Travel Activities for Kids

Here are some travel activities for kids and toddler travel games too. Activities and games like these can help little ones sit still anywhere while waiting for anything (in a traffic jam, a restaurant, at the doctor's or hairdresser's... the list is endless).

Toddler Travel Games

• Talk about where you are going and what you will be doing when you get there. Or what you're waiting for, etc.
• Sing nursery rhymes.
• Label her body parts... even the tricky ones then ask her to find different body parts.
• Ask your toddler where is...? Daddy? Auntie Jenny? Kitty? Your child's name etc.
• Ask what animals say. As you see them, pictures of them or if he's good at it, out of the blue.
• Make an animal sounds and ask who says that
• Look out for a particular colour of car or lorries (trucks)
• Counting things - simple yet it's an effective way to entertain and teach your toddler.
• Encourage your toddler to copy actions
• Ask her to find an object (partially hidden or in plain view)
• Creative 'peek-a-boo' games (for younger toddlers and babies)
• Tickling can be done even while on the move!
• Making silly faces

Parenting tip for your toddler: Remember it's best to teach something many times before asking your toddler about it. This way he'll build a confident and positive image about himself which will stick with him as everyone's self-image is formed mostly in the first three years of life.

Great Toddler Songs for Travel

Knee bouncing rhymes are very handy when you've got to keep hold of your baby or toddler on your lap.

Horsey, Horsey

Horsey, horsey don't you stop,
Just let your hooves go clipity-clop,
Your tail go swish and your wheels go round
Gi...ddy up, we're homeward bound.

(Hold your toddlers trunk, bounce him on your knee until the last line, lift him up and lower him between your legs.)

Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,
All the king's horses and all the king's men,
Couldn't put Humpty together again.

(Hold and bounce your toddler, lower her on the word 'fall' and carry on bouncing her through the rest of the rhyme. If you're sitting on the floor you could sit your little one on your bended knees and then straighten them when they 'fall'.)

My favourite toddler travel game is singing 'Round and Round the Garden'. It can be sung very quietly as you're close to your child and most toddlers want it repeated many times so it can really buy you some time. Here are the lyrics and actions to this very simple nursery rhyme:

Round and Round the Garden

Round and round the garden, like a teddy bear,
(Trace your finger in a circular motion on your child's palm>
One step... Two step... and tickle you under there.
('Walk' your hand up their arm and tickle under their chin)

Travel parenting tips for your toddler:

Travelling with young children can be stressful at times... sometimes letting go a little really helps. As they say... a little freedom goes a long way. Even with all these travel activities for kids, it's still really hard for young children to sit for long periods of time wherever they are.

• Often in waiting rooms other people would be more comfortable with a toddler dashing from seat to seat, climbing up to sit on one and then another, than hearing a small child whine and moan because they don't want to sit still any more. Some adults like to be entertained - they're waiting too, after all.
• If you're planning to fly with young children, consider opting for layovers to break up long flights where possible. Also allow plenty of time between flights and make the most of the space on the plane by offering your little one the chance to walk or even run. During the flight (when the seatbelt sign is off) taking regular walks down the aisle with your child can really refresh you both.
• If you're feeling brave, your toddler would probably enjoy an action rhyme or two. They're a great compromise when you've got to keep your child close while waiting with all the luggage but they don't want to keep still.
• On long road trips schedule in lots of breaks so your kids can run off some steam.

Travel Activities For Kids

• Take it in turns to make up a silly story together, one sentence at a time. I love this one, it's such a good laugh.
• You could 'draw' numbers, letters, shapes or pictures on your child's hand or back with your finger. Then they could guess what you're drawing or they could do it on your back or hand for you to guess.
• The old favourite travel game for kids, 'I spy with my little eye, something beginning with...' can pass loads of time.
• You may like to play colour eye spy with preschoolers.
• Pictionary (a travel and child friendly version) is where a player basically tries to guess what someone else is drawing as quickly as possible. A small white board and dry wipe pen or those sketch boards with a stick that can be swiped clean would save loads of paper.
• Each of you choose a colour and count how many cars of that colour you see within a 1-5 minute time frame.
• Sing anything and everything you all know and love. Or take it in turns to do solos.
• Pose simple riddles about objects.
• What has three wheels? (tricycle)
• The only thing you are allowed to kick (ball)
• You can drink it, wash with it, play with it and it falls from the sky (water)
• What do you eat soup and cereal in? (bowl)
• What has a head but no neck? (mop)
• What has only one foot? (snail)
• What has a neck but no head? (bottle)
• What flies with no wings? (hot air balloon)
  
• Have fun and be creative

Travel parenting tip for your toddler or child:

Whenever travelling with young children pack a special little bag full of toys and travel activities for kids. Or you could keep one in your car for the doctor's, restaurants and when you visit family or friends in hospital or those who don't have children. If you're packing one (or one for each child) for a long journey, wrapping each item would make it extra special.

Travel Activities For Kids Bag: Content Suggestions

• Plain notepad and coloured pencils or those special paper and pens which only mark the paper.
• Magnetic letters or pictures with a small magnetic whiteboard or a cookie sheet. (The whiteboard creates another activity with a dry-erase pen.)
• Either tray is also handy for playdough.
• Flashcards and books. But which books? Here's some guidelines to choosing the best books for young children.
• Small dolls, figures and vehicles that interest your child.
• Travel sized board games are great for older children.
• Stickers to create 'scenes' or just stick on their notepad and clothes.
• Sketch boards with a stick that can be swiped clean are very convenient.

Is that getting a little heavy? Better yet, eliminate the need to take loads of toys by playing even more travel games for children using what's already available to you.

For example:

• On a plane they could decorate the sick bag with even just a pen.
• At a restarant they could make their serviette (napkin) into an interesting shape or sculpture.
• In a waiting room you could ask a toddler to hunt for something specific, either in the room or on a page of a magazine. A older child could play 'I spy' instead.

For more ideas on how to keep young children entertained without toys check out the free toddler games page.

I hope these travel activities for kids make travelling and waiting with children easier for you both.

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