17 Best Road Trip Games for Kids

Road trips offer the perfect opportunity for families to bond and create cheer. However, keeping kids entertained during a long road trip can be a challenge.

Put your mind at ease! In this blog post, we've curated a list of the best road trip games for kids that are designed to not only alleviate boredom but also stimulate their minds and foster creativity. So fasten your seatbelts and prepare for an epic road trip filled with endless fun!

The Most Fun Road Trip Games for Kids

It is not surprising that fun road trip games for kids can make your journey more enjoyable and memorable. Here are all of the road trip games for kids that’ll help them pass the time, learn new things, have fun, and improve their communication skills.

1. The Alphabet Game

The alphabet game is one of the most fun road trip games for young kids, especially those aged 5 and up. It is an entertaining game that helps kids practice their alphabet skills, vocabulary, and observation.

Materials

No materials are needed to play this game.

How to Play

One player chooses a category, such as animals or countries. Then, the players take turns naming something from that category that starts with each letter of the alphabet, in order.

For example, the first player might say “ant,” the second player might say “bear,” and so on. The game ends when no one can think of anything for a letter.

2. MentalUP Brain Games

Discover the ultimate learning app filled with the most engaging road trip games for kids of all ages. With more than 150 brain training games and activities, MentalUP is the only resource you need to provide your kids with hours of endless fun.

MentalUP is designed to enhance kids' cognitive abilities, such as memory, concentration, visual intelligence, logical thinking, and problem-solving skills. It achieves this by providing them with age-appropriate games tailored to their grade level and interests.

Plus, thanks to MentalUP’s rich performance-tracking and reporting modules, parents can track their kids’ development and get detailed insights into their learning journey.

Materials

You don't need any materials for your kids to play MentalUP brain training games. All you need is to download the app on their smartphone, tablet, or computer and let them play for 30 minutes daily.

How to Play

To play, download the MentalUP app from the App Store or Google Play Store. Then your kids can choose games from different categories, such as math, language, visual, verbal, and memory.

3. I Spy Travel

I Spy Travel is one of the most fun road trip games and activities for kids aged 4 and up. This fun card game helps kids practice their visual perception, matching, and memory.

Materials

All you need to play this game is a deck of I Spy Travel cards.

How to Play

To start the game, every participant receives a set of five cards and aims to identify different objects commonly found along the roadside.

Furthermore, a collection of amusing cards labeled "Hear It," "Feel It," and "Smell It" prompts children to engage their senses fully during the journey, listening for specific sounds, detecting surface textures, and recognizing various scents through smelling.

4. Travel Blurt

Travel Blurt is one of those cool road trip games for kids aged 10 and up. The board game is highly beneficial for boosting kids' vocabulary skills, enhancing their memory, and expanding their verbal intelligence.

Materials

The only material you need to play this game is the Travel Blurt game set.

How to Play

To set up this activity, which is one of the most entertaining vocabulary games, place the game board in the center and give each player a game piece. Choose a reader who will draw a card and read a definition aloud. Players race to "blurt" out the word that matches the definition.

The first player to correctly blurt the word moves their game piece ahead on the board. The game ends when a player reaches the finish line by moving all the way around the board.

5. 20 Questions

If you need fun road trip games for kids challenge their minds and logical thinking skills, you should definitely try playing 20 questions. It is suitable for kids 6 and up. Plus, it is a great way to help them practice their questioning, reasoning, and deductive skills.

Materials

No materials are needed to play this game. But you can always use would you rather questions for kids or never have i ever questions for kids to make the game funnier.

How to Play

To play, one player thinks of a person, place, or thing and keeps it secret. Then, the other players take turns asking yes or no questions to try to guess what it is. For example, “Is it alive?” or “Does it have fur?”

The player who thought of the word can only answer yes or no. The players can ask up to 20 questions in total. If they guess correctly before using up all their questions, they win.

6. Guess in 10-Cities Around the World

This is one of the most interesting card games for kids on a road trip that are interested in geography. It is suitable for kids aged 8 to 16 and great for boosting their communication, decision-making, problem-solving, and creative thinking.

Materials

You only need to get Skillmatic’s Guess in 10 Cities Around the World card game from a local shop or online.

How to Play

Start by distributing an equal number of cards to each player. During their turn, a player draws a question card and reads it aloud. All players take turns answering the question.

After everyone has provided their answers, the player reveals the correct answer. The game continues with players taking turns drawing cards and asking questions until a winning condition is met.

7. Rock Paper Scissors

If you have run out of fun road trip games ideas for kids, you can simply play rock paper scissors with your kids. This classic game is suitable for kids of all ages and teaches them about strategy, probability, and fair play.

Materials

No materials are needed to play this game.

How to Play

To play, two players face each other and make a fist with one hand. Then, they say “rock, paper, scissors” and simultaneously open their hand to show one of the three shapes.

The winner is determined by the following rules: rock beats scissors, scissors beat paper, and paper beats rock. If both players show the same shape, it is a tie and they repeat the process until someone wins.

8. Licence Plate Game

This is one of the most fun road trip car games for kids aged 5 and up that helps them practice their geography, memory, spelling, and reading. It is so simple and fun that kids can play it on any road trip.

Materials

To play this game, you'll need some paper and pens, or alternatively, you can use a smartphone for writing.

How to Play

Players look for license plates from different states or countries on the road. Each time they spot a new one, they say it out loud and write it down on a piece of paper or a smartphone.

The goal is to find as many different license plates as possible during the road trip. The player who finds the most wins.

9. Alphabear: Words Across Time

If you are looking for online video games for kids while on a road trip, you can check out this game app. It is suitable for kids aged 7 to 18 and great for their vocabulary, word formation, and creativity.

