Traveling with a toddler is stressful and requires careful planning. I won’t sugarcoat it for you: it’s the worst.

You can never be sure if they’re going to sleep, but you can be 100% certain that you will need to pull over multiple times on your road trip.

Watching a favorite show can keep them pacified for a good while. But then you’re left with a toddler zombie, plus all that screen time isn’t good for your little tot’s brain.

What is there to do?

Here are 25 screen-free toddler road trip activities that just might save your (and your kid’s) sanity.

The New Activity Playbook!

Looking for an organized guide of fun, easy activities to do with your toddler that also encourages their growth and development?

I’ve created a 3-month activity planner just for busy parents like you! The plan includes 65 detailed, simple, and stress-free activities including: arts and crafts, sensory play, motor skills, and STEM–all using easy-to-find supplies.

Let me help make planning activities for your toddler easy, so you can skip the stress and get straight to the fun!

Screen-Free Toddler Road Trip Activities

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Travel Tray

OK, so this is not an activity in and of itself, but it’s pretty handy to have. It sits on your child’s lap (may be difficult for rear-facing toddlers to use) and has raised sides to keep stuff from sliding off and pockets to contain extra toys and crayons. This one is a simple, no frills travel tray with a bonus dry erase board top. I also liked this one that zips up into a carrying case.

Audiobooks

My girls love books, but they can’t read. If only I could pay someone to read to them… oh wait, I can!

Some of my favorites are: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; The Wizard of Oz

Where to find audiobooks:

Check your local library for books on CD or through their audiobook app (i.e. Hoopla or Overdrive).
Try out Audible free for 30 days.
Don’t forget about audiobooks on Kindle Unlimited.
Get unlimited access to audiobooks and more with FreeTime Unlimited.

Easy Snacktimes

Do NOT forget about snacks!! Snacks totally count as an activity.

And what makes the best snack tray ever? A bead organizer + tons of little snacks! (via Freebie Finding Mom)

This looks my toddler’s dream breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If she could have snacks all day, she would do it.

Travel-Friendly Activity Kits

We used those same bead organizers to make a bunch of different sorting and learning activity kits.

Everything packs up neatly in the organizer, so it’s perfect to take along wherever you go.

Busy Bags

I have a whole post on busy bags and busy boxes here. Busy bags are little bags full of stuff to keep little ones entertained on the go. Make a set of these to keep in your car and pull out as needed.

Mess-free art activities

Mess-free art is the way to go when you’re traveling. Here are a few of our favorite products for making art without the mess.

Melissa & Doug Water Wow: These come with a brush that you fill with a tiny amount of water. Kids use the brush to paint on the activity pad and the colors magically appear! The best part is, if it spills, it’s NBD because… it’s only like two teaspoons of water.

Crayola Color Wonder Stow & Go: We’ve used several of the Crayola Color Wonder products. I picked this set for you mostly because of the container! The large case will keep coloring pages and markers inside, and it can be used as a lap tray to color on. These special markers ONLY work on the Color Wonder paper. It won’t mark up skin, clothes, or your car. Crayola has tons of different Color Wonder coloring books too, so you can find something your kid loves.

Magnetic Drawing Board: This ain’t no Etch-a-Sketch. This magnetic drawing board is colorful and includes a stylus for precise drawing. Oh yes, and the stylus is attached so kids can’t lose it.

Boogie Board Scribble n’ Play: Similar to the magnetic drawing board, but a little smaller, the Boogie Board is an LCD writing tablet that lets you write and erase over and over again. I really like the black background and neon colors!

Dry Erase board Activities

Take along a small, magnetic dry erase board (or a metal baking sheet!). Add a couple extra items and you can do all these whiteboard activities.

Alphabet magnets + whiteboard (also works with a baking sheet!): Take along small alphabet magnets. Write the alphabet on your whiteboard and have your kid match the letters.

Magnetic blocks/tiles + baking sheet: Magnetic tiles and blocks are awesome for road trips. They stick to each other, so they’re harder to lose and won’t topple over quite as easily in a moving car. Tegu makes beautiful magnetic wooden blocks like this Sticky Monsters set. We also have and love our Picasso Tiles magnetic tiles set for road trips and beyond.

Write and Erase: Write letters, draw shapes, then hand over the board. Call out stuff for your toddler to erase with their fingers or with an eraser.

DIY Wipe-Clean Sticker Activities: Stickers and contact paper are your best friend. Hand over the dry erase marker and enjoy the peace and quiet. See our matching sticker activity here.

Contact paper + small objects: Tape contact paper upside down to your dry erase board or to the window, hand them a bag of small objects and let them go to work. See our contact paper activities here. Most can be adapted for the car.

Animal Play Activities

Little animal figurines open up doors for hours of engaging imaginative play. Encourage quiet independent play in the back seat by combining animal figurines with slightly messy or non-messy playthings.

Animal Rescue Mission: Wrap animals with rubber bands and have your child set them free.

Make Tracks with Playdough: Let your child roll out dough and stamp with the animals to make footprints. (via No Time for Flashcards)

Kinetic Sand + Dinos (and Eggs): Kinetic sand is like wet sand. It’s moldable and it’s much less messy than regular sand. If you’re brave enough to try it in the car, this looks like so much fun! (via Fun Learning for Kids)

Wrapping and lacing Activities

Wikki Stix and Stones: Wikki Stix are yarn covered with wax so that they stick, but can be repositioned over and over again. Have your toddler wrap Wikki Stix around the stones. Such a simple and great activity for road trips if you are going somewhere you can gather your own stones! (via Little Pine Learners)

Make Lacing Shapes: Make your own simple lacing shapes out of foam shapes or cardboard and a shoe lace. Cut out shapes and punch holes along the edges. Have your toddler thread the shoe lace through the holes.

Wrapping with Foil: A stack of foil squares and a bunch of blocks kept my toddler busy in this simple wrapping activity.

Wrapping with Yarn: My three-year-old loves playing with yarn. Yesterday, I gave her a long strand of yarn and a little dino and told her to wrap the dinosaur while we drove to the grocery store. This simple activity kept her quiet and thoroughly entertained the whole way there and back!

I-Spy and Scavenger Activities

I-Spy Bottles: Of course you could play I-Spy in the car, but what do you do when everyone knows the yellow thing you spy is the only yellow thing in the car?? Enter I-Spy Bottles. Fill a plastic bottle with a filler and a few interesting objects and you’re set. Use these bottles to have your kids count, find stuff, compare objects, etc. (via The Imagination Tree)

Letter Scavenger Hunt: Write or print off single letters or the whole alphabet. (Single letter free printable here). Hand your kids a letter list and a crayon. Have them mark off the letters they see out the window.

Silhouette Scavenger Hunt: Trace some small objects on a sheet of paper. Put the sheet in a box with the small objects and have your child match the objects to their silhouettes.