Screen Free Holiday Travel Activities
I have one golden rule when it comes to vacations. I, the mom, am also on vacation. Whatever house guidelines normally in place for my kids are relaxed so that, well, hypothetically, I can also relax (and I am not allowed to feel guilty about it). This includes free range snacks and pretty much unlimited screen, video game, and tablet time. The thing about my kids, however, is that they seem have an innate spide-y sense alerting them to the fact that I am happy to let them spend hours on their tablets and magically have little to no interest in them for any long travel day.
Out of sheer necessity, I have devised a list of the following screen free travel activities in order to uphold my sanity on hour six of ten driving to my dad’s house for Thanksgiving or during the connecting flight across the country to to see my sister for summer vacation.
Minimum Cost & Fuss Screen Free Holiday Travel Activities
Murdle – This puzzle book is like sudoku but with a murder mystery twist. It is so much fun, my kids and I are addicted.
Madlibs – A hilarious classic from when millennials were kids, these still hold up and come in many versions from Taylor Swift to Nickelodeon. Bonus points for being semi-educational.
Mystery Snack or Dollar Store Toy – Pick up a different individually wrapped snack or toy for every hour of travel. Count out one for each of people in the car or plane ride (or just kids) and staple or tape in brown paper lunch sacks. Use a sharpie and write a large number for every hour you are traveling on the front of each sack. Open one every time you cross off an hour of travel. Choose things you don’t normally buy so it keeps the novelty and excitement alive. I save the best snacks/toy/craft for the middle of the trip, because I find that is when my children are the most bored and antsy.
Wikki Sticks – Wax covered yarn they can turn into a million things, and then pull apart and build something else. Bonus, they don’t take up much room, are not messy, and are great to bring in restaurants. Put them in a zip lock or plastic zipper pouch for easy storage.
MP3 Player – I found “vintage” iPods from eBay for about $50 (the kind with the wheel, we are too cheap for touch screens) and loaded them with songs from my iTunes collection. I waited to gift them until we were already traveling. My kids were utterly obsessed and glued to these the entire trip.
Travel Art Set – Hear me out. Get a Clipboard with storage, a plain spiral notebook (different colors for each kid; the kind that sell for 19 cents during back to school), and all the random left over stickers (also letter stickers to spell names are fun). Add a zip lock baggie collection of orphaned colored pencils, crayons, makers, milky pens, sharpened pencils, etc. you find in your couch cushions and laundry baskets. Fill the clipboard storage compartment with the writing utensils and stickers & clip the notebook to the front. Have the kids use the stickers to decorate the front of the spiral notebook and make a personalized travel/vacation journal. I thought this was going to get thrown in the back of the car or stay in their backpacks, and instead they were a huge hit. My kids loved having the ability to customize the cover and draw or write whatever they wanted.
Podcasts
Nothing silences a sibling fight faster than an engaging podcast. Here are some we enjoy.
- Sound Detectives – LeVar Burton’s (Reading Rainbow!) mystery sound podcast, featuring a gumshoe who is also a literal giant ear.
- The Big Fib– If your kids love the game 2 truths and lie, they will love this podcast! An expert on a variety of topics competes with an actor and a guest kid has to pick which one is lying and which one js the expert.
Some popular ones we love:
- Smash Boom Best – A funny, smart debate contest for kids and parents
- Brains On – Science Podcast For Kids
- Greeking Out – Mythology retold for kids
Audio Books
I check out audio books on my Libby App, which is connected to my Jefferson Parish Library card. I have founder that during road trips, my kids do better with shorter, more simple books or books that are broken into stories, although there are some more traditional novels they have loved.
Some of our favorites:
- Diary of the Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney audiobooks are an easy listen, a perfect length (about 3-4 hours each) and appeal to most ages and interests.
- Zoey and Sassafrass series by Asia Citro is the sweetest series for kids who love science, animals, and mythical creatures.
- The Vanderbeekers by Karina Yan Glaser is a charming and entertaining series about the antics and adventures of 5 siblings in New York City and the friends they turn into family along the way.
- The Swifts – A dictionary of Scoundrels by Beth Lincoln is a wildly silly murder mystery that happens to sneak in vocabulary lessons.
- The Fudge series by Judy Blume is a childhood favorite of mine both of my kids happened to embrace.
- Sideways Stories from Wayside School and Wayside School is Falling Down by Louis Sachar are a collection of classic hilarious and nutty tall tales that are perfect for breaking up over a long trip.
Happy Travels, please share more ideas in the comments! 