Materials

What you need to play this game is a smartphone or a tablet, and you can download the game from either the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.

How to Play

The app is a word puzzle game that features cute bears that grow as you spell words. You can choose from different modes, such as story mode, daily challenge mode, or versus mode. You can also collect different bears with unique abilities and costumes.

10. Tic Tac Toe Online

This is one of the most fun and addictive road trip games for young kids, especially those that are 4 years old and up. This online version of the classic tic tac toe game is a great alternative for helping kids to develop their logic, planning, and spatial skills.

Materials

A smartphone or tablet is needed to play this game.

How to Play

To play, download the Tic Tac Toe Online app from the App Store or Google Play. Choose a game mode to play online with your friends or with random opponents from around the world. You can also choose from different board sizes and themes.

11. Two Truths and a Lie

This is one of the best team building car games for road trip with kids, especially if you have teens. It is great for making them giggle and helping them practice their communication, listening, and logic skills.

Materials

No materials are needed to play this game.

How to Play

Each player takes turns telling three statements about themselves: two that are true and one that is a lie. The other players have to guess which one the lie is by asking questions and using their intuition.

The player who tells the lie gets a point if no one guesses it correctly. If a player guesses the lie correctly, they get a point. The game ends when everyone has had a turn or when someone reaches a certain number of points.

12. Name the Artist

Name the Artist is one of the most fun and easy road trip games for kids 11 and up. The game is great for reinforcing kids' musical knowledge, memory, and recognition skills.

Materials

No materials are needed to play this game.

How to Play

To play the game, one player starts playing a song from the car stereo or their smartphone. The other players have to guess the name of the artist that sings the song. The first player who guesses correctly gets a point. The game ends when one player reaches a certain number of points.

13. The Grocery Game

If you are looking for simple and free games for kids 5-7 on road trip, you should check this one out. It is an easy-to-play game that can help all family members practice their alphabet, memory, and vocabulary skills.

Materials

No materials are needed to play this game.

How to Play

One player starts by saying “I went to the grocery store and I bought something that starts with A”. Then, they name an item that starts with A, such as apples or asparagus. The next player repeats the sentence and adds an item that starts with B.

The game continues with each player adding an item that starts with the next letter of the alphabet and remembering all the previous items. The game ends when someone reaches the letter Z or when someone forgets an item.

14. Triple Threat

This is one of the most fun games for kids road trip that’ll keep your family members entertained for hours by unleashing their inner storyteller. It is suitable for kids aged 10 to 15 and helps them develop their creativity, imagination, and storytelling.

Materials

You don’t need any materials to play this game.

How to Play

To play, one player thinks of three random words and says them out loud, for example, cat, pizza, and rainbow. Then, the other players have to come up with a story that involves those three words in some way. The story can be funny, scary, or anything in between. The player who tells the best story gets a point.

15. The Theme Song Game

If you are looking for some travel road trip games for kids aged 7 and up that’ll challenge their pop culture knowledge, you can try this game. Plus, the game helps kids enhance their listening, recognition, and guessing skills.

Materials

This game doesn’t require any materials to play.

How to Play

One player hums or sings the theme song of a TV show or a movie that they know. The other players have to guess what show or movie it is. The first player who guesses correctly gets a point.

The game continues until one player reaches a certain number of points or when the players run out of theme songs.

16. Scavenger Hunt

This classic game can be turned into one of the most entertaining road trip games for kids under 5. Also, it is a great option for helping them develop observation, memory, and teamwork.

Materials

To play this game, you need to prepare a list of items beforehand that you are likely to see on the road, such as a blue billboard and cows. Then, you should give each kid a copy of the list and a pen or pencil.

How to Play

Give your kids a checklist and instruct them to search for the items on the list and mark them off once they find them. If desired, players can also note where they spotted each item or even draw a picture of them. The first player to locate everything on the list wins a small prize, like a cookie or a toy.

17. Restaurant Race

If you need some easy-to-play and fun road trip games for kids of all ages, you can try playing the Restaurant Race. It is great for helping kids enhance their recognition and strategy skills.

Materials

No materials are needed to play this game.

How to Play

Each player chooses a fast-food restaurant, such as Burger King, Taco Bell, or McDonald’s. Players earn points by spotting their restaurant off the road, on a billboard, on exit markers, on Food and Fuel signs, or by hearing it mentioned on the radio.

You can decide how many points each sighting is worth, depending on how common or rare it is. The player with the most points wins.

Tips About Playing Games for Kids on a Road Trip

So far, we’ve evaluated the top road trip games for kids. Still, there are plenty of road trip games available to choose from. Here are some insightful tips to help you choose the best road trip games for kids and make your trips much more enjoyable.

• Look for road trip games that suit the interests and preferences of everyone in your family.
• Consider factors such as age, theme, and game duration when choosing games for your kids.
• Don't forget the tried-and-true classic road trip games, like "I Spy," "20 Questions," and "License Plate Game."
• Try to find games that stimulate creativity and can be played with minimal resources.
• If you’ll provide your kids with game apps for road trips, try to choose the ones that offer interactive features and a variety of challenges.
• Pack a variety of snacks and drinks to keep everyone fueled and hydrated.
• Bring pillows, blankets, and travel-friendly entertainment items to alleviate boredom and make the journey more comfortable.
• Plan frequent breaks to stretch your legs and explore interesting attractions along the route.
• Avoid playing games that may distract or compromise the safety of anyone in the vehicle.

Whatever you plan for your road trip, remember that the goal is to have fun, foster camaraderie, and create memorable experiences together. So it is essential to provide all your kids and family members with games and activities that are tailored to their interests and needs.