10 Enjoyable Travel Games To Play as a Family
When you’re travelling with kids, the most stressful part is often getting to your destination. Why not keep them entertained with some clever travel games?
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Remember how bored you got on long journeys as a child? That’s why we’ve come up with a list of easy-to-follow travel games to distract your younger passengers from asking that plaintive question that all parents dread… “are we nearly there yet?”
Although it can occasionally be challenging, travelling with kids exposes them to different cultures from an early age and can help to strengthen family bonds – something that may be difficult to remember when you’re in the middle of dealing with a very public meltdown caused by sheer tiredness and boredom. But how to turn a long journey into an opportunity for some wholesome family fun? Sticking to your normal routine and forward planning always helps, so arm yourself with some healthy snacks and have a few simple activities for the kids in your arsenal. Playing games will set their brains to work and keep them away from the siren call of their screens – plus you might all learn something new about each other along the way! And of course, all Novotel hotels offer organised activities for kids, as well as play areas and board games to keep them occupied from the moment you arrive at your hotel.
10 boredom-busting travel games
When you’re travelling – whether it’s by car, plane, ship or train – it’s easy to cave in and give your kids their screens. It’s also equally easy to turn a tedious journey into an exciting adventure involving all the family, using simple, non-messy distractions without lots of equipment. Here are 10 fun travel games that will have everyone entertained when on the move, regardless of age or how long your travel time is.
The 5 best fuss-free games to play on a car trip
If you’re in the confines of the car for any length of time, keep your brood away from their devices with these five easy-to-play travel games. No boards or untidy equipment required!
1. I Spy with My Little Eye
I Spy has been a classic travel game for generations. Look for specific examples of objects you can spot inside or outside the car, working your way through the alphabet. Adapt your game for pre-schoolers by using colours or sounds: “I Spy with my little eye something that sounds like bruuummm.”
- Suitable for 2 or more players
- Good for kids over 2 years of age
2. Spotto
This easy travel game keeps kids’ attention on what’s going on outside the car window, and works just as well no matter which country you're in. Ease younger children into the challenge by first asking them to spot a single, common item like a tree or a lorry, then up the stakes to ask for rarer objects or a shortlist of several different things. For example: “First one to Spotto a palm tree, a beach and a boat!”
- Suitable for 2 or more players
- Good for kids over 3 years of age
3. The Counting Game
Set the timer on your phone and see (for example) how many churches, cows or cyclists you can all spot in a minute. This travel game encourages kids to take an interest in their surroundings and will help with numeracy skills too. Warning: it may get noisy if your kids are particularly competitive!
- Suitable for 2 or more players
- Good for kids over 4 years of age with basic numeracy
4. Add to the Story
Guaranteed to test imagination, this travel game is another effective way to hold everybody’s attention. Choose someone to open a story with a single sentence, then let each passenger build on that with another sentence and see where the story takes you. It’s a great way to have a giggle with the kids.
- Suitable for 2 or more players
- Good for kids over 4 years of age
5. 20 Questions
A simple and versatile road-trip puzzle, 20 Questions leads to endless fun for all ages and also encourages reasoning powers. Think of a person, place or object and get the other players to ask yes-or-no questions to work out who/what is it. The goal is to guess correctly within 20 questions.
- Suitable for 2 or more players
- Good for kids over 6 years of age
Good to know: Another clever way of keeping younger kids invested in your trip is to issue each of them with a printed map of your route; encourage them to follow it and cross off each leg as it’s completed.
The top 5 family travel games for planes and trains
When relative silence and good behaviour is demanded of your offspring on aeroplanes or trains, look for travel games that will require them to concentrate and not get distracted. At least you can spread out a little, and all you need to bring is paper, crayons and small prizes to dole out to the kids.
6. The Quiet Game
Simplicity itself. The person who can stay still and completely silent for the longest wins. A certain amount of bribery – a snack or a small toy for the winner perhaps – may be involved in getting your toddlers to enter into the spirit of this game!
- Suitable for 2 or more players
- Good for kids over 3 years of age
7. Noughts and Crosses/Tic Tac Toe
An oldie but a goldie, this is a firm favourite pen-and-paper game for a lot of families. The objective is to be the first to get three of your symbols in a row (either horizontally, vertically or diagonally) on a 3x3 grid. Take your turn to fill in the grid with a 0 or an X; the game is a draw if all 9 squares are filled in before a row is completed.
- Suitable for 2 players
- Good for kids over 4 years of age
8. Categories
This fast-paced game is a surefire way to get kids thinking and improve their vocabulary. Depending on the age of your brood, write a list of up to 10 categories (anything from fruit to countries or TV stars) and pick a random letter. It’s then a race to see who can fill in their categories the fastest.
- Suitable for 2 or more players
- Good for kids over 6 years of age
9. Pictionary
Another old faithful that most parents will remember from their childhood, Pictionary is one of the best travel games for sparking young imaginations and stimulating drawing skills. Just take it in turns to choose a word or phrase, and try to draw clues as to what it is – to the merriment of all concerned!
- Suitable for 2 or more players
- Good for kids over 8 years of age
10. Miniature board games
Finding travel games to suit tweens and teens can be tricky; we suggest mini travel sets of backgammon, chess or draughts as an alternative to electronic entertainment. If they are insistent (as only this age group can be!) on screen time, monitor content by overseeing their downloads.
- Usually suitable for 2 players
- Good for kids over 10 years of age
Good to know: Arm your kids with small rucksacks full of their favourite toys and books as an extra diversion when they’re starting to get restless or fractious.
Hopefully the 10 suggestions above will lead to a peaceful, tantrum-free journey. However, do remember that everybody needs some downtime when travelling; here’s how to strike the right balance with family activities throughout the day. Unsure about planning your family holiday? Encouraging the kids to help with your daily itinerary will make the task easier and get them excited for the trip too!
