. Instead of mindlessly handing out granola bars, turn snack time into an activity. Pack a variety of bite-sized treats and let the kids build their own snack mix with small containers of nuts, dried fruit, pretzels, and chocolate chips. You (or your child) could also pack a spinning Bento Box with an assortment of small, colorful snacks—think cheese cubes, veggie sticks, fruit slices, and crackers. It’s amazing how much more exciting food becomes when you get to create your own custom blend.
Another fun food-based activity is to stop at a scenic spot along the way (or a rest stop) for a roadside picnic, complete with a charcuterie plate or a spread of fresh fruit, sandwiches, and snacks. It’s the perfect way to break up the drive and turn snack time into a mini adventure of its own.
20. Calm & Cozy Time
No products found.Long drives can be overstimulating, and sometimes, kids need help settling down. If you’re looking for a way to create a peaceful break in the chaos, a kid-friendly meditation app can work wonders. Calm Kids and Moshi offer guided meditations, bedtime stories, and breathing exercises designed specifically for children. A quick ten-minute meditation can help reset the mood, making the rest of the drive much smoother. You can also find children’s calming meditations and stories on Spotify, YouTube, and iTunes.
Pair this with a kid’s weighted blanket or lap pad for extra comfort. The gentle pressure mimics a soothing hug, helping kids relax and maybe even (fingers crossed) drift off for a nap. We use this weighted blanket, and sometimes I want to take it from my son because it’s so cozy. It’s perfect for winter road trips. Whether they’re listening to a peaceful story, practicing deep breaths, or just snuggling under a cozy blanket, this little reset can make all the difference on a long journey.
