road trip binder printables

Lauras Crafty Life

August 12, 2015 · 6 Comments

Road Trip Binder

free printable · kids crafts

Updated on June 12, 2024

Road Trip Binder. Create a road trip binder to keep kids busy on long road trips or plane rides. Everything you need to keep them busy for hours!

I have shared quite a few of the components of our road trip binders we take along with us for long car trips. Today, I am going to share with you how the binder comes together, what I purchased store bought vs. printed out and created myself, as well as a couple of free printable cover pages you can use for your own road trip binders.

How to Create a Road Trip Binder

This post contains affiliate links.

Supplies needed:

• 3 ring binder, 1″ or larger
• binder pencil case
• dry erase markers
• crayons, colored pencils, and/or markers
• page protectors
• I spy printable photos
• 4 x 6 page protectors
• solid colored construction paper and/or white copy paper
• coloring book pages
• cling and play reusable sticker activity scene
• road trip game printables
• 3 hole punch (optional)

To start with I purchased solid colored 3 ring binders for each child. I chose different colors so we could tell them apart. I would suggest a 1″ or larger binder for this project. I also chose a binder with a plastic cover so that I could insert my printable cover page I created.

I added a binder pencil case that includes dry erase markers and some crayons.

The dry erase markers I chose have the erasers built right into the tip. I include these markers because I slip a lot of the printable pages into plastic page protectors. You can write on these with the dry erase markers and it wipes right off, so the kids can use the pages again and again.

I started by adding my I Spy printable photo pages . These are simply I spy photos I created at home using items we had around the house – mostly my kids toys. 

I included some blank copy paper and pages torn out of coloring books for my kids to draw and color on. I punched them with my 3 hole punch and added them to the binder. If you didn’t want to punch holes in these you could add them to a page protector and add that to the binder, as well.

I also included sheets of stickers for them to use on these pages as well. I slipped all the stickers into a page protector to keep them all together.

Next, I added in two road trip games – a license plate game and a scavenger hunt. The license plate printable has a license plate from each of the 50 states. It works the best on longer trips, but I have been pleasantly suprised by the amount of license plates we have found on short trips as well. 

The scavenger hunt is on the back. It is geared towards the southwestern states, but would still work in other states as well. As you see each item you mark it off your sheet. Download your own road trip printable worksheets . These work well to put into a page protector and use with the dry erase markers.

I found these fun re-usable vinyl sticker storyboards at Walmart. Here are similar ones I found online. These are great for the kids to use over and over again to display different scenes.

Again, for this one, I punched the edge with my 3 hole punch. You can still open it all the way in the binder and the kids have an easier time keeping track of it.

The extra vinyl pieces are in a page protector in the back of the binder.

I am sure we will continue adding to this binder. I plan to make a new set of I Spy pages to replace these once the kids are bored with them. I also will be adding printable word searches for my son now that he is getting older.

I printed out the binder cover sheets, wrote the kid’s names on them and slipped them into the covers of the binders.

Download  Fire Road Trip Binder Cover  |  Car and Trailer Road Trip Binder Cover  (for personal use only)

These binders are great, don’t take up much space and can keep the kids occupied for hours on a road trip!

What other items would you add to your road trip binder?

You may also like:

• Road Trip Printables
• I Spy Printable Photo Game
• Road Trip Kit
• Reading on the Road

Linking up here: Pink Cake Plate | The Shabby Nest

About Laura Silva

Laura Silva is the content creator behind Laura's Crafty Life. This site was created to share a love of crafting and to inspire you to craft a creative and well-lived life! You will find simple craft projects, themed party ideas, organizing tips and tricks, and lots of free printables.

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Reader Interactions

Brenae Klugkist says

March 28, 2018 at 10:26 am

I will totally do this for my families trip across Canada this summer! Thank you so much!

Laura Silva says

April 5, 2018 at 7:11 am

Brenae, It is a great way to keep the kids busy. I find lots of little things to put in there to keep them updated from Dollar Tree and in the Dollar Spot at Target. Have a fun trip. It sounds like it will be a great adventure! Laura

October 4, 2017 at 7:30 am

This was a cute project. My family is planning to have a road trip. My husband is now looking up some trailer for our trip.

