As an Amazon Associate, BE Family Travel earns from qualifying purchases. Learn More
Traveling with Kids
Are you planning your family vacation with kids? Now you’re wondering how to entertain your children on a family road trip or a flight with kids? Trying to avoid that dreaded, and repetitive, question of are we nearly their yet? Ensuring you pack travel activities to keep your little ones busy on your travels will help relieve their boredom, and keep you sane. Your journey traveling with kids should include activities such as: craft or activity sets, sticker books, workbooks, printable road trip games, toys, travel games, coloring, books, screen time, followed by snacks, then rinse and repeat! In this post we highlight Best Travel Activities for Kids age 4-8 years. Plus they’re all no-mess activities, so don’t leave home without these essential travel activities for your kids.
If you’re traveling with a toddler then our other posts that you may find helpful include essential travel toys for toddlers and how to travel with a potty training toddler. If you’re flying then check out surviving jet lag with your toddler and what to consider before traveling with a car seat.
The more we travel with our children, I have learned how to simplify a road trip with kids and how to avoid motion sickness in kids. And in this current environment it’s especially important to be aware of strategies to stay healthy while traveling with children.
Use the Table of Contents below to quickly skip to any section of this post.
What are the must-have Travel Activities for Kids?
When traveling with children plan to bring a few special surprises to keep up your sleeve, such as a new activity or toy your child has not seen before. And don’t forget to bring the most important item of all – road trip snacks for kids.
Over the years and the many thousands of miles we have traveled with our children, there are certain items we won’t leave home without.
Must-have travel activities for kids include:
- Craft or Activity Sets
- Sticker Books or Workbooks
- Printable Road Trip Games for Kids
- Toys
- Travel Games
- Coloring Books and Crayons or Markers
- Books at your child’s appropriate reading level
- iPad, Tablet or Device with Headphones, charger and travel case
📌📌📌 Pin it for later 📌📌📌
Best Travel Activities for Kids age 4-8 years
Here’s our favorite travel activities for kids age 4-8 years. This includes a list of the essential no-mess activities that are lightweight and can easily be packed in your carry-on luggage or a BE Family Travel Tray. These activities are great options to entertain your child on an airplane or a car ride. They include popular preschool travel toys for children aged 4 and up.
Spirograph Travel Set
The Spirograph Travel Set allows kids age 5+ to create countless designs on the go! Similarly, the built in storage tray makes this travel set easy to take on family vacation. This classic design toy was one of my childhood favorites ❣
Melissa & Doug On-the-Go Felt Friends Craft Activity Set
The Melissa & Doug On-the-Go Felt Friends Craft Activity Set comes with illustrated step-by-step instructions that help to teach kids how to use the set safely and inspire creative ideas. So, it’s a great activity set for traveling, and ideal for kids ages 4 years and up.
Melissa & Doug On the Go Secret Decoder Activity Books
Melissa & Doug On the Go Secret Decoder Activity Books and spy tools for kids include mazes, seek-and-finds, word scrambles, codes to break and more. Plus spy tools such as magic ink, red-lens spy glass, and decoder wheel. These 18 page compact books make a great travel activity for kids age 7+
Wikki Stix Traveler Playset
Wikki Stix offer clean, quiet, hands-on and engaging play for any occasion – in the car, or on the plane. Furthermore, this product is made with non-toxic food grade wax and hand knitting yarn. This kit includes a convenient, bright red carrying case for imaginative play during travel.
Paint by Sticker Kids: Zoo Animals
Paint by Sticker Kids: Zoo Animals includes everything you need to create ten sticker paintings on sturdy card stock. Plus, all the pages are perforated – making it easy to tear out each finished work to frame and share! Your child can paint a zoo full of animals with stickers! It’s simple – find the sticker, peel, then place the sticker, and watch your animal painting come to life!
Sticker Book
Have your child choose their Sticker Book of preference.
Our girls love to dress their favorite American Girl® characters in pretty outfits with this sticker book collection.
Or maybe your child prefers to explore our universe, science and planet Earth.
What ever your child’s favorite interests, click here to see more options of Sticker Books for kids.
Wipe Clean Workbook
The Wipe Clean: Starting School Workbook is full of essential learning activities to complete and repeat. Using the dry-wipe pen, kids going into Kindergarten and First Grade can practice their writing and counting skills, simple math, telling the time, and lots more. And there is no getting it wrong – they can simply wipe away mistakes and try again. Likewise, if your child is a different age then there is a wide variety of wipe clean books available for various developmental levels.
LEGO Classic Creative Suitcase
The LEGO Classic Creative Suitcase allows your child to organize their LEGO building bricks and take them wherever you go. This LEGO Classic portable building block case houses a world of creativity for kids and includes a selection of colorful LEGO Classic pieces, including, bricks, shapes, wheels and eyes. LEGO is one of the best travel toys for preschoolers and older children.
Spot It JR. Animals
Spot It JR. Animals is a Fast Paced action game with Symbol Recognition and Brain: Eye association. The smash hit game adapted for younger children. Each card has 6 colorful animals of different sizes; between any two cards there is always one animal match. This is definitely one of our girls’ favorite games, and the tin canister makes it the perfect family travel activity (see also, ‘15 Best Family Activities In Florida To Do On Your Travels‘).
The Purple Cow Magnetic Travel Games
These magnetic travel games are traditional games in new packaging, with simple instructions that make them easy to follow and play! The game board and pieces are magnetic, so these fun kids’ games are ideal whenever you are out traveling or even in the car. Furthermore, The Purple Cow offers a wide selection of travel games for players of all ages. Here’s some of our favorite travel activities for kids age 4 plus.
