The best games for travel with kids
From when my daughter was young, we’ve always packed board games for travel, along with cards and paper games as she got older.
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Perfect for whiling away a wait in restaurants, unexpectedly wet Wednesdays or winding down at the end of the day, we have a string of tried-and-tested favourites, plus I always find some new inspiration among the great games for kids being released each year.
So while I’ve packed everything from dominoes and Pass the Pigs to Dobble, Rummikub and Uno over the years, it’s well worth saving space in your suitcase for these.
Want games for travel fans rather than to take travelling? If you’re looking for something to get kids excited about travelling the world, The World Game for age 8+ teaches facts galore about the world as you answer questions to travel around the globe
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Who’s in the bag
Who’s in the Bag is a twist on charades and 20 questions – with 850 characters in the bag, you can mime, describe or impersonate the personality you draw (as long as you don’t say their name).
Your team mates have to guess as many as they can correctly in a minute. There are blank cards and it comes in a waterproof bag, so you could even take it to the beach.
- Fun Guessing Game for All Ages – A fast-paced, family-friendly party game that challenges players to guess the identity of the character or item in the bag. Perfect for kids, teens, and adults.
- 2–8 Players – Ideal for family game nights, parties, and gatherings with friends. Easy to set up and play in just minutes.
- Ages 8+ – Designed for children 8 years and older, offering a mix of fun, strategy, and laughter suitable for the whole family.
- Compact & Portable – Comes in a convenient bag that’s easy to store or take to parties, sleepovers, or holidays.
- Encourages Social Interaction – Promotes teamwork, observation skills, and friendly competition while keeping everyone entertained.
Tape measure quiz
You could literally slip this one into your pocket if you wanted – although you need a bit more space to fully extend this 10ft fun tape measure.
Packed with 60 fun facts and statistics on both sides, from how fast a snail can travel to how high a pig can jump (and lots of non animal-related trivia), it’s a good one to get all the family involved guessing the answers to the brain-teasers.
- DUAL-SIDED FACT – FILLED DESIGN – This isn’t just a regular kids tape measure it’s a 3 meters auto-locking tool packed with 60 fun facts across both sides. Its double-sided display of quirky dimensions makes measuring an engaging, educational and truly unique tool.
- CM & IN MEASUREMENTS – Designed for universal use, our novelty gift features clear back to back CM & IN measurements. This appearance ensures easy readability and versatility, allowing users to measure in both Metric and Imperial units seamlessly, making it an ideal measuring tape for all ages.
- EDUCATIONAL & ENGAGING FUN – Our fun fact filled tape measure transforms learning into play for all ages! Packed with 60 silly facts, it helps kids learn and sparks curiosity in grown-ups alike, making measurement exciting. It’s an educational tool that truly engages everyone.
- DURABLE FOR EVERYDAY USE – Beyond its fun facts, this retractable measure is sturdy enough for household tasks and built to last. It’s also incredibly portable to carry, easily fitting as a pocket tape measure. This reliable measuring tape blends educational entertainment with genuine utility.
- PERFECT PARTY FAVOR & PRACTICAL TOOL – Ideal for party favors and goodie bags, this kids tape measure gets everyone excited! Sturdy enough for household tasks, it’s a fun gadget that will bring a smile to boys birthday gifts or any curious recipient, blending joy with utility for adults too.
Smart Ass
Another guessing game, Smart Ass is great with tweens and older – with 90 question cards, players have to guess who, where or what the answer is by shouting out the correct guess first.
With eight clues that get progressively easier, the more correct answers you get, the more chance you have of becoming the ultimate Smart Ass. Guaranteed to bring out your competitive side!
- Play Smart Ass, the game where it’s OK to yell out the answer, even when it’s not your turn
- Be the first to answer the Who, What, and Where Am I questions, and move closer to being the ultimate Smart Ass
- A fast-paced party game for 2 – 8 players, ages 12 and up
- New Edition: All New Questions
Herd Mentality
You need four players or more for Herd Mentality, but it’s huge fun to see if you really know what your family thinks – simply answer the questions, but with the twist that you want your answer to match everyone else’s.
If you’re the odd one out, you get the dreaded Pink Cow – and until you get rid of it again, you can’t win. With just cards, cow and pencils needed, you could even take it out of its (already pretty small/lightweight) box to save even more space.
- THINK LIKE THE HERD — OR FACE THE PINK COW – Flip a question and guess what everyone else is thinking. Land in the majority and win cows. Be the odd one out and you’re lumbered with the dreaded pink cow of doom. Hilarious every single round.
- THE GAME THAT REVEALS HOW YOUR FRIENDS THINK – There are no right or wrong answers — just popular ones. Finding out how your family and friends think is half the fun, and the results are almost always brilliantly surprising.
