Many parents dread road trips and travel with their kids because, if we’re honest, kids aren’t so great at being stuck in a van or airplane for hours on end. Most grown-ups aren’t, either, for that matter. If you’ve got a trip coming up more than half an hour away, you’re probably on the hunt for activities to keep your kiddos busy and happy for the hours ahead.
One of the best options you can provide your kids with – especially if you don’t want to just plop them in front of the hotel TV – is a collection of travel games for kids that the whole family can enjoy playing together. Family games facilitate bonding during trips, offering an engaging, non-electronic way for families to connect.
The best travel games for kids will keep in mind easy setup and breakdown, as few tiny pieces to lose as possible, and easy gameplay rules. We’ve kept all these in mind as we’ve crafted this lineup of the 10 best travel games for children that you can take anywhere.
Benefits of Travel Games
Travel games offer a treasure trove of benefits for families, making them an essential part of any trip. Here are some of the top advantages of incorporating travel games into your family’s travel routine:
Keeps Kids Entertained: Long road trips and flights can be a challenge, but travel games are a fantastic way to keep kids entertained. They provide a fun and engaging way to pass the time, reducing boredom and restlessness. Whether you’re on a road trip or waiting at the airport, these games can turn tedious moments into fun-filled adventures.
Promotes Family Bonding: Travel games are a wonderful way to spend quality time with family members. They encourage social interaction, teamwork, and healthy competition, creating lasting memories and strengthening family bonds. Whether you’re playing a quick card game or a strategic board game, the shared experience brings everyone closer together.
Develops Cognitive Skills: Many travel games are designed to stimulate early learning and enhance skill-building. They promote memory, concentration, problem-solving, spatial awareness, and fine motor skills. This makes them an excellent way to support cognitive development in kids while having fun.
Reduces Screen Time: In a world dominated by screens, travel games offer a refreshing screen-free alternative. They help reduce the risk of screen addiction and promote a healthier balance between technology use and physical activity. Plus, they encourage kids to engage with the world around them and with each other.
Encourages Social Interaction: Travel games provide opportunities for social interaction, encouraging kids to engage with family members and other travelers. They help develop essential social skills, such as communication, empathy, and cooperation. Whether you’re playing with siblings, parents, or new friends met along the way, these games foster a sense of community and connection.
Choosing the Right Kids Game for Travel
With so many travel games available, choosing the right one for your family can feel overwhelming. Here are some tips to help you select the perfect game for your next trip:
Consider Age and Skill Level: Choose a game that is suitable for your child’s age and skill level. Look for games designed for your child’s age group that offer challenges that are engaging but not too difficult. This ensures that the game will be enjoyable and appropriate for their developmental stage.
Think About Play Style: Consider your child’s play style and preferences. Do they enjoy competitive games or cooperative games? Do they prefer games with complex rules or simple, easy-to-learn games? Understanding their preferences will help you choose a game that they will love and want to play repeatedly.
Look for Durability: Travel can be tough on games, so choose ones that are durable and can withstand frequent use. Look for games made from high-quality materials that are designed to last. This way, you won’t have to worry about pieces breaking or getting lost during your trip.
Check for Portability: Consider the size and weight of the game. Look for games that are compact and lightweight, making them easy to pack and carry. Travel-friendly games should fit easily into your luggage or carry-on bag without taking up too much space.
Read Reviews: Before making a purchase, read reviews from other parents and travelers. This can give you a sense of the game’s quality and suitability for travel. Look for games that are highly rated and well-reviewed to ensure you’re getting a great product.
By keeping these tips in mind, you can choose the perfect travel games to keep your kids entertained and engaged on your next trip. Happy travels and happy gaming!
10 Amazingly Fun Travel Games for Kids
Rat-a-Tat-Cat
Ages: 6+ (Community: 5+) Players: 2-6 Time: 10 minutes
Earning the Mensa Select award in 1996 when the game was first released, Rat-a-Tat-Cat gives kids loads of fun and helps parents feel good about bringing it along for camping trips or road travel. The fun game helps develop memory, math, EQ, and similar skills while providing loads of silly fun for all.
Your goal: get rid of the rats and bring home the cats. Try to remember the numbers on other players’ cards, keep that poker face, and pay attention to each other’s faces to see who will get rid of their cards the quickest. The game, meant for players aged 6 and older, comes with 54 cards full of cartoon images of cats and rats and sneak-a-peek, draw two, or swap cards that add that extra twist as players try to get rid of the high cards (rats) and collect the low cards (cats). In the end, the person with the lowest score wins.
