Keep Kids Busy When You Travel – Activities

The more activities you have in your mom bag of tricks the better when you travel. Travel is hard under the best of circumstances and having a bored and whiny child is not the best of circumstances!!

I know how important it is to have great activities for kids!

Do your kids hate being restrained? Do they hate the car seat?

Mine did, too! I remember how many times my MIL would tell me this story,

“Oh, we always left at 4:30 in the morning. We made a pallet in the backseat and just put the sleeping kids there. They slept for hours till we were ready to have breakfast. Then, we just had a few hours left. It was so easy!”

That was all fine and dandy but I haven’t had enough sleep to get up that early. AND, car seats? Those weren’t a thing in those days.

My kids always sprang to life when we took them from their beds – no matter the time. They also hated car seats. They hated strollers. LOL!

So, the way we happily survived travel was to keep those kids busy. I was the queen of kids’ activities and now I’m sharing them with you.

Keep kids busy, learning, and practicing skills makes them happy little travelers in the back seat no matter how you travel!

You can not be too prepared.

The more the merrier when it comes to ideas to keep kids happy and engaged on vacation – especially in the getting there phase of long hours on the road or in a plane. Travel activities for kids that are quiet and easy are even better!

You’ll love these fantastic ideas travel activities for kids using paper! Banish this bored look from your dream trips forever!

Travel Activities for KIDS using paper – Mom! You are so SQUARE.

Cut paper squares before you leave home and put them in a large Ziploc baggy (Note to self: BUY stock!) along with crayons or markers. If you use colored pencils – don’t forget the pencil sharpener!

Tie in the artwork to your vacation.

Each square can represent a different city or sight. Make one for each traveler, too!

When you get home, put them together and voila! Colorful and FREE memory.

Don’t fret.

Your kids will never say YOU are square because there is probably another word for that these days anyway.  LOL!

Travel Activities for KIDS using paper – The Cootie Catcher

Remember the fortune teller, now renamed the cootie catcher?

Here is a refresher on how to make one. Add questions about your family and your travel destination.

 Want a printed one to get started? Free from Billy Bear 4 Kids.

These fun cootie catches keep little fingers busy AND review skills like math and sight words.

This one is fun for a nature walk on a camping trip and FREE from Teacher’s Pay Teachers.

Love this one with an art theme. Heading to an art museum on your trip? Get the artistic juices flowing!

Travel Activities for KIDS using paper – Big mouth critters!

Make your own big mouth critter and let the kiddos have fun using them as hand puppets. Use funny voices. You’ll have everyone laughing and the time will pass quickly.

Thank you, Whimsical Publishing Blog for the  FREE easy, squeezy directions here.

Travel Activities for KIDS using paper – 3 D chameleon

Have Rapunzel fans at your house and/or fans of color changing chameleons?

This is a marvelous activity for girls AND boys! This one requires either prep at home from mom (I know, I know, a mom’s job is NEVER done.) or an older kid who can handle glue in the car.

Or it needs a mom who can handle kids handling glue in the car….is that you? It is NOT me!

Even though the glue makes it a little tricky it is sooooo fabulous that I had to include it anyway.

I made the triangles ahead of time even though my kiddos are way old enough to handle glue….but this way – no waiting on the glue to dry

! Other ideas…tape, double sided tape, or a glue stick.

Thank you, smART class, (Smart – ART – get it? The English teacher in me loves clever names!) for the fabulous idea and step by step directions.

Travel Activities for KIDS using paper – Lanterns

You needed the car decorated on your road trip, didn’t you? This very easy activity is fun for kids of all ages.

Use tape instead of glue to make it car friendly.

Thank you, The House that Lars Built for the directions.

Happy and peaceful travels,

Natalie, The Educational Tourist