When we travel as a family, we always bring a bag of travel activities for kids. We try to strategically choose small items that can provide lots of hours of entertainment. Whether we’re flying or driving, these are some of our favorite go-to travel activities for kids.

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Travel Journal

Travel Journal for Kids: This is a new addition to our travel bag, but one that we are very excited about! It is a vacation journal that pairs a page of writing prompts with a blank page for drawing what you see on your travels. We bought one for each of our three daughters, and we’re planning to have these journals join us on lots of different travel adventures. It will be a fun one to look back on over the years!

Sticker Activity Book: My First Trip

Sticker Activity Book – My First Trip: We love this sticker activity book series and were excited to see the “My First Trip” travel theme. The books are spiral bound so it is easy for kids to fully open all the way. The stickers and scenes are side-by-side, so kids don’t have to flip back and forth. There is also a coloring page on the back of each sticker page, so it’s a coloring book and sticker activity book in one!

Crosswords and Word Searches

My First Crosswords AND My First Word Searches – These books are a great introduction to crossword puzzles and word searches for young kids. They are also a fun and engaging way for kids to practice vocabulary and spelling skills. They’re designed for kids from Kindergarten to 2nd grade.

Wipe-Off Activity Pad

Wipe-Off Activity Pad: This activity book is full of word, number, and picture games for one or two players to do with dry-erase markers. It includes two different colored dry-erase markers with built-in eraser caps. It’s a small size and the games can be played over and over, so it’s a great one for travel!

Secret Decoder Deluxe Activity Set

Melissa & Doug – Secret Decoder Deluxe Activity Set: This problem-solving activity set gives kids a chance to crack codes, uncover hidden clues, reveal secret messages, and be super sleuths! It includes a Secret Decoder Game Book, Seek & Find Game Book, Secret Message Activity Pad, and Magic-Reveal Sticker Sheets. This is a fun one for older kids (ages 7+).

Magnetic Bingo Game

Magnetic Bingo Game: This is a fun bingo game for two players! It has a fold-out magnetic game board with magnetic game pieces and a spinner. All of the pieces store inside the compact travel case.

Highlights Magazine

Highlights Magazine: Our daughters have a subscription to Highlights magazine, and this is a great one to add to the travel bag. The magazine is lighter in weight than a book, but full of lots of different interesting articles for them to read together.

Twistable Colored Pencils

Twistable Colored Pencils: Our daughters love to color and draw, and this a great set to pack for trips. When we travel, we try to avoid markers that can get on clothing or crayons that can melt in the car. These colored pencils have a twistable feature, so we don’t have to worry about making sure they’re sharp. The girls can simply twist them up, and they’re ready for drawing, coloring, or activity books!

The Little ABC Coloring Book

The Little ABC Coloring Book: This mini coloring book is small enough to bring along in any small bag. Each page has a letter of the alphabet, illustrated by an object whose name begins with that letter. It’s typically only $2.50, so it’s a good one to stock up on and keep a copy in the car, a restaurant bag, etc.

Reading Light

Reading Light: All three of our daughters have their own reading light, and they use them at bedtime in their triple bunk bed. These little clip-on book lights are also great for travel! They are rechargeable using a USB connector cable, so we also don’t have to worry about batteries.

Drawing Board

Drawing Board – This erasable drawing board allows kids to sketch on the screen with a stylus. They can create colorful lines, and then easily clear the screen with the erase button. We take this drawing board with us on long car rides or plane rides, and our girls love doodling on it again and again.

Yoto Mini Audio Player and Travel Case

Yoto Mini Audio Player and Travel Case: Our girls all love listening to audio books and music on their Yoto Mini Audio Player, especially at rest time, bedtime, and on drives or flights. We love that the device has no cameras, microphones, or ads. They can put in their headphones, choose an audio card, and listen!

Finger Puppets Set

Finger Puppets Set: This is a fun little set for imaginative play during trips. Our girls enjoy playing together with the little finger puppets, but if we lose one, it’s not as devastating as losing a special stuffed animal.

Water Wow!

Water Wow!: This series of activity books has reusable boards and a refillable water pen that you use to color. Images are revealed when the board becomes wet, and they disappear when the board dries. This version also has a red reveal lens that lets kids explore hidden pictures within the images.

Seek and Find Sticker Pad

Seek and Find Sticker Pad: This activity pad is full of various adventure travel destination scenes. Each scene is a coloring sheet, and also has stickers to match to the hidden images within the picture.

Magicolor Mess-Free Coloring

Magicolor Mess-Free Coloring: This activity book includes four mess-free markers that only appear on Magicolor Paper. The markers won’t mark on clothes, tabletops, or skin. This is a great option for coloring on-the-go!

Paint By Sticker

Paint by Sticker: Our girls love this series! They get to find the sticker, peel it off, and then place it onto the correct spot on the page. The stickers all come together to reveal an image! This book is full of zoo animals, but they also enjoy the unicorn version and mermaid version.

Make-A-Face Sticker Pad

Make-A-Face Sticker Pad: This sticker activity pad has printed pages of faces, and our girls love getting to choose their features and accessories. Stickers include eyes, eyebrows, lips, necklaces, earrings, headbands, barrettes and glasses. There is also a version for making animal faces and character faces.

Puffy Sticker Activity Book

Puffy Sticker Activity Book: This activity book has over 100 reusable puffy stickers that can be put on the different backgrounds. Our girls love setting up a scene, then peeling off the stickers and starting all over again! This one has a pet theme, but there are lots of other versions available, including Dress-Up, Princess, Mermaid, and Farm, Safari, Chipmunk and more!

Where’s the Unicorn? – A Magical Search Book

Where’s the Unicorn? – A Magical Search Book: Our girls love this search and find book, and could look at it for hours! Each page has seven unicorns (in rainbow colors) hidden within the image. It’s a challenge to find all seven, and once you do, there’s another search and find scene to explore on the next page! We also have the sequels, Where’s the Unicorn Now? and Where’s the Unicorn in Wonderland?

Joke Book

Best Kids’ Jokes Ever!: This book is small in size, and contains 365 jokes for kids. Our girls love reading the jokes and riddles and then telling them to us. The jokes are silly, funny, and wholesome, and cover a wide range of kid-friendly topics. This is a fun book to tuck in your bag for when you’re riding in the car, waiting in lines, or any place where you want some screen-free entertainment!

Speed Cube

Speed Cube Set: Our daughters watched another kid solve a cube puzzle while waiting at a museum, and now they want to learn this skill! This 3x3x3 cube is designed to be turned and twisted so that each side of the cube has only one color. It’s an easy concept in theory, but can keep kids occupied for a long time as they use trial and error to attempt to solve this classic color-matching puzzle!

Small Backpack

Small Backpack: We don’t bring all of our travel activities for kids on every trip. A small backpack can help to establish a boundary for the amount of activities to bring. We often let our kids help choose what to pack, but keep it limited to a small designated bag. This toddler size backpack is perfect for activities!

This post contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission for purchases made through these links. We hope you enjoy some of our favorite travel activities for kids!

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