Are you ready for your next road trip? Whether it’s to see family or visit some national monuments, once your kids age-out of airplane lap-seats, road tripping becomes the more affordable option for many families. Because of this, I wanted to share with you how to limit screen-time while traveling as well as some awesome road trip activities for toddlers!
A few summers ago we went on two different major road trips. One was 2 weeks long and the other was 3 weeks long. The kids and I logged nearly 5,000 miles in the car between our trips this summer! Looking at that number, it’s kind of amazing just to me, and I lived it!
During the trip, we successfully entertained the 5 year old and 3 year old for 8 – 10 hours in the car on some travel days. We had to think of some serious road trip activities, but I think we got into a good rhythm, which I’ll share with you.
We also traveled with our newborn (but really, he mostly slept in the car). He didn’t need to be too entertained…yet! I shared tips for keeping your baby on a sleep schedule while traveling in this post if you want to read it.
While we did use technology for part of our car rides, we were able to limit screen-time and do some fun screen-free activities while traveling too! iPads and tablets are awesome to distract the kids on road trips, but it’s nice to have a balance too. Isn’t that true for all of us?
Our motto is: If you want your kids to be great travelers, start’em young! And that’s definitely what we’ve done. Our kids are awesome travelers if I do say so myself (not that I’m biased at all). So, I wanted to share with you some tips to survive a road trip with toddlers.
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I originally posted this in 2018 and have edited it as of 2025. My kids are still awesome travellers and we often go on road trips without any tablets at all!
How to limit screen-time while traveling with toddlers
9 Tips to Minimize Screen-Time with Toddlers (on a road trip)
I have this idealistic view of family road trips mostly cultivated by years of watching movies. In my dreams, the family stops at iconic rest stops on their trip across the U. S. The kids mostly sleep but there are moments of singing, storytelling, book reading, boredom, bickering, and then laughing all combined. All the signs of a successful road trip with kids.
We made a stop to put our feet in Lake Michigan!
With technology though, I’m afraid my vision won’t come true. So I’ve actively engaged in minimizing screen-time so our road trips may one day look like this! And yours can too, mama. I know that they can!
Practice putting in some good habits now, and you will reap the rewards later.
1. Find a good rhythm
The most important part of a road trip is finding a good rhythm. We broke our day into 3-hour chunks, conveniently coordinating around bladders, needing to feed the baby, and filling up with gas. Assuming we left the house at 6 a. m this is what our schedule would look like…
Chunk 1 6:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. : Screen-Free Activities
Chunk 2 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. : Tablet time/Lunch
Chunk 3 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.: Nap/Quiet Time/Screen-Free Activities
Chunk 4 4:30 – 7:30: Movie time/Dinner
Post 7:30 – Quiet Time/ Sleeping
2. Leave early in the morning
We think the BEST tip for traveling with kids and not doing screentime is leaving super early in the morning! We are early birds so this works for us. But we leave at 4 or 5am and the kids sleep a long time in the beginning!
3. Always start with screen-free activities
This is all about managing expectations. My kids KNOW they won’t get any screen time before lunch. Also, I’m not sure what my 4 year old does, but pretty sure she just holds her baby dolls and stares out the window!
In the beginning though, I think most toddlers love road trips. The adventure, the newness, the excitement. But you do need to take advantage of that early excitement. Toddlers are most excited when they first get in the car.
Even though I gave you an example of leaving at 6 a. m., if you leave at 9, this means you would skip the “tablet time” and do screen-free activities and then lunch, followed by nap/quiet time after lunch. I always recommend starting with the screen-free activities.
Taking advantage of this initial excitement is crucial for squeezing out the most screen-free activities. Some of our favorite screen-free activities are below!
4. Bring lunch for the kids in the car
Pack a PB&J for the kids to eat in the car and pack some other fun, road trip snacks. Eating lunch will distract the kids a little in the car and take up a portion of your midday time. You get the added win of saving money and time by not having to stop for lunch on the road.
We also bring snacks they don’t always get in the car like popcorn. It entertains them but also takes them awhile to eat it!
5. Bring the favorite nap time lovies
Our kids still love their blankies and stuffed animals. So having them in the car during road trips helps them feel comfortable enough to take a solid nap while driving in the car.
