5 Great Free Travel Games

I’ve been scouring around to see what’s out there and tracked down these 5 great free (or almost free) ideas for travel games which we hope will inspire you on your next journey with the children.

1.  Make your own I spy book

Image courtesy of http://happybabydesigns.blogspot.co.uk/

Just love this idea which I found on  This Present Life.  First assemble piles of toys and take photos.  This in itself is great for a rainy day, stay at home activity.  Then print out the photos and slot them into cheap photo albums for your very own homemade I spy books to take on your travels.

Image courtesy of http://happybabydesigns.blogspot.co.uk/

2. Magnetic Words

Image courtesy of http://crafts.kaboose.com/kids-traveling-word-game.html

Found this one here.  Cut up beginnings and endings of words for your child to join together and make words with.  Stick them to magnetic sheets, which are easily available online and great for loads of craft activities.  Pop them in an old metal lunch box or tin and voila!  Such a simple idea and as a mum with a child in foundation learning to read am always on the look out for ways to help her learn her sounds and letters.

3.  Sweet Talking

Image courtesy of http://imom.com

As you know we’re big fans of mixing up your travel activities here at KidsTravel2.  Here’s a great way to make a treat on the journey into a game too.  We found this idea on iMom.    Essentially you’ll need a big bag of M&Ms, smarties or other different coloured sweets to give out one at a time.  The idea is that you spark off a conversation depending on which colour you have chosen:

Take a sweet and talk about…

Red = something you love
Orange = a favorite food
Yellow = something that makes you laugh
Green = some place you’d like to visit
Blue = someone you’d like to meet
Brown = something you’d like to have

You could make up your own topics and rules or even introduce activities.  Here are some ideas you could try:

Red = sing a song
Orange = tell a joke
Yellow = count up to 10 (for young ones) or to make it harder – up to 10 in a foreign language
Green = try and touch the end of your nose with your tongue
Blue = pat your head and rub your tummy at the same time
Brown = try not to smile for 30 seconds (go on, time them and try and make them laugh!)

4.  Magnetic Sandpaper & Wool

Image courtesy of http://www.icanteachmychild.com

Bear with me.  It’s a novel idea I tracked down over at I can teach my child.  We’ve featured travel activities with magnetic boards before but this one is different.  You can see the full instructions with lots of useful pictures on the original blog post but essentially you get a piece of sandpaper, fix it to a magnetic sheet (see, I told you it would come in useful) and stick it to a baking tray.  Next take lengths of different coloured wool and place them in a zip lock bag.  Use the wool to make shapes, pictures and write words.

5.   Make your own travel chalkboard

Image courtesy of http://sheisdallas.com

Another wonderful idea to inspire kids to write and draw while you’re on the move.  Follow the steps at She Is Dallas to make your very own travel chalkboard.   Better than hot waxy crayons melting on the seats!

Do you have any great ideas or favourite games to share below?