Silly Scents Twistables Crayons
Each aromatic crayon is ready to scribble and sniff. Silly Scents Twistables Crayons are durable with plastic barrels to protect against breakage.
Therefore, they never need sharpening, just twist to keep the color going! So, unleash countless hours of self-expression and imaginative play.
Crayola Epic Book of Awesome Coloring Book
Kids love to color and a coloring book will keep them happy through many long road trips, plane rides or rainy days on family vacation. The Crayola Epic Book of Awesome Coloring Book is a simple and fun travel activity for kids. And a great way for children to stay thoughtfully engaged and entertained while traveling.
The Ultimate Travel Journal For Kids
It’s time to hit the road on your next family adventure – and kids will remember every second of fun-filled adventure. The Ultimate Travel Journal For Kids is packed with journaling prompts so that no memory goes unwritten.
Inside these travel activities for kids, 6-9-year-old’s will find guided prompts to record hopes for their trip, highlights, new discoveries and more. Plus, this journal includes ultra-fun travel activities for kids likes fill-in the blanks and crosswords for endless entertainment.
When you’re back home and bags are unpacked, your little adventurer can always open The Ultimate Travel Journal for Kids and relive every minute of every adventure. Consequently, what a special keepsake that your child will treasure for years to come.
Magic Tree House Books
When you travel with kids bring some books that your child / you can read together on your trip. One of our family favorites is this Magic Tree House Book Set which includes a whole series of adventure books for kids. Furthermore, bring your child’s favorite books, as family vacation can be an excellent time to develop your child’s love of reading and books.
Fire 7 Kids Edition Tablet
Fire 7 Kids Edition Tablet is available in blue, pink or purple. Stream through Wi-Fi or view downloaded content on the go with 16 GB of internal storage and up to 7 hours of reading, browsing the web, watching video, and listening to music. Also add wireless headphones and a protective zipper sleeve for when you’re on the go. And don’t forget to bring the charger for any electronic device!
LilGadgets Untangled PRO Kids Premium Wireless Bluetooth Headphones
These Wireless Headphones are high quality, and compatible with nearly all Bluetooth devices. Offered in six wonderful colors, they are developed, designed, and tested with kids of all ages to ensure durability of the final product while maintaining style and comfort. Certainly they are sized for kids age 4 plus.
Printable Road Trip Games
Printable Road Trip Games are an inexpensive way to engage your children in fun activities and help pass the hours on your next family trip.
We have created our own selection of FREE Printable Road Trip Games, which are tried and tested by kids, to provide hours of entertainment on your family travels. Including Road Sign Scavenger Hunt, Coloring Page, Tic Tac Toe, Word Search, License Plate Search Game – and our favorite – Road Trip Bingo.
You can learn more and download our FREE Printable Road Trip Games HERE.
BE Family Travel Tray
We like to use the BE Family Travel Tray to hold our child’s activities. It’s designed to be used with a car seat, but could be adapted on an airplane using the seat-back tray. It is perfect for a drink, snacks, coloring book, crayons, and toys to keep everything within your child’s reach. And includes a tablet holder, pencil case, and large book pocket. There is no need to unload the entire play tray when it’s time to leave, the side pouches zip and fold in to make the perfect storage as an all-in-one Travel Bag. It detaches into two parts and the lower lap tray is great for toddlers. Also available in red, blue or pink.
Travel Activities for Kids Wrap-up
As children get older their attention span increases which makes it easier for them to travel for longer periods of time. It is still important to plan regular breaks throughout your journey to allow children time to stretch their legs and visit the restroom. But being prepared with travel activities for kids will make long journey’s more bearable for you and your children. And before your next family vacation check out our review of the Best Family Travel Games.
Please comment on this post and let me know your favorite travel activities for kids (see also, ‘15 Best Family Activities In Charleston SC To Do On Your Travels’). Furthermore, I’d love to update the list of essential travel activities (see also, ‘15 Best Family Activities In Orlando To Do On Your Travels‘) with items that you love! Tell me one activity your kid won’t leave home without?!
And remember, let’s BE Family so you can enjoy the journey.
Until next time,
💕💖 Ruth
For more about family travel, check out these posts:
Travel Gifts for Mom: Holiday Gift Guide
10 Most Popular Travel Gifts for Dad
Non-Toy Gift Ideas For Kids: Less Stuff, More Memories!
Travel Gifts For Kids: Guide To Choosing The Best Gifts
Road Trip Activities for Kids Age 9-12 years
Travel Gifts for Tweens That They Will Love
📌📌📌 Pin it for later 📌📌📌
BE Family Products Inc., or (BE Family Travel) participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Using any of the links on this website does NOT cost you anything but does help us continue to create content on this blog. Thank you so much for your support and for partnering with us. Let’s BE Family.
Ruth Hutchins grew up in England and now lives in North Carolina with her husband, Doug, and their two young daughters. They always loved to travel, but once having children everything changed because family travel is more complicated. Traveling with a baby may feel overwhelming to new parents. Travel with a toddler can really test your patience, and traveling with kids can lead to utter chaos. However, travel with your little ones doesn’t have to be that stressful or exhausting. On the BE Family Travel blog Ruth shares her parenting wins, and even epic failures about traveling with kids. She provides resources to help you feel empowered to plan a family vacation and travel with your children.
8 thoughts on “What are the Best Travel Activities for Kids Age 4-8?”
Comments are closed.