- BRILLIANT FOR HUGE GROUPS – Designed for 4 to 20 players, making it one of the few games that genuinely works for big family gatherings, Christmas, Boxing Day and parties where most games fall flat.
- OPEN THE BOX & PLAY – No complicated setup, no lengthy rules explanation. Easy to learn in moments and endlessly replayable — the kind of game that gets pulled out again and again at every gathering.
- LOVED BY MILLIONS — AND YOUR FAMILY WILL TOO – One of the UK’s best-loved family board games for kids, teens and adults aged 10+. A guaranteed crowd-pleaser and a cracking gift that always gets played.
Pass the Pigs
This is completely addictive and one of the most practical to take out while you’re travelling – lightweight, you don’t need much space to play Pass the Pigs (just a flat surface) and it’s easy for all ages.
Just throw (or roll) the two pigs, and depending how they fall, you score points. Or lose them of course. First to 100 wins.
Dobble
Classic Dobble or one of the themed variations, it’s up to you – my daughter loved the Harry Potter version of Dobble, not least because she keeps beating me hands down!
Great for helping kids match and spot patterns, the quickest and sharpest eyed definitely has an advantage.
- DOBBLE CLASSIC – Dobble is a fast-paced and fun card game for all ages. In this classic family game, you’ll find over 50 symbols on 55 cards!
- A GAME OF SPEED AND OBSERVATION: Dobble puts your observation skills and speed to the test. Find the matching symbol between two cards to win!
- EASY TO LEARN: Simple rules make it easy for players of all ages to jump in and start playing.
- MULTIPLE GAME VARIANTS: Five different ways to play ensure that every game is fresh and exciting.
- PORTABLE TIN BOX: Comes in a special tin box with all your favourites designs, making it easy to take Dobble games anywhere you go.
Where’s Wally?
Not the classic books, the Where’s Wally? Find it fast game still involves you trying to spot the famous figure in his red and white stripes.
Pick a card, roll the picture dice and the first player to find it wins – find the most matches in total, and you’re the overall winner.
- How quickly can you spot Wally?
- A fun, fast paced matching game featuring Where’s Wally and his friends!
- Roll the dice and be the first to match images on the dice to ones on your card
- Aid hand eye coordination and helps with games play and turn taking skills
- For 2-4 players, age 5 years and over
Logic puzzles
If you’re looking for ways to entertain older kids, there are some great logic puzzles to get their brains working overtime.
Temple Trap has 60 different challenges at different levels to help the adventurer escape (perfect for Indiana Jones fans or if you’re off to Cambodia!).
Or check out the brightly coloured IQ Love, where you have to build hearts (not as easy as it sounds) and Asteroid Escape.
For a two player game Rush Hour Shift sounds simple – choose a starting set-up then play your cards to try to move the other pieces and get to the other side. I promise you, it’s definitely not so easy!
- The classic traffic jam brain challenge logic game. Escape: That’s your goal.
- Includes 1x Rush Hour Traffic Grid with Card Storage, 40x ALL NEW Challenge Cards from Beginner to Expert with Solutions, 15x Blocking Cars and Trucks, 1x Red Escape Car, Game-Go Bag
- This STEM toy is for 1 player and is suitable for kids ages 8 years up. A great Christmas gift or birthday present for boys and girls.
- Develops critical skills – Playing through the challenges builds reasoning and planning skills and provides a great stealth learning experience for young players.
- ThinkFun is the world’s leader in addictively fun games that stretch and sharpen your mind. From lighting up young minds to creating fun for the whole family, our innovative games make you think while they make you smile.
Brain Master
If you remember playing the Mastermind board game as a kid, you’ll recognise Brain Master – one player picks four coloured pieces to set the hidden code, and their opponent gets 10 tries to work out the answer with white and black pegs giving clues about which of their guesses are correct (or nearly correct).
This version has a compartment to store the pieces so it’s an easy one to pack and play while you’re away, without too much risk of losing all the bits!
- A classic code cracking fun game
- Challenge your friends at home or on the move
- Unique clamshell design to store the pegs inside the board
- For 2 players only
- Suitable for 8 years and over
Mancala
One of the world’s oldest games, Mancala has been played since the time of the Pharaohs – so if you’re looking for the perfect games for travel with kids on a holiday in Egypt, this has to be on the list.
Each game takes five minutes, so this test of strategy is also a good one if you’re looking for something quick and fun. The solid wooden board piece usually means you won’t want to carry it around all day but this bamboo version is lighter and fairly compact so won’t take up too much space.
- Environmentally friendly Bamboo Mancala is tough on your brain but kind on the environment
- Mancala is one of the World’s oldest games, created with a beautiful folding design, that makes it perfect to play at home or on the go!
- This travel size, 2 player strategy game, is all about collecting as many seeds as you can in your store by moving them around the pits.
- The Ecological Range’s packaging is made up of 90% recycled materials and printed with eco-friendly ink!