Pass the Pandas
Ages: 6+ (Community 5+) Players: 2-5 Time: 10 minutes
A delightfully fun, simple travel game for kids is the colorful Pass the Pandas. The simple game packs well and travels easily, with easy setup and play rules. This means kids can play it on their own on a tray in the back of the van, in a hotel room, or the whole family can get in on the fun anywhere.
Pass the Pandas comes with ten custom dice with pandas, bamboo, water, and blanks. The goal of the game is to get rid of all your dice before the rest of the players can – and how you do this is by rolling the dice and passing along the dice as appropriate. If you roll a panda, you pass that dice to the player next to you. If you roll bamboo, the person next to you has to match or beat the number rolled. If you roll water, that die “evaporates” from the game. Blanks do nothing and the rolling continues.
The silly game speeds through in about 10 minutes and helps kids learn symbols and simple math, while still providing older kids and grown-ups with as much fun as the littles. Ultimately, the game is all about luck – which makes it easier for young kids, too, who may not be quite ready for more complex strategies.
Catan Dice Game
Ages: 7+ Players: 1-4 Time: 15-30 minutes
Bringing along a full tile-laying game of Catan is a bit much for a trip – but, if you love the concept of the game there’s the Catan Dice Game, ideal for travel and family fun with kids as young as 7. The game takes between 15 and 30 minutes in most cases, making it the perfect way to kill some time between activities, before bed, or in the car as you make your way to the next destination.
Catan Dice Game is easy to teach and learn, with rules easy for adults and children alike to learn, whether they’ve played full-blown Catan or not. The game works for solo play or up to 4 players, making it the ideal size for most families looking to enjoy a little fun on the road. Like the classic game, players build settlements, cities, roads, and knights, using a compact sheet with the Island of Catan, and no other pieces are needed besides those dice. Fill in symbols for roads, knights, and more, using the dice to roll bricks, lumber, grain, or wool. The game ends after 15 turns for all – the player with the highest score wins.
Quixx
Ages: 8+ Players: 2-5 Time: 15 minutes
For fast-action fun, pull out the amazing travel-friendly game of Quixx. Designed for 2 to 5 players, this quick-paced game throws all the dice at once, er, well, all the players play at the same time. The simple-to-learn game involves rolling dice, crossing off totals from your scoresheet, and adding up totals as you play.
The game of Quixx comes with 6 dice, a scorepad, and simple rules to follow, which help enforce math, probability, and strategic thinking for all. As you roll, your aim is to score the highest points by marking off the most strategic score from your rolls. You score every roll, but choosing the wrong score means you earn less and someone else will beat you by the end. At the end of the game, the winner is declared by the highest total score. The game has near-continuous play, making it the perfect choice for impatient grown-ups and kids alike.
Sussed: Cool Blue Deck
Ages: 10+ Players: 2-8 Time: 20-80 minutes
Intended for children 10 and up, Sussed: Cool Blue Deck is one of the absolute best travel games for kids that you could bring along on your next vacation. The game challenges players to engage in critical thinking, social communication, and listening skills. In the game of Sussed, you ask a question and challenge the other players to guess the answer that you’ve chosen.
It’s a great game for helping kids better understand each other (and themselves), their parents, friends, or anyone else roped into playing along. You’ll find 110 cards with more than 200 questions included and a huge collection of 650+ possible answers available. The travel-sized game pairs with other versions of Sussed, as well, adding even more playability as the kids get older.
Spot It! Classic
Ages: 7+ (Community 4+) Players: 2-8 Time: 15 minutes
A quick, easy-to-learn card game for kids 7 and up (community votes 4+), Spot It! Classic makes for a perfect selection of travel games for kids. The quick rules, fast gameplay, and versatility in player numbers help keep things energetic and fun, even on the longest drive to Grandma’s house.
You and the kids will enhance your observation skills and reflexes as you aim to spot the differences and make connections in the symbols on the cards to match them together. The basic Spot It! game reveals one card, then another – and whoever spots the common symbol on both first claims the card. The game continues until each of the 55 cards has been overturned and players have claimed their matches.
Zeus on the Loose
Ages: 8+ (Community 6+) Players: 2-5 Time: 15 minutes
For ages 8 and up (or community 6+), Zeus on the Loose helps your kids build their adding skills while having a fantastic time trying to “catch” the Greek god of the sky. Play your cards strategically, adding the numbers up to climb Mount Olympus to the home of the gods. When your cards total 10, you can grab the playful god Zeus. If you reach the top of the mountain with Zeus in hand, you win!