October 4, 2017 at 9:52 am

Thank you Kayla! Have a fun trip. Laura

July 10, 2017 at 12:50 pm

Last summer I traveled along with the family I nanny for on a cruise to Alaska. I laminated a bunch of printed games- hang man, battleship ( yes, there is a printable version!), dot game, word searches, and coloring sheets. This way they could be used over and over again with the Crayola washable wipe-away markers ( they come in thick and skinny sizes). I also purchased unlined 5X7 index cards and stickers from the dollar store ( check the office section too for hole punch saver stickers and filing dots) and let them draw with the twistable colored pencils. This saved us a lot of drama at mealtimes when the kiddos were done eating but the adults weren’t. I kept them and still pull them out at places where we have to wait for something (think car repair shop/ in the car waiting for a sibling’s activity to end).

July 10, 2017 at 6:22 pm

Laura, Thanks so much for sharing your ideas! These all sound great. We actually keep our binders in the car year round, but before long trips, I try to add something new that we didn’t have in there before. Have a wonderful week, Laura

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June 11, 2012 By Brandy 64 Comments

Home » Craft Tutorials » Kids Crafts

Road Trip Binder for Kids: Road Trip Games, Map Activities and More!

Filed Under: Craft Tutorials , Kids Crafts

2016 Update! I’ve added more pages! These seek and find pages are so fun and the kids love them. Put them in page protectors and use a dry erase marker to mark off each picture! I’ve included the links at the bottom of the post with the rest of the free printables. Enjoy!

Welcome! I'm Brandy, mother to 5 darling kiddos and a cute black lab named Toby. My husband is in the Coast Guard so we've lived all over the place, turning each house into a home. I love baking, sewing, making cute things with my kids, and sharing what I've learned with all of you!

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Reader Interactions

June 11, 2012 at 7:45 pm

i love your binder ideas! though south carolina has changed it’s license plate in the last 2 years. you are so lucky to have good travelers!

June 12, 2012 at 2:37 am

Just happened to stumble across your blog and am glad I did. Love this post. I’ve pinned it and know I will come back to create this soon. I’d love to have you link this up to Titus 2 Tuesday tomorrow on Cornerstone Confessions. Hope to see you there.

June 12, 2012 at 11:53 am

I love this idea! I may do this for my grandchildren when they travel from Ohio to Florida.

June 12, 2012 at 3:52 pm

I LOVE that you put all this together! What a thoughtful, caring mom you are! I will definitley do something like this for my kids on our next big road trip. I love your blog and have followed you for a while – thanks for all your great ideas!

June 13, 2012 at 3:25 am

I love these ideas! I babysit with our granddaughter five days a week and these will be great to use even when we just drive the 15 miles to town to run errands. Awesome! Thanks for sharing your ideas.

June 13, 2012 at 12:58 pm

What a great, creative and educational idea, thanks!

June 14, 2012 at 4:20 am

Such a good idea having them all in one binder! We are planning Disneyland trip so I am totally doing this! Pinning it now! Thanks for stopping by my blog also! So good to hear from you!

June 14, 2012 at 1:39 pm

Great idea! I love the “flags” on the things they find instead of using dry eraser marker.

June 15, 2012 at 12:53 pm

Such a great idea. I did quiet bags for our recent trips but I love the binder idea to use as the boys get older! This is an idea I will save for sure!

June 16, 2012 at 6:43 pm

thanks so much for this, i’ll be needing this soon. now your newest follower

June 16, 2012 at 11:49 pm

Very well done! We are about to move next week and I had a smaller version but this is great!

June 20, 2012 at 11:53 am

Love this idea! We are going from PA to Michigan in July. This will help keep our daughter entertained. Thank you!

June 21, 2012 at 4:13 am

I love your post!