- Suitable for players age 8 years and over.
Sleeping Queens
We came across Sleeping Queens in an AirBNB in Devon and loved it so much, we bought the card game ourselves once we got home – it’s another one which is suitable for two or more players as well.
The goal is to awaken five Queens (or Queens totalling 50 points) and stop your opponent from getting there first, with knights, dragons, wands, magic potions and a bit of sneaky maths as a bonus, as you try to discard useless number cards.
Sadly it seems you can’t buy it new any more, but there are regularly second-hand sets being sold on sites like eBay
On a Scale of 1 to T-Rex
From the makers of Exploding Kittens (scroll down to card games if you haven’t come across that one before!), On a Scale of 1 to T-Rex is definitely not one to play in a crowded restaurant.
With different versions if you’re playing with two, or a group of three or more, you have to perform an action – sometimes very ordinary, sometimes utterly ridiculous – at the intensity and volume shown on your own card. All at the same time.
Very loud, very funny, very silly.
Classic games for travel with kids
If you’re short of space, you can’t go wrong with the following too, which take up hardly any room in a suitcase or hand luggage.
Card games
How many games can you play with a single pack of playing cards? Over 1,000 and possibly up to 10,000 according to accepted wisdom. Not that we play quite that many but Crazy Eights is a favourite, along with Whist.
You can start with easy games like Snap, see if they’ll entertain themselves with a game of Patience (or Solitaire), and I have vivid memories of playing Racing Demon with my brother too.
Plus there are plenty of other card games to try, including Uno, Top Trumps and Exploding Kittens – in the latter, your goal is to avoid getting the Exploding Kitten card, while forcing your opponents to explode.
Or try Liar! Liar! Pants on Fire! where you have three facts on your card, one a big fat fib – roll the dice to see which one you read aloud, try to keep a straight face, and discover if your family can work out if you’re telling the truth or not.
Dominoes
Another great one that’s good for all ages, my daughter’s earliest set had matching dog faces (and is still played years on) – look out for the Dog Domino game on second-hand sites too if you fancy playing.
Our latest acquisition (this one found in an AirBNB in Norfolk) is Double Nine Dominoes – with more combinations, it’s an even more exciting game. Although more tiles does make it a bit heavier, so we tend to take this on UK breaks.
- Are you ready for a game of dominoes?
- Try to be the first to play all your dominoes and you will be the winner!
- Includes 55 dominoes with coloured dots.
- Coloured dots on the tiles make the game easier for everyone!
- Comes in a durable tin box with a window!
Travel board games
Plenty of family favourites come as travel versions, so it’s well worth checking what’s out there – we’ve got travel versions of Scrabble and Yahtzee, and you can find travel Monopoly and travel Cluedo as well.
If you’ve got younger children, you’ll still find a string of classic board games for travel with kids – Orchard Toys has lightweight versions of Snakes & Ladders and bingo in its mini games collection, as well as its own creations like Llamas in Pyjamas.
One of our favourites to play at home is Ticket to Ride: Europe – perfect for getting kids excited about travel travel, teaching a bit of geography (even if some of the names are a little outdated!) and being hugely fun. Not an easy one to transport, alas, but there is a card version.
- Travel size game
- Small, compact and portable
- Develops matching and observation skills
- Suitable for 2-4 players and for ages 3-6
- Perfect stocking filler.
Rummikub
Rummy is another childhood favourite card game, but we also love playing Rummikub, a similar version with tiles.
The full-size version isn’t huge but there’s also a travel version of Rummikub that’s worth considering too.
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Snap/matching pairs
You can play snap with a basic set of cards, or there are plenty of other fun matching games to try – always a favourite with younger kids, my daughter loves the Match a Mummy game in particular.
Themed around Ancient Egypt, it’s fun for older kids as you learn more about the civilisation and its beliefs as you have to remember the pairs as well as finding where they’re hidden.
Magnetic games
If you’re travelling with younger kids, magnetic games are one of the most practical options when you’re on the move, as you’re less likely to be picking up dropped pieces.
Magnetic Faces is a fun one for age 3+ – you get 70 magnetic pieces and 12 cards to replicate, or you can just mix and match to your heart’s content. Great for on planes.
Or Magnetic Books let you create different scenes – this Peppa Pig magnet book will go down well with younger kids.
If you’re looking for more ways to entertain younger kids, my daughter was fascinated by lacing cards when she was little, spending a large part of the car journeys on our California road trip playing with hers – these Alphabet Lacing cards have letters on the back of the cute pictures, to help kids learn their alphabet at the same time
*First published 2022, last updated 2026*
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links: any purchases you make are unaffected but I may receive a small commission. All opinions on the best games for travel with kids are my own (and my daughter’s).
Main image courtesy of Depositphotos, Pass the Pigs/Sleeping Queens/cards & dominos/Match a Mummy images copyright MummyTravels
