“Are we there yet?” 10 screen-free activities for car journeys with children aged 2-5

The summer holidays are just around the corner, and that means long car journeys. For some, the trip goes to a whole other country. For others, to the beach, a theme park or to visit family. But we all know that even short car journeys can feel endless to little ones!

Small children do not yet have the same sense of time as we adults, and even an hour and a half can feel like a small eternity when the body would much rather run, jump, build, dig or stand on its head on the sofa.

The good news is that there are plenty of small, cosy activities that can make the journey both more fun and calmer, completely without screens and without costing a fortune. Many of them can even be done with things you already have at home.

We have gathered 10 ideas for screen-free activities for car journeys with children aged 2-5. For the delight of the little ones in the back seat, and just as much for the passenger in the front seat, who is trying to keep the overview, patience and snacks within reach, while the question “are we there yet?” rings out from the back seat for the 17th time.

1. Car bingo

Car bingo is a classic, and it is easily adapted to your child's age.

Make a little sheet at home with things your child can look out for on the journey. For example:

• a red car
• a lorry
• a cow
• a bridge
• a petrol station
• a tractor
• a sign
• a caravan

For the youngest children you can draw little pictures or print simple illustrations, so that they can join in themselves. For slightly older children you can make squares that they may tick every time they find something.
If you are not the creative type, there are also free car bingo boards online, ready to print.

The lovely thing about car bingo is that your child is invited to look out and keep up with the world around them. And suddenly the journey is not only about getting there, but also about everything you see along the way.

2. Guess the sound

This game needs nothing. Only you.

One person makes a sound, and the others have to guess what it is. It could be the sound of a cow, a baby, a tractor, a cat, an ambulance, a doorbell or perhaps dad snoring.

For little ones it is a fun and simple game, because it is both silly and easy to understand. And most parents will surely recognise that children of that age love it when grown-ups dare to be a little silly.

You are allowed to do that in the car. In fact, we recommend it.

3. A little “now we are closer” container

For small children, time can be quite an abstract thing. “We'll be there in an hour” doesn't necessarily mean anything when you are 3 years old and strapped in on the back seat with ants in your pants.

That is why a little container of treats can be a cosy way of making the journey easier to grasp.

For example, fill a small box or tub with little things that your child gets along the way. It could be a small biscuit, a corn puff, an M&M, a mini rice cake or something else that suits your child's age.

Agree at home that your child gets one small treat for every half hour, every quarter of an hour, or perhaps for every X number of kilometres. That way there is both something to look forward to, and your child can follow that the journey will come to an end as the container slowly empties.

Your child may not quite understand minutes or kilometres. But they do understand the feeling of “now we are a little closer”.

And sometimes that is exactly what it takes to make a long car journey a little easier to get through.

4. Tell a story together

Start with a simple sentence:

“Once upon a time there was a little rabbit who was going on holiday…”

Then you take turns making up the rest. Perhaps the rabbit meets a giraffe at the petrol station. Perhaps it has forgotten its toothbrush. Perhaps it drives to Italy in a pink tractor.

There are no rules, and the story is welcome to become both strange and silly.

For children aged 2-5 it is a lovely way to use their imagination, and at the same time you get a little shared story that exists only right there, in the car, on the way to something.

5. A bag of little surprises

Pack a small bag with 3-5 little things from home. They can be things you already have:

• a little figure
• a hairbrush
• a muslin cloth
• a little book
• a wooden spoon
• a teddy
• an old purse
• a keyring

Your child may pull one thing at a time out of the bag and guess what it is, feel it, or make up a story about it.

It doesn't have to be new toys. In fact, it is often the most ordinary things that children find exciting, because they get to explore them in a new way.

An old purse with an expired bank card, a keyring and perhaps a little fig bar hiding in a pocket can be pure magic for a 3-year-old to go exploring in.

6. Colour hunt

Choose a colour, and see how many things you can find in that colour.

“Can you find something yellow?”
“Can you see something blue?”
“Is there a green car, I wonder?”

It is a simple little game, but it works really well, because your child gets something concrete to keep an eye out for.

For older children you can make it harder by finding “something that starts with b”.

7. Stickers and a little notebook

A little notebook and a sheet of stickers can provide surprisingly long entertainment.

Your child can stick stickers into the book, make little scenes, decorate the pages, or simply enjoy the very satisfying process of peeling off a sticker and putting it somewhere new.

Do choose large stickers for the youngest children, so that they are easier to handle.

It is a cheap activity that doesn't take up much room in the bag, and that can be taken out again and again during the journey.

8. Who lives there?

When you drive past houses, fields, forests or towns, you can play “who lives there?”

“Who do you think lives in the red house?”
“I wonder if an old lady with a cat lives there?”
“Does a family with three children and a dog called Børge live there?”
“Perhaps there's a gnome living in the forest?”

It is a calm imagination game that gets your child looking out of the window and using their imagination.

And the best thing is that the game can carry on for as long as there is something to look at. Which, fortunately, there always is on a car journey.

9. Little movements in the car seat

When small children get restless in the car, it is not always about boredom. Sometimes it is also about the body wanting to be used.

Although your child must of course be safely strapped in, you can still do little movements that give the body some input.

For example:

• squeeze your hands together and let go again
• make “strong arms”
• lift your shoulders up to your ears and lower them again
• wiggle your toes
• make funny faces
• give the teddy a firm cuddle
• press your hands against each other like a little muscle game

We can also recommend bringing a little spiky ball to roll around on the body, a bean bag, or perhaps just a small stone that you have found at one of your stops.

It may sound simple, but small physical games can help your child feel themselves a little better when the body has been sitting still for a long time.

10. LEGO/DUPLO in a lunch box

A little lunch box with LEGO or DUPLO bricks can be brilliant on a car journey.

Pack a handful of different bricks in a lunch box, preferably together with a small building plate, so that your child has something to build on. It doesn't have to be many bricks. In fact, a few bricks are often easier to manage when you are strapped in on the back seat.

An extra sweet idea is to build little figures at home with the same bricks and take pictures of them. It could be a little tower, a house, a car, an animal or something completely different. On the journey your child can then try to copy the figures from the pictures.

And once the figures are built, your child can of course rebuild them into something completely different. After all, a handful of bricks can become almost anything once they land in little hands.

Remember the breaks

Even the best activities cannot always save a long car journey if the body needs to get out.

Small children need breaks. Preferably before it all gets too much.

Find somewhere your child can run around a little, jump, stretch their legs or just get some fresh air. It doesn't have to be a big playground. Sometimes five minutes at a rest stop is enough to reset both child and grown-up.

And if the journey should end in tears, crumbs all over the car and a grown-up dreaming of silence and a very big cup of coffee, then you are not alone.

That is just how it sometimes is when travelling with small children.

The journey doesn't have to be perfect to be good. Sometimes it is enough that you arrive more or less in one piece, a little tired and perhaps with a new story about the rabbit who went on holiday in a pink tractor.

Have a lovely trip.

Warm wishes,
Sara