Car ride activities for the family road trip

The destination of your road trip could be absolutely amazing, but getting there can often be a battle with any age kids. Having ides for car ride activities is a must for any family road trip. Tired of hearing, 'are we there yet' over and over again? These tips will have you blasting boredom and avoiding meltdowns so you can enjoy the road trip with your family.

Card Games

Get a deck of cards (or two) and let your kids play some family friendly card games that will keep them going during the hours of travel. “Go Fish” is an old school favorite. For kids that are just starting to read or understand numbers, try matching only sets of two instead of four.

You may also want to check out decks of cards that have pictures instead of words and numbers. Other games include “Old Maid”, “Concentration” (or Match), and “War”.  Read more about these card games and enjoy the ride!

Auto i-Spy

My kids have deemed this game 'rainbow car find' but you probably know it best as i-spy. This fun game between kids and/or non-driving adults will help pass the time.

Give each person a print out of the game sheet. And now check off each time you see that specific color of car while you drive. Tally the cars they see while driving. Win the game if they finish the sheet or have them count up the number of each car color they see and write the number in the box.  

Print out multiple sheets or slip the printable into a plastic sleeve; use with a dry erase marker to be able to play again and again. When the game is finished, time to get out some snacks.

Auto I-Spy: Get your copy right here for free!

Map it out

Before you head out, get out a real paper map, not the GPS and show your child the two points you are driving from and to.  Let them help you figure out the best route! This is also great to let them give suggestions on where to have a planned rest stop.

We love to use a highlighter and draw a line on the map.

When in the car, let your child hold the map and they can tell you know how long until the next stop or what the name of the next upcoming town will be.

Fun bag

Whenever we hit the road, I love to pick up a few fun things for my kids that they don't know about and put them in a fun bag. I make sure to keep this bag with me and it only comes out on at specified times.

You could say every 3o minutes or on the hour. Let your child know, well-behaved kids get to reach in and pick something out of the bag or you can hand them something at whatever time you set at the beginning of the trip.

Another tip is to mark off random towns on the map route and when you get to said town, you give them something from the fun bag. Here are some fun ideas to choose from:

• small slinky
• Rubik's cube
• Maze book
• Puzzle book
• Wix Stixx

Journal

Give your kids an outlet on the trip. Have them write or draw about their own experiences. Whether it’s poems about the stops along the journey, drawings of family members, or lists of things they want to do on the trip, journaling is an excellent outlet for your child to improve writing and communication skills. It’s also fun! Years after the memories have faded from the trip, your child’s journal will remain with recollections that will last a lifetime.

Need Snack Ideas for your Road trip? 27 Snack Ideas for Road Trips to Keep your Kids Happy

Snapshots Scavenger Hunt

Give your kids a small digital camera (or even an old school disposable one) or smart phone and let them document their road trip experience. Let them take pictures of whatever their hearts desire or provide them with a list to capture on their camera roll. Photographs are another way to hold onto those family road trip memories.

Don’t worry about boredom on your next family road trip. Put away the electronics and streaming movies, and bring out games and ways to record your journey.  Avoiding “are we there yet?” has never been easier with these fun road trip activities for your kids