Traveling with young children can be an adventure in itself, especially when it involves long flights or train rides. We previously visited this conundrum – how to make long travel trips interesting for children, without disrupting other passengers. We did that for children aged 8 to 12.
In this post, we’ll try to do that for kids aged 4 to 8.
Parents are usually only as happy as their unhappiest child, and usually, that makes for many unhappy parents during long trips when their children get bored.
Unlike older kids, this age group needs simpler, interactive activities that are easy to understand and fun to play. Thankfully, there are a variety of travel games perfect for keeping little ones happy and quiet on the journey.
These seven travel games are specifically chosen for younger kids, ensuring that your trip stays calm, playful, and memorable.
1. Sticker Storytelling
What You Need: A set of themed stickers and a blank notebook or paper.
How to Play: Give your child a set of stickers featuring their favourite theme, like animals, vehicles, fantasy characters or whatever movie or tv show has been on play and repeat most recently. With these stickers, give them also a notebook or paper. Encourage them to create a story by arranging the stickers on the pages and adding their own drawings or narration. Ask questions like, “What is this character doing?” or “Where are they going next?” to help them build a story.
For added fun, you can give them specific challenges or prompts, like “Make a jungle adventure” or “Create a party scene with all your animal stickers.” This structure helps provide direction if they’re unsure where to start. If you’re traveling with more than one child, they can even take turns adding stickers to the story, each contributing their own ideas and twists.
Why It’s Great: This game encourages creativity and story-building, helping kids engage in imaginative play. It’s a quiet, mess-free activity, ideal for flights or train rides. The repetitive action of peeling and placing stickers is both soothing and engaging, making this a go-to for younger travellers.
Variations: Provide a few different sets of stickers to expand the story options. You could even create mini “missions” by suggesting ideas, like “Make a zoo scene” or “Create a jungle adventure.”
Tips: Look for reusable stickers so kids can create multiple stories or scenes on the same page. Use a clipboard as a sturdy surface if space is limited.
2. Guess the Sound
What You Need: A device with sounds (phone or tablet) or sounds from your surroundings.
How to Play: Play a sound, such as a bird chirping, car horn, or the rustling of paper, and have your child guess what it is. If you’re using a device, you can find apps or YouTube videos with various sound effects. Make it more interactive by asking your child to imitate the sound after guessing.
To extend the game, you could categorize the sounds, like “nature sounds” or “city sounds,” and challenge your child to guess which category the sound belongs to. You could also turn it into a points game where each correct guess earns a point, adding a bit of friendly competition if you’re traveling with multiple children.
Why It’s Great: Guess the Sound taps into children’s curiosity and helps them practice listening skills. It’s an entertaining way to get them focused and amused without needing much space or equipment. The game is simple enough for young children and keeps them captivated by new sounds and guessing. If you are in close proximity with other passengers, you should try your best to keep the sounds low, while still allowing the fun of the game to come through.
Variations: Make it a “who can guess first” game if you’re traveling with more than one child. Or add a theme, like “animals only” or “sounds in the city,” to make the game more challenging.
Tips: Use sounds you can make naturally, such as jingling keys, snapping fingers, or tapping on a water bottle, if you prefer a tech-free approach.
3. Colour Hunt
What You Need: Just your surroundings.
How to Play: Choose a colour, and ask your child to spot as many items of that colour as they can within the cabin or outside the window. For example, if the colour is red, they might point out a red shirt, a seat belt, or a book cover. After they find a few items, switch to a different colour to keep things fresh.
You can add to the fun by setting a time limit for each colour hunt. For instance, give them 30 seconds to find five blue items or three green ones. Adding a timer gives a sense of urgency and excitement, making it feel more like a game while keeping them fully engaged in the activity.
Why It’s Great: Colour Hunt keeps young ones engaged with their surroundings and practicing their observation skills. It’s an easy, adaptable game that can go on as long as needed without requiring props.
Variations: Instead of colours, use shapes (like circles or squares) or textures (smooth, bumpy, etc.) to help develop visual skills in different ways.
Tips: Make it a team game by helping your child find objects or challenging each other to see who can spot an object first.
4. Pipe Cleaner Creations
What You Need: A handful of colourful pipe cleaners.