June 21, 2012 at 5:19 am

we are getting ready to move from north western NV to Jacksonville, FL with a stop in Canton, OH soon! I’ve been trying to plan a binder of sorts for my kids too. thank you for the ideas! good luck!

June 22, 2012 at 2:05 pm

Thank you so much for sharing these! We are getting ready for a road trip with a 4 and 3 year old, and I know I will be able to use these. Erin

June 22, 2012 at 6:13 pm

Great idea!! You said you wanted a few more ideas, so hopefully this helps:

Putting a fact sheet (history facts, stupid facts, little known facts, state capitals) along with pictures for each state you’ll cross (the liberty bell for NC, an Elk for MT, Grand Canyon for AZ, Old Faithful for WY, etc). Make it a game that they can’t look until they are in that state. When you do enter, stop at a truck stop and have them pick out a postcard to glue into the state section. Have them write their thoughts about the state.

Another I saw recently was using Google to print off popular games on large paper and placing them on cookie sheets, then you use magnets (decorated of course!) as the players. If you use a sheet with a lip, you can use die without loosing them.

Another woman who moved across the ocean to Europe bought used iPods off Craigslist and added kids games, a few episodes of the child’s favorite shows, then decorated each to reflect the child. Buying them second hand, she was able to get three iPod touches for only $150. She bought very cheap headphones at Ross, and put them in the kits she made for each kid.

The “kits” were plastic shoe boxes and included lunch size snacks, books, the iPod, crayons, a “ticket” they could use only once, and it was their choice of music, movie, or game the WHOLE family had to watch/play for one full hour. Also hand sanitizer, wipes, and tissues. There was a gallon size ziplock for their garbage, and some homemade “find it” tubes. The kids decorated them, and the idea was they would have their own…which reduces the “she’s not sharing!” fights.

Hope that helps, and thank you for the binder idea! 😀

January 14, 2014 at 1:25 pm

I like the idea of printing game boards on paper. I think that would keep my children pretty entertained.

June 29, 2012 at 12:42 pm

LOVE this!!! I have a travel binder that I keep in the car, along with a homemade card game, but you have some ideas here that I haven’t seen before. I love the idea of adding some of them for specific road trips!! Thank you for the tips!

June 29, 2012 at 1:05 pm

This is SO FUN! My kids are still babies, so not quite ready for this, but a couple more years and this will be perfect for trips to grandmas or other vacations.

One tip I saw somewhere else recently that’s similar to your word of the day tickets was to give your kids a ticket for being polite or doing good deeds and that’s how they earn their spending money for the trip!

Thanks for putting together this fun tutorial!

June 29, 2012 at 5:21 pm

OMG! you just made my summer. My little OCD girl is gonna love how organized this whole thing is. And the Travel tickets – problem solved, no tickets=no money to spend! Budget is happy 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing!

June 30, 2012 at 2:51 pm

That is a fantastic idea! My daughter is going on a road trip without me this summer. This is something I can put together for her ahead of time so that she can keep busy and record her memories of it. Fantastic! (Plus I LOVE binders)

June 30, 2012 at 6:46 pm

What a fantastic idea! I must share it with my young mom friends.

July 3, 2012 at 3:32 pm

When I was 11, my family took a huge road trip from Ottawa, Canada, to Vancouver, down to California, up through Utah and the northern states, and then home again. Three adults, four children, a dog, and a trailer. No air-conditioning, no electronics. However, my parents gave us each a clipboard with similar pages to yours and it made a world of difference. We had route maps and we had the itinerary as well. That really helped because we knew what to expect.

Also, think about adding plain graph paper – great for games like SOS and boxes!

July 5, 2012 at 4:57 pm

Cute, cute , CUTE! Love the idea. Thanks for sharing.

July 10, 2012 at 8:43 pm

Thanks so much for sharing! great ideas! 🙂

July 15, 2012 at 3:24 am

Great idea! I’m collecting travel ideas for our huge Disney road trip next week! Thanks for this.

