IDEAS FOR BORED KIDS AWAY FROM HOME
My son is a “Dance Brother”. He entered the studio with his sister for the first time when he was 6 weeks old and is now 7 and has tagged along to almost every competition shes ever entered.
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He’s used to the dance world. My son knows that when a dancer is on stage he needs to be quiet and respectful. He knows not to put his feet up on the seats in the auditorium and not to leave garbage laying around. He is very well behaved at dance. Whether at the studio or competition.
But hes a kid. He gets bored. Its not fair of me to expect him to be a quiet perfect angel for 10 hours a day in an auditorium and not do my best to give him something to do too.
Here are solid ideas to keep EVERYONE entertained all day long!
“Would You Rather?” Questions
A classic for people of all ages and especially fun for curious kids to stay thinking. “Would you rather wear a clown wig or a clown nose for the rest of your life?” is just one of hundreds of questions to keep it fresh and keep kids busy. By the way, I’d wear the wig.
Here are TWO sets of unique “Would You Rather” printable questions and cards for kids!
100 PRINTABLE WOULD YOU RATHER QUESTIONS FROM THEBESTIDEASFORKIDS.COM
WOULD YOU RATHER QUESTIONS FOR KIDS LIST FROM PAPERHEARTFAMILY.COM
Tell Jokes!
We’re way past the chicken and the egg these days. Check out this list of kid approved jokes to keep the car ride from turning into another round of “Are We There Yet?”
HILARIOUS JOKES FOR KIDS PRINTABLE FROM PAPERHEARTFAMILY.COM
MadLibs
Y’all remember MadLibs right? A pre-written short story where it asks for nouns and adjectives and such to fill in the blanks and the result is hilarity?
MadLibs never get old. Ever. And the great thing is they can be done solo or with a partner. If you’re really crafty you can create your own MadLibs (my daughter actually does this!) but for the rest of us check out these super portable and perfect MadLib books for kids and kids at heart.
Unicorns, Mermaids and MadLibs
Classic Car Games
- Road Sign Bingo
- Licence Plate Game
- Scavenger Hunt
- Find the Cars
- Hangman
- Dots and Boxes
These timeless travel games (I remember playing dots and boxes with my Grandpa 25 years ago!) plus a ton more are all included in the free printable library from SharingMyFavorites.com. You do have to sign up for her email list to gain access but its SO worth it!
FREE Printables: Road Trip Activity Sheets For Kids – From SharingMyFavorites.com
Okay we had to throw this next one in with our car games section. Where has this been for the last 11 years of my parent hood?!
Kids Backseat Travel Tray Organizer
This thing is seriously awesome. It hooks on to the seat and becomes a table and a tablet holder and a crayon holder and a snack holder and a plethora of other things that keeps my backseat under control. It folds up for super easy transport and is a total road trip game changer.
TABLET OR DVD PLAYER
We know. A lot of parents prefer to not have their kid have a lot of screen time. Totally respect that. Keeping it real though, if my son is stuck in an auditorium for 8 hours watching dance routines I’m gonna let the boy play with his tablet for many of those hours.
Tablets are a multipurpose on the go boredom buster.
My son has the Kindle Fire Kids Edition. He reads books on it, plays games, including games that help him with his math and reading skills, he watches movies (hey if Dad can watch Avengers on his phone during a competition so can my boy), and when hes at home he records videos of himself doing newscasts and things like hes an amateur filmmaker. He gets a lot of use out of it.
And don’t forget a good set of headphones to insure its not a disruption and a good powerbank to make sure it stays charged all day!
If you’d rather go with something simpler that a tablet, a compact portable DVD player to watch movies is perfect. But again, don’t forget the headphones!
TRAVEL ACTIVITY KITS
It’s almost like manufacturers KNOW that we all have kids to take places and that we need to keep them entertained while we do it. Oh wait, they do. Which is why there is no shortage of various portable and travel kits on the market aimed at the little ones. Some of our top choices are:
Crayola Pip-Squeaks Washable Marker and Paper Travel Set.
What kid or adult for that matter doesn’t like to color or draw? One pad of paper can keep my son occupied for hours. This case keeps markers secure and organized and they are washable. Hallelujah.
Guys, until recently I did not know Spirographs were still a thing! I used to play with the full size version until my finger were numb.
DIY Lego Travel Box Tutorial From DukesandDuchesses.com
Ok. Normally we don’t condone taking small pieces of anything out of the house. Especially a hot commodity like my sons precious Lego’s. But this is absolutely genius. Lego’s keep both of my kids busy for a long time and with this Lego travel box I don’t have anxiety about taking them on the road.
Want to create your own unique travel kit for your kids? Check out some tips from fouraroundtheworld.com
Do you have a unique idea that you think should be featured in this list? Let us know! If we like it we will add it and give you proper credit!
Happy Traveling!
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