15 Essential Easy-to-Pack Games for a Fun Family Trip
Experienced travelers know that having a few compact, portable games can make a world of difference during unexpected moments on the road, at airports, in restaurants, or while staying in hotels. These handy games keep kids entertained and help make any family trip more enjoyable and stress-free. Here are our top picks to toss in your suitcase for a smooth and entertaining family adventure.
Lightweight and Easy to Carry
- Uno – Who doesn’t love this classic card game? Kids of all ages can play anytime, anywhere.
- Mad Libs – These fill in the blank stories provide our kids with hours of entertainment. Sometimes we have to explain adverbs and adjectives, but I consider it teaching without them realizing.
- Etch a Sketch – The classic shake and go game of our childhood, there’s now several miniature versions that are perfect to throw in your bag for your little Van Gogh.
- Rush Hour Game – This logic game challenges kids to move one car out of the traffic jam. Comes with 40 challenge cards and an easy to carry travel bag. My kids love this one.
- Yahtzee Travel – Same as the regular Yahtzee game, but everything fits in a handy storage cup (dice, paper, pencils). Easy to pull out of the bag and start up a game.
- Deck of Cards – The card games are endless. You can play Go Fish, War, Old Maid, Gin Rummy. Teach your kid card tricks if you know any. This is a great way to pass the time.
- Magnetic Tangrams – We like Travel Tangoes that come with a magnetic board so the kids can design right on the book. There’s even a pouch to keep the pieces together when they’re done. Perfect for those creative kids.
- Spot It – Each player has a card and they have to match one item on their card to one item on the card in the middle pile. The first person to spot the match, wins the pair. There are many different versions of the game and my kids love beating me every time.
Games that Require Pen and Paper
- Hangman – One of our all time favorites. Younger children can play this too as soon as they start spelling words.
- License Plate Game – I have loved this game since I was a kid and I beg the kids to play it with me on every road trip. I print out a list of all the states ahead of time and have them cross off each one as we find them.
- A through Z Scavenger Hunt Game – Each child has a piece of paper and they write the letters A through Z on it. For each item they find that starts with a certain letter of the alphabet, they write it down. The first one to find an item for every letter wins. *We give bonus points for multiple words for each letter.*
Games You Can Play Anywhere No Supplies Needed
- G-H-O-S-T – The object of the game is to not finish spelling a word. For example: I say C, the next person says H, the next person says A, the next one says I, the next one says R. That person just completed the word CHAIR, so they get a letter “G”. The first person that has five words end on them and spells the word GHOST is out. All words must be at least four letters.
- 20 Questions – For 20 Questions one person chooses an animal, vegetable or mineral and the others can ask 20 “yes” or “no” questions to guess their item. After 20 questions have been asked, each player has a chance to guess what the item might be. Questions could be: Does it move? Does it come in different colors? etc.
- Once Upon a Time – This game makes us laugh the most. One person starts off with “Once upon a time…” and completes the sentence. The next person continues the story with their own sentence with the goal being to complete a story. The tale unfolds until everyone feels it is finished or we just think the story is too crazy (which has happened many times). Group story telling at its best.
- Name That Tune – Just like the old game show, someone starts humming a song, and the first person to “Name That Tune” gets a point, and becomes the next person to hum a tune. First person to 5 points wins. Trust me, it’s not as easy as it sounds (pun intended).
These are some of our favorites, do you have a favorite family travel game?
Other travel posts you may like include: 25 Easy to Pack Travel Snacks, How to Prepare Your Home for Vacation, and 25 Favorite Read Aloud Books for a Road Trip
Thank you Kirsten for an excellent and helpful post! Check out the other great posts in our A to Z