~Steph @ Silver Boxes

July 15, 2012 at 11:28 pm

I absolutely Love this idea and can’t wait to make binders up for my boys! For just daily car rides even!! I am going to be a new homeschooling mom this fall, and this is GREAT! Thanks so much for the idea!! :o)

July 16, 2012 at 5:35 pm

This is absolutely fantastic. I found your post by a pin on pinerest.

I saw the link you have to the printables but the ones I’m really looking for I can’t find. 🙁 Can you tell me where you found the ABC one, the license plate, the I Spy and Slug Bug? They are so cute for my little one that I think she would love them.

I’m kinda guessing you made them? Thanks for your help!

July 17, 2012 at 6:18 pm

These are such fabulous ideas!! We are contemplating going on a road trip to California from Vancouver Island, so these ideas will be very handy! I was actually looking for roadtrip bingo for our short overnight trip to Victoria, these will work great! Oh, and many thanks for the free printables!! 🙂

July 19, 2012 at 5:30 pm

I love and adore your travel ticket idea! I’m scouring the internet via pinterest to get ideas for our binder, and that one is top notch for me! We’re heading to Yellowstone in a couple weeks, and I don’t want to hear the “Mom, can I have….” this will solve the problem easy! 😀 In addition to no souvenirs till the last day of the trip {we did that for Disney and it was AWESOME!}

Thanks again!

July 26, 2012 at 1:39 am

Thanks so much for posting this. This binder idea is going to make all the difference in our road trip!

July 29, 2012 at 1:37 am

I’ll have to remember these ideas for our next road trip. They’re great! Kelly at Little Wonders’ Days

August 1, 2012 at 5:37 am

Super cute! You have been Pin’d excessively by me. 🙂 I hope you don’t mind!

August 8, 2012 at 5:41 am

I’d love it if you shared this with the Fun Family Crafts audience. FFC is similar to Craftgawker but it only features kid friendly tutorials.

Looking forward to seeing what fun crafts you submit! http://funfamilycrafts.com

August 14, 2012 at 6:30 pm

These are great for the older kids! I did some similar ones such as the ‘I Spy’ worksheet. I used actual pictures so it was realistic, but I can see how the free printable ones you included here are great for kids as well. I brought along dry erase markers so that they can be used to draw as well on the back of the game sheet-the game sheet was placed in a plastic page protector like you used here. I made a couple of additional games for the preschoolers and under that I posted on my page last week. Since I have a toddler and a preschooler I wanted to bring activities that they could both use, but that would not be boring for one or the other. Hooray, though, for children who travel well! The more they do it, the better they get-I too am a milspouse (Marine Corps), so hello from a fellow military family. Thanks for sharing these ideas!

August 14, 2012 at 9:07 pm

Thank you so much ladies for sharing what you’ve done for road trips in the past as well! These ideas are amazing and I really appreciate everyone taking the time to comment and share!

Brandy Gluesticks

August 15, 2012 at 2:46 am

I love this!!! What a great idea! I can’t wait to use it on our next trip!

January 16, 2013 at 9:40 am

This is fun!Ususally when we travel, I just let my kids watch videos for children using wi-fi and they are good. You gave me more ideas.

March 7, 2013 at 6:23 am

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April 2, 2013 at 6:58 pm

This is great! We have a big road trip coming up and this will be great for our 4-year-old.

May 7, 2013 at 4:05 am

Awesome! Thanks, perfect for our move to AK!

May 7, 2013 at 4:26 am

Wonderful! I hope your kids enjoy it. We’ve done the Alaska move too. We lived in Kodiak for 4 years and my husband is from Alaska. Such a beautiful place. Good luck! 🙂

June 5, 2013 at 10:23 am

Great idea for having a fun with small kids , i just love kids and i can do anything for her smiles……Thoroughly enjoyed the post. Eagerly anticipating what’s coming next.I would never have normally come here to read the blogs but I’m really glad I did. I will definitely be coming back.

