Family Activities You Can Enjoy in the Car

As the weather warms up, moms and I start thinking about family vacations. A lot of vacations these days include a car trip, and while we adults may enjoy driving and looking at the scenery, most of our kids don’t. If you don’t know how to keep the little ones—and bigger ones—entertained, just keep reading! We’re going to share some fun family activities you can enjoy in the car on your next road trip.

Turn Your Listening Ears On

Car trips are a great time to listen to a podcast or audiobook. There are tons of different podcasts for kids and teens, ranging from hilarious to educational, so you’ll enjoy listening as much as they do. Y’all will all enjoy an audiobook, too. Most are much longer than podcasts, but they’re still entertaining, and they can help develop your child’s reading skills too. In short, it’s a win-win.

Get the Games Out

Just because you’re in a moving vehicle doesn’t mean you can’t play some games. There are even magnetic game boards for this exact purpose. If your car doesn’t have the elbow room for game boards, break out a notepad of Mad Libs, a license plate game template, or a deck of cards. You can use traditional cards for games like Old Maid or buy a specialty pack of cards that prompt their own games.

Call for Creativity

Even if you have the best car for young kids that include lots of room to wiggle and maybe even a DVD player, your kids will probably still get bored. There’s only so much listening and gaming they can do too before they want something else. Creative activities are a great way to continue to keep them entertained and be a little more independent. Kids can draw and color on their own with sketchpads and activity books, or you can give younger kids specific sticker sheets and window clings. They’ll develop their fine motor skills, and you’ll get some peace and quiet.

Grow Their Minds

While you’re all stuck together, you may as well grow together. Being in a smaller space with fewer distractions can help kids stay focused on you, and you can use that focus as a teaching opportunity. Two things that are easy to learn in a car are a new language and meditation. You can either review the language your child is learning at school or start something new with helpful language apps and other resources. And if a language is too difficult or is something you’ve already tried, work on meditating together instead. You’ll grow in mindfulness and learn how to relax together, an important lesson on long road trips.

Audiobooks, games, coloring, and learning are just some of the fun family activities you can enjoy in the car on your next road trip. No matter how old your child is, they will love doing these activities almost as much as y’all will all love getting to your destination.