Christmas Car Journey Activities for Kids: Screen-Free Ideas by Age (UK)
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For many UK families, Christmas means a long drive: up the motorway to grandparents, across the country to cousins, or home again on a packed Boxing Day. A few hours in the car can feel endless to a small child, and screens do not suit everyone (or every child's travel sickness). This guide covers screen-free activities for car journeys by age, what to pack in a travel activity bag, printable ideas you can make at home for pennies, and tips for keeping the trip calm.
Plan the journey around the children
- Leave at the right time. Setting off just before a nap or very early in the morning means younger children may sleep for the first stretch.
- Plan stops before you need them. A break roughly every couple of hours to stretch legs, use the toilet and eat is easier than an emergency stop on the hard shoulder.
- Check the traffic. The days just before Christmas and around New Year are some of the busiest on UK roads, so check traffic updates before you leave and allow extra time.
- Keep the activity bag within reach of whoever sits in the front passenger seat so things can be handed back without unbuckling.
Car activities by age
Toddlers (ages 2 to 3)
- A colouring book with big, bold pictures and a few chunky crayons in a tray or on a lap board.
- Board books and lift-the-flap books.
- Stickers and a sticker book: peeling and placing keeps small fingers busy for ages.
- Singing nursery rhymes together and simple "what noise does a tractor make?" games.
Pre-schoolers (ages 4 to 5)
- Colouring books of their favourite things, such as diggers, tractors or animals.
- Colour spotting: "Who can see a red car first?"
- A simple picture bingo card with a cow, a bridge, a lorry, a church and a petrol station.
- Audiobooks and story podcasts played through the car speakers.
Primary school (ages 6 to 11)
- Word searches, mazes and dot-to-dots on a clipboard.
- Number plate games: make a word or silly sentence from the letters, or count how many plates from different areas you spot.
- I spy, 20 questions and the alphabet game (find something beginning with each letter in order).
- A travel journal: draw something seen on the way, note the time you crossed into a new county and score the service station snacks.
What to pack in a travel activity bag
- A clipboard or wipe-clean lap tray for a firm surface.
- Crayons rather than felt tips for younger children (no lids to lose and less mess on the seats).
- One or two colouring books and a few printed activity sheets.
- A small surprise to bring out halfway, such as a new sticker sheet or a mini colouring book.
- Wipes, a bag for rubbish and a spare change of clothes for little ones.
- Water and simple, low-mess snacks.
Printable car games you can make at home
Printables are a cheap way to fill a travel bag. Print a few sheets the night before and pop them in a plastic wallet or clipboard:
- Car bingo: draw a 3 by 3 grid and add things you will see on the way, such as a horse, a bus, a wind turbine or a motorway sign.
- Christmas spotting sheet: a house with lights, an inflatable snowman, a Christmas tree in a window and someone wearing a Santa hat.
- Christmas activity sheets: colouring, word searches, dot-to-dots and mazes. Our Kids Christmas Activity Pack has eight pages ready to print.
- A countdown chart: our free Christmas countdown doubles as a "how many sleeps" chart for the days around the trip.
Help with travel sickness
Reading or looking down at a page can make some children feel sick in the car. If that sounds familiar, favour listening and looking-out-of-the-window games (I spy, spotting, audiobooks) over colouring while moving, keep the car cool and save the colouring for stops. If a child is regularly unwell when travelling, ask a pharmacist for advice before the trip.
Small gifts for the journey
A colouring book is a handy stocking filler that comes into its own on Christmas Day travel. Our My Big Digger Colouring Book and My Big Tractor Colouring Book (£6.97 each, paperback on Amazon) each have 40 bold, simple pictures for ages 2 to 5, with one picture per page. For more on choosing one, see our guide to colouring books for toddlers.
Quick checklist
- Leave around nap time and plan stops.
- Pack a lap tray, crayons, colouring books and printed sheets.
- Save a small surprise for halfway.
- Mix screen-free games with audiobooks and window-spotting.
- Bring wipes, snacks, water and a rubbish bag.