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August 7, 2013 at 5:15 pm

This is an awesome idea!!! I have a 3 1/2 year old and some of these pages would be great for her on our trip to niagra falls. Wish I would have seen this before our trip to Hawaii last november. 10 hours on a plane with a toddler….all she had was a coloring book and the in flight movies. But this will be PERFECT for future trips!

August 12, 2013 at 7:46 pm

I love this! We have to move from Oregon to the Chicago area in a little over a month, and this will really help with that long trip. Now I just need to figure out what to do for my 2 year old!

August 14, 2013 at 10:27 pm

Wonderful! I hope it works out for you!

September 12, 2013 at 3:22 am

what map program did you use? I have been trying to print one off for our upcoming trip from mapquest and google maps and they keep printing off super small! thanks!!

September 12, 2013 at 4:23 am

Hi! I used AAA and made a triptik then printed it out! Hope that helps! Here is a link: http://ww2.aaa.com/scripts/WebObjects.dll/AAAOnline.woa/509?target=self&association=AAA&zip=94401&club=005&page=ITTServices&sessionRedirect=1208552809980&zip=95901&stateprov=ca&city=marysville&devicecd=PC&referer=www.aaa.com

January 14, 2014 at 1:13 pm

I really enjoyed this post! I am about to travel with a 3.5 and 5 year old and love how you put the kids binders together. Although we are flying for a short duration, the wait and check-in times add double the time to our trip so I will have to add some of these ideas to keep my active and smart kids busy. I hope to use more of your ideas in the fall when we hope to take a road trip.

January 14, 2014 at 7:54 pm

Good luck Linda! Traveling is so stressful with kids, but they usually end up doing great!

June 3, 2014 at 12:16 pm

Where did you get the map of the United States?

June 3, 2014 at 12:25 pm

nevermind. didn’t scroll down far enough on comments. thanks.

June 13, 2014 at 1:18 am

Hi, I just stumbled upon this post and I am so glad I did. This is an amazing idea and I have even thought of a way to use it for other activities also – eg: our Holiday Club etc. Thanks for sharing 🙂 Will look through the rest of the blog now 🙂 Excited. xx

June 13, 2014 at 6:22 pm

Hi Kate! Welcome and thank you for your sweet comment!

June 30, 2014 at 7:52 am

Luv it. Keeps the kids entertained for hours. Thanks so much.

August 17, 2014 at 11:21 am

I love your binder idea. It is great. I love that it includes spots for them to include their own pamphlets and ticket stubs, this will make scrapbooking the trip so much easier. Great ideas. Thanks you!

March 18, 2015 at 10:20 am

I absolutely love this idea. I’m going to make one for me that we can all use. I’m also going to add this to my Road Tips Essentials Round-up post.

Thanks from your SoFab Friend, KIM

April 19, 2016 at 1:52 pm

Hello! I am a travel agent and have a blog. I linked back to your site and page for an entry I did on travel binders. I hope that’s ok!

April 20, 2016 at 8:28 am

Thank you! I appreciate it!

April 30, 2016 at 9:08 pm

Would love to know where you found the printable bonus tickets page! Was printing/filling out our travel binder and needed place to put our road trip dollars (thought of using business card holder), then I can across your page and love the brochures and the bonus tickets page (and that cover page!!!). LOVE IT!! Would love to know where you found them or if you created them if you mind sharing. Thanks! – a new follower 🙂

May 1, 2016 at 11:57 am

Hi Michelle! Welcome!! 🙂 For the tickets, I went onto a free clip art site, saved an image and then set it to print 16 per page or something like that. It’s been 4 years so unfortunately I don’t remember which site I used. You can probably find a free ticket image on google images if you do a search on there as well. Good luck and safe travels!

November 30, 2019 at 4:09 pm

Hi, I would love to know where I can find the printable link. Please. Thank

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Busy Binder with Printable Road Trip Games

In a few weeks, we’re going on our first big family road trip for a family reunion in Utah.  That’s gonna be over ten hours in the car with my husband and three kids.  You guys… I’m going to DIE!   You don’t understand!  I can barely make it two hours in the car before I’m driven insane with the whining and meltdowns.  TEN HOURS!!!   I still don’t know why I agreed to this, and I’m sure I’m going to want to turn around and drive home three hours into it, but it’s happening now.  I’m trying to prepare ahead of time for the trip, so I made some busy binders that are full of fun road trip games and other things to keep the kids busy.