The card strategy game, Zeus on the Loose, engages math and strategic thinking through the use of the 56 cards in the deck while keeping it compact and easy to set up, and travel. The rules are easy to learn, and all you’ve got to do is shuffle and play. When a player’s cards add up to 10, they claim the Zeus figurine included in the game and the goal is to keep that figure through the end of the round.
Along the way, you can use the powers of the other Greek gods – like Aphrodite’s ability to direct the players to round their numbers, or Poseidon who makes players subtract 10. At the end of the round, the player holding the Zeus figure earns a letter. Whichever player earns all four letters first (Z-E-U-S) wins the game.
Sleeping Queens
Ages: 8+ (Community 5+) Players: 2-5 Time: 20 minutes
Another fantastically portable kid-friendly game, Sleeping Queens adds loads of fun to any hotel stay or drive. The card game invites players 8 and up (5+ community rating) to use strategy and quick thinking, mixed with a bit of luck, to rouse the snoring monarchs from their fairy tale slumbers. The Pancake Queen, Ladybug Queen, and ten other royals have been cast under a sleeping spell and your goal is to wake them before the kingdoms fall.
To play, you’ll lay out the 12 queen cards facedown, and on each turn, you get one action – play a king and claim a snoozing queen, steal someone else’s queen with your knight, cast a spell on someone else’s queen and return her to sleep, use your jester to try your luck, or discard a crummy card from your hand. Every queen carries point values with her, so you’re competing for the right lady royals to land in your hand, too, so use your strategic skills wisely to gain their favor. The game ends when one player hits the points threshold, or all the required queens have awakened. Whoever garners the most queenly points wins.
Sushi Go!
Ages: 8+ (Community 6+) Players: 2-5 Time: 15 minutes
Designed with 2 to 5 players in mind, ages 8 and up (community 6+ voted), Sushi Go! invites players into the world of sushi making and restaurants. The object is to create the best sushi platter as they speed by on the “sushi travelator” (i.e., gameplay!). Collect the most sushi rolls or match sets of sashimi to score points. Add sauces and garnishes to double and triple your points along the way.
You’ve got to keep your brain thinking in Sushi Go! or you’ll give away cards your opponents need to win. So, not only will you track your own sushi piles but you’ll keep an eye on what others are playing, taking, and discarding along the way. Ultimately, you’ll want the best sushi platter and most pudding cards so you can win in this rapid-fire card game. Mix and match the 100+ cards and find out who will win.
- Quick, easy-to-learn gameplay.
- Fun drafting mechanics with cute artwork.
- Fast-paced, great for short game sessions.
- Strategy is light, mostly luck-based.
- Limited interaction between players.
- Best with 3+ players, not as fun with fewer.
Games on the Go – 50 Travel Games for Kids
Ages: 3+ Players: 2+ Time: 5+ minutes
If you’ve got little ones or don’t want to mess with games with any pieces that could get lost, then Games on the Go – 50 Travel Games for Kids is going to be your winner. This card pack comes attached to a carabiner to keep things orderly and together. The collection offers literally 50 games and activities you can play out anywhere, any time. This means this little packet is ideal for travel, doctor’s office waiting rooms, pre-bedtime fun time, family game night, family reunions, or breaks from homeschooling or chores.
Games on the Go – 50 Travel Games for Kids provides you with loads of questions, like silly guessing games, memory challenges, wacky trivia, searching games, or word challenges. All of this keeps the imagination challenged, memory working, and fun times rolling as you replay the quick games over and over again, with as many people as you want – whether 2 or 50.
Conclusion
If you’re ready to hit the road on your family’s next great adventure, don’t forget to pack a few of these travel games for kids. They’ll keep the kids entertained on the road, in the hotel room, by the pool, or while the grown-ups talk at the family reunion. Each game is compact, easy to learn and play, and can be repeated as often as you trek across the country for vacation or family get-togethers.
FAQ: Travel Games for Kids
Why are travel games important for family trips?
Travel games keep kids entertained during long journeys, prevent boredom, and provide family bonding opportunities. They’re especially useful for car rides, plane trips, and downtime at hotels.
What features should I look for in travel games for kids?
Look for games with easy setup and breakdown, few small pieces to lose, and simple gameplay rules. Portability and quick play times are also important factors.
What age ranges do these travel games cover?
The games mentioned in the article cover a wide range of ages, from as young as 3 years old to adults. Most games are suitable for children 6-8 years and older.
Can these games be played in various travel settings?
Yes, these games are versatile and can be played in cars, airplanes, hotel rooms, camping trips, and even during family gatherings or reunions.
Do these games offer educational benefits?
Many of the recommended games offer educational benefits such as improving math skills, memory, strategic thinking, observation skills, and social communication.