6. Bring coloring items or boards
My kids have LOVED these boogie boards through the years. My youngest brings it everywhere from roadtrips to older sibling baseball games, and it is always a win to entertain.
I love that this boogie board has the pen attached!
7. Listen to an audio book
My kids love listening to books now but it all started when they were little. We have enjoyed Listening to the Narnia books by CS Lewis, Harry Potter, and other kids’ fiction. It has made road trips go by so much faster!
8. Play “I spy” or sing silly songs
My kids love to dance and sing and play I spy. For me, I can only handle this for so long but it is a great distraction technique for a little while!
9. Watch a movie over the tablet
Personally I prefer the kids to watch a movie in the car rather than staring down at tablets. But by the end of the trip, if they do get some screen-time we make sure to bring kid friendly headphones!
What are the best screen-free activities for toddlers in the car?
Hey, that’s a really great question. How did I know you were going to ask that? I kid, I kid… Okay, onto the screen-free activities for toddlers on road trips…
Coloring Books
We don’t normally use coloring books at home, but they are perfect for the car since they are not loose leaf paper to be strewn everywhere.
- Tip: We use cups from restaurants with lids to keep our crayons all together in the car. B
- Bonus Tip 1: It fits in the cup holder next to the kids.
- Bonus Tip 2: My kids love pouring the crayons into the cup holder and then pushing them through the hole in the lid.
Coloring on Boogie Boards*
We got these babies* for Christmas last year and LOVE them. We just tied a little string between the board and the pen so they stay attached together. My kids will color on these for at least an hour.
Bonus: we throw them on the fridge for easy access and storage, so the kids use them at home too!
Coloring on Wipe Away Boards
These are great just like the Boogie Boards because they are endless fun. I normally look at the section up front at Target for a selection of different boards with letters to trace and such.
Reading
We always bring a handful of the most favorite books to keep the kids entertained. You could also go to the library to grab some new books, but I would be afraid I’d lose them! My friends have done that before though.
Singing
Have a list of kid-friendly songs to sing or pull up Pandora or Amazon Music to find kids friendly stations to sing to.
Our favorite station is called “Raffi,” which can be found on Pandora or Amazon Music.
We also love this Slugs & Bugs CD* that a friend gifted to us one year for Christmas. The songs are super, silly and the kids LOVE the Tractor, Tractor song. They are Christian based too, which is a bonus for us. They also have a Christmas version* that I think we’ll have to get this year!
Playing Games
Even my 3-year old has figured out how to play “I spy with my little eye” in the car, and it’s adorable when she tries to say it.
But you could also play Would You Rather as in Would You Rather be an Elephant or a Giraffe, and why? If you want other creative prompts for Would You Rather, buy these cards* for your next road trip.
Listening to podcasts
This probably doesn’t surprise you but there are podcasts for kids too! I love podcasts because they engage the mind and your kids expand their vocabulary. Some of our favorite Podcasts for toddlers to listen to in the car are:
- Storynory
- Story Pirates
- The Sesame Street Podcasts
- Disney Story Central
- Children’s Fun Storytime Podcast
Practicing Letters and Rhyming
Even if your kids can’t read yet, you can get in some educational practice while driving in the car. Practice the sounds of the letters, or a more advanced version would be to say a word, and ask what letter the word starts with.
You can also practice rhyming words or searching for letters on signs. Once the kids know how to read, play one of my favorite games, “The Sign Game.” Search for words on signs from A – Z and see who can get to Z the fastest! No repeat words by the way!
Making up silly stories
Feeding your kids’ creativity and minds is easy in the car too. Have the kids name a character, and then you can create silly stories together! Toddlers especially love being the stars of their own stories.
Eating Popcorn
Okay, normally I wouldn’t suggest eating to relieve boredom, but when you’re in a car, sometimes you do things you wouldn’t normally do. And that’s okay!
We like to bring little Tupperware containers and give the kids popcorn on road trips. They are entertained for a while eating the popcorn and it doesn’t fill them up too much. Plus, bonus for practicing dexterity. (And you knew you were going to have to clean the car after the trip anyway…)
If you have any other tips to limit screen-time while traveling, I’d love to hear them in the comments below!
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