25 Screen-Free Ways to Entertain a Toddler on a Road Trip

Toddlers and road trips can be like oil and vinegar. A tiny little body that just wants to wriggle and roam but is instead strapped into a rigid car seat for hours at a time? Sounds like a recipe for disaster. Over the past year, we have logged over 200 hours in the car with our sweet little man who was 2 when we started the RV journey and turned 3 just a few months ago. We’ve picked up quite a few tips from this past year on how to keep a toddler entertained on the road so that everyone can keep their sanity.

We actually banned screens from the car. We used to use them as a way break for the kids and the parents and it would be great for an hour or so. Because we travel SO often the screen time was adding up and we noticed they fought MORE when we had the iPads as opposed to now they entertain themselves. Plus have you ever tried to take an iPad away from a three-year-old? It doesn’t go well.

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25 Screen-free Road Trip Activities for Toddlers

1. Eat. It’s a necessary part of life but on the road, eating can actually become a fun road trip activity. I like to make it fun while keeping it healthy and pack their snacks in fun little containers. Keep the sugar level low, the protein high but make it fun! Crackers, cut up fruits and veggies, cheese sticks, and sandwiches are our obvious favorites but you can check out our big airplane snack list for other great ideas that translate well to road trips as well!
2. Music. fun and silly sing-alongs and impromptu dance parties are fun for the whole family! Check out this CD for some inspiration.
3. Books. Books of all forms tend to keep our kids entertained for a good amount of time and we love to encourage that as much as possible! We love these felt books because they’re easy to pack and super fun.
4. Audiobooks. These can be great for the whole family. Choose a family-friendly book to listen to and enjoy a good story! We love audible from Amazon as we get access to thousands of titles to listen to on the road.
5. Colorforms. They may be old school but colorforms have been entertaining kids on road trips for years! 
6. Puzzles and Shape Sorters. Puzzles without a lot of pieces are great for the car and keep kids entertained while working on fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination!
7. Magnadoodles and Boogie Boards.  The original iPad my older kids love the Boogie Boards which is an LCD screen they can scribble on over and over again and I love a good Magnadoodle sometimes we even take turns using them!
8. Small toys. we learned the hard way that heavy toy trains and cars in the vehicle act can as unfortunate missiles to the people sitting in the car, which can be especially dangerous for the driver. However, smaller trains like Thomas Minis, Polly Pockets, and Tonka Tinys make for the perfect road trip toy. Don’t go too small, you don’t want chokable toys in the car either.
9. Lap play mats. Going along with the Thomas Mini and Mini Tonka figures these adorable playmats are perfect and can keep toddlers entertained for hours.
10. Road Trip Surprise Packages. This was an invention we came up with our oldest daughter. We went to the dollar store and picked up several small toys and then made eight surprise packages. Every 30 minutes on our four-hour drive she got a new surprise. She absolutely loved it and it made the road trip so quick for her!
11. Window Clings. These are some of my favorite toys for airplane travel for toddlers but they are also amazing for road trips if your toddler is next to a window in the car (safest spot in a car is the middle seat!).
12. The Color Car Game. Obviously, they are too young for the license plate game but they are the perfect age for helping you spot different colors. We will tell our toddler to look for a certain color of car to count, for instance, red cars. Anytime they see a red car they point it out and you try to reach a certain number before switching colors.
13. Printable Road Trip Games. Print out these super cute road trip printables from Joys of Boys, laminate them and your kids will have hours of road trip fun. Great for older toddlers or for older siblings to keep toddlers entertained in the back seat! 
14. Toddler Busy Bags are perfect for Roadtrips. These are adorable busy bags that are great for church, planes, doctor offices and you guessed it road trips! I think these are great for keeping them busy but also educational purposes as well! 
15. Melissa and Doug Water Wow books– bring water to refill and enjoy quiet and mess-free entertainment. Our kids love these!
16. Wikisticks. I’m not going to lie sometimes even the grownups play with these in the car! They are so fun and all of our kids even the toddler loves them! Plus, they make a travel set which is perfect for the car.
17. Magnaformers are one of my favorite stem toys for my kids and they always end up making it into the car one way or another on road trips!
18. Felt Boards. I loved felt boards so much as a kid. I thought they were so cute and fun and now I love that my kids love to play with them too. They love to make up stories and play in the car for hours with them.
19. iSpy game and iSpy books. Again another activity that my older kids will play along with the toddler. We always try to have a few of these stashed in the car. If you don’t have the books, the game is a fun backup.
20. This Traveling Color Kit makes an adorable upcycled traveling color kit using an old travel wipes case for the perfect easy to manage coloring set for a toddler.
21. Road trip clips for good behavior. I love this idea for families with multiple children and it’s a great visual. One clip per child, if they behave it stays up and at next stop they get a treat and if they don’t it comes down and they miss out. So simple but effective for teaching consequences for behavior.
22. Pipe cleaners will keep kids of all ages entertained for hours. They can make fun chains, animals or just sit and bend into shapes. I love these simple little travel hacks that are inexpensive but foster creativity!
23. Candy bar taste tests. Ok, I know what I said about sugar but one treat a day to keep everyone happy is fine with me. This one is fun for the whole family. Plan ahead and get several different types of candy bars and cut them up so everyone gets a small piece. Then vote on the favorites!
24. Organic suckers. Again, I’m not a fan of a lot of sugar in the car but for emergencies, a sucker can keep kids occupied just enough for you to gain your sanity back.
25. Grab a small magnet board and some fridge magnets for a fun activity. In a pinch, you can buy a cheap cookie sheet at the dollar store.

What are your favorite road trip activities for toddlers?

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