The binder opens up to an i-spy bag made from a pencil pouch. You know, one of those ones with the clear front.  Just fill it with poly-pellets and throw in some cute buttons and random things around the house.  This genius idea came from A Girl and a Glue Gun , so be sure to check hers out.  She made hers using beads instead of poly-pellets.  The pellets I bought were in the clearance section at JoAnn’s, so I don’t know how easy they are to come by.

Make a little tag with clip art that shows what’s inside.   The kids will stay busy trying to find everything on the tag. I’ll probably sew or glue the opening shut because I don’t trust my kids to keep the zipper closed.  Wouldn’t that be fun to clean up in the car?!

I also created some fun printable road trip games.  We’ve got the standard, travel bingo and the alphabet game.

And I also made up a new one where you keep track of all the different-colored things you can find during the entire trip.  Put all of the papers into plastic sheet protectors and use a dry-erase marker to make them reusable!

I also printed off some mazes from krazydad.com and slipped those into sheet covers.  (By the way… holy mazes!  That site has a TON!)

You can get all of the road trip game printables that I created here .  There are six different bingo cards in case one of you has six kids.  If you have more than that, I’m sorry… in more than one way.  I’m joking!  Sort of…  😉 I printed out two for each binder just to mix things up when the kids are playing.

Wish me luck!  I’m really going to need it.  If I go missing from my blog, it’s because I went crazy and ran away.  Do you have any other ideas for traveling with kids?  I’d love to hear them!  We will also be relying heavily on the portable dvd player that my sister bought for us a couple years ago (best.gift.ever.), but I’d feel like a little bit of a bad mom if they watched movies for ten hours straight.  I don’t know if we even have that many moves…

I’m posting this as a part of Nap-Time Creations’ Summer Fun series.  Check out these other summer ideas from some fabulous bloggers!

The DIY Dippin’ Dot tutorial by Nap-Time Creations

Decorated Shoe Laces by A Girl and a Glue Gun on Nap-Time Creations

Chocolate Salted Caramel and Peanut Snickers Cupcakes with the Crafting Foodie

Busy Binder with Printable Road Trip Games by Cutesy Crafts

Pressed Flower Artwork by Lulu and Celeste

Beach Wreath by Just Us Four

Mini Sail Boats by Made to be Momma

Park and Beach Bin by The Joi Project

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Tuesday 20th of June 2017

Thank you so much! These are great! I've been searching for activities for my two kids while they are on a 10 hour road trip with their grandparents--without my husband and I!

Jessica @ Cutesy Crafts

Thursday 22nd of June 2017

You're welcome! Oh man, great for you, not so much for the grandparents. Haha! I don't do well with the kids in the car for that long.

Friday 11th of July 2014

You can do it! Way to plan ahead...that will help a lot. For our road trip last year I made up these easy magnet/white boards - http://gotstamped.wordpress.com/2013/07/12/diy-white-boards/ You can get those word magnets to make stories (or print your own and glue onto magnets. Have a great trip!

Monday 14th of July 2014

Thanks, Amanda! What a great idea! My kids would love anything magnetic!

Thursday 10th of July 2014

I love these printable!! We are heading on a 6 hour drive tomorrow so the timing is perfect!!! Thanks so much for sharing in my summer fun series! I've pinned this to a couple of boards! Emily

Thanks, Emily! I'm really hoping I survive our road trip. Good luck on yours!

Free Road Trip Printables – Travelling with Kids

Travelling with children can be a challenge, especially if they are over-excited and you have a long journey ahead of you. When it comes to going on any road trip with kids, I always make sure I am prepared including checking my car’s condition, packing essentials, and preparing my children for the trip including having road trip games printables.