How to Play: Provide your child with a few pipe cleaners and let them twist and shape them into animals, letters, or fun designs. Give suggestions like making a flower, a bracelet, or even a tiny airplane. With a little creativity, kids can come up with endless shapes and forms.
For a more structured play, you can assign themes, like “build a garden” or “make a zoo,” and see how many creations they can come up with. For added interaction, encourage them to tell a story about what they’ve created, such as giving names to their animal shapes or describing the flower garden they just made.
Why It’s Great: This hands-on game is great for encouraging fine motor skills, creativity, and focus. Pipe cleaners are easy to pack, reusable, and provide a satisfying tactile experience that keeps kids entertained without creating noise or mess.
Variations: Challenge them to create animals or objects they might see on the trip. You could also bring a small board with holes for kids to attach and display their creations.
Tips: Go for softer pipe cleaners, as they’re easier for younger kids to handle. Keep the pieces in a small bag when not in use to prevent them from scattering.
5. Magnetic Puzzle Boards
What You Need: A magnetic puzzle board or magnetic book with themed pieces.
How to Play: Many toy brands offer magnetic boards or books with themed puzzles where kids can arrange pieces to complete different scenes. Simply hand over the magnetic board, and let them arrange the pieces into various scenes, such as creating animals, people, or landscapes.
To add a twist, ask your child to tell a story about the scene they’re creating. You could even create a “puzzle challenge,” where they have to recreate a scene you describe or come up with something unique based on a theme like “a busy city” or “a day at the beach.” This variation allows for a more immersive storytelling experience.
Why It’s Great: Magnetic puzzles are engaging and prevent pieces from being lost on the trip. They’re also quiet, which is great for flights, and the variety of puzzles allows for imaginative play. Kids can develop fine motor skills and problem-solving abilities while playing.
Variations: Look for boards with different themes to match your child’s interests, like transportation, animals, or fairy tales. Create mini-stories based on the completed puzzles.
Tips: Magnetic puzzles with fewer pieces work best for younger kids, as they’re easier to manage and arrange.
6. Finger Puppet Stories
What You Need: A set of finger puppets or small hand puppets.
How to Play: Give each child one or more finger puppets and encourage them to make up a story involving their puppet characters. They can perform the story for you or for their travel companions. Prompt them with questions, such as, “Where is your character going?” or “What adventure will they have?”
For a more engaging playtime, you can introduce different scenarios or settings for the puppets, like “a day at the park” or “a journey through the jungle.” Adding these scenarios gives your child more inspiration for creative storytelling and keeps the game fresh by changing the puppet’s “adventure” every so often.
Why It’s Great: Finger puppets allow children to bring their imagination to life in a compact way. They help build storytelling skills and keep kids quietly entertained, making it ideal for travel. Kids love the tactile feel and interactive nature of puppets, which encourages engagement and creativity.
Variations: If you’re traveling with multiple kids, have them interact and create a combined story with each puppet “meeting” the others in an adventure.
Tips: Carry a small variety of finger puppets to add diversity to the stories. You can even theme the puppets around the destination or travel experience.
7. Counting Game
What You Need: Just your surroundings and a bit of creativity.
How to Play: Choose an object or category, such as “cars,” “birds,” or “people wearing hats,” and ask your child to count how many they see within a set time or distance. Keep changing the object to maintain their interest. This game is particularly good for car or train journeys where you can spot things outside the window.
For added fun, set challenges, like finding a certain number of objects within a limited time or counting a specific colour of vehicle. You could also encourage teamwork if you’re traveling with more than one child, where they work together to reach a shared target.
Why It’s Great: The Counting Game encourages focus and patience. It also introduces numbers and counting in a practical way, making it both educational and fun. The game can go on indefinitely, providing entertainment as long as new objects can be found.
Variations: Try counting a specific colour of car or limit it to animals, or play with larger groups by assigning different items to each child.
Tips: Use this as an opportunity to teach simple math skills, like adding or subtracting from the total count.
Conclusion
Long journeys with young kids don’t have to be a challenge. With the right set of travel games, you can keep children aged 4 to 8 entertained and engaged, ensuring a smoother trip for the entire family. These seven games are perfect for bringing joy, creativity, and calm to your travel experience, giving kids something to focus on and enjoy. From crafting with pipe cleaners to telling stories with finger puppets, these quiet, engaging activities will keep everyone entertained and excited.