When it comes to a long road trip I always try to ensure that my car has been serviced and that I have made sure the tyres are all inflated correctly, washer fluid topped up and as one of us suffers terribly from hay fever and another from eczema a new pollen filter will help reduce dust making the journey much more comfortable for the whole family.

When my childrenWhen my children were younger we avoided screens when travelling due to travel sickness and this seems to be a common side effect according to information from  passportsandadventures.com . So I make sure that our road trip activities are all screen-free and concentrate on classic games such as Eye Spy and the car number plate game ( either looking out for a particular number or characteristic of a number plate or thinking of a word or phrase that corresponds to the letters of the registration).

Free Printable Road Trip Games

I have always been rewarded on a trip when I print out a selection of road trip games including road trip bingo, word searches, colouring and games that can be played on paper. I print out a binder full for each of the passengers and then add some colouring pens, crayons and pencils. I find that using a hard backed binder (the one that you use a hole punch to pop the paper in) as it provides a solid base.

Printable Games

To start with I have a simple printable book of paper games including hangman, tic-tac-toe, four in a row and the dots and boxes game. These simple puzzles are great for various ages.

Road Trip Word Search

Word searches are great for young readers. See how many of these 20 words your child can find on this travel word search.

Road Trip Bingo

We have two different Bingo games or scavenger hunts for your adventure. One is a travel bingo with road signs, different vehicles and much more and the other is a car badge bingo.

Road Trip Colouring Pages

I am a massive fan of colouring pages, they are a great way of keeping children occupied and even older children too. I mean I am quite happy to spend time colouring. So to keep things interesting and then all occupied we have over 80 pages for you to download and choose from.

How to Download Your Road Trip Printables

These printables are offered for your  personal, non-commercial  use only. Mass-production of this printable is not permitted, even for non-profit purposes. Please do not upload this road trip Printable Pack to other sites – instead, if you want to let people know about these freebies, post a link to this page. Pinning is okay as long as the pin links back to this page. Thanks!

All you need to do is add click on add to cart and they will be added to your shopping cart. When you are finished click on the orange shopping trolley at the top right of your page and follow the instructions on the screen. You will not be charged and the free pdf file will be available for you to download immediately and will also be emailed to your inbox.

• Travel Colouring Pages £ 0.00 Add to cart
• Road Trip Games Book £ 0.00 Add to cart
• Road Trip Bingo Read more
• Road Trip Word Search £ 0.00 Add to cart

Other Things to pack on a Road Trip for your Child

have always tried to ensure that I have anything we may need when going on a road trip, including my child’s favourite soft toy. If there is only you and the children in the car, then you will need to make sure that they can pick up anything that they might drop otherwise, they will cry until you stop and that can be really stressful (trust me I have been there). In the end, I used to put a special soft lead onto their teddy and attach it to their car seat.

• A travel organiser that goes on to the back of the front seat is really handy to keep everything accessible to your child.
• Drink and snacks that they can open and close themselves. Pouch yougurts are great as is water in sports bottles.
• Audiobooks are perfect for long journeys.
• Emergency travel sick pack – I would pack a Tupperware with a lid, paper, wipes, a change of clothes and a towel just in case.

1 thought on “Free Road Trip Printables – Travelling with Kids”

Thanks for all the wonderful ideas about traveling with children. We have an 8 hour trip from Illinois to Nebraska this summer. Actually, it will be longer because Nebraska allows fireworks, and fireworks stores abound along the Missouri interstates–and the children want to stop at each one!

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25+ Free Road Trip Printables for a Truly Fun Family Car Trip

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Our last road trip activities for kids post has been read more than 50,000 times! And it’s been shared more than 8,000 times.  Wow – people really liked our ideas! It was full of the ideas we came up with to survive travelling with kids on a long road trip.  I’ve got a new tool in my family travel arsenal: Road Trip Printables!

Our last real road trip was 5 years ago and as we plan our next long road trip I’m happy to reread the former one and remember the tips!  

I don’t know how I forgot some of them – I’m adding aluminum foil to my list right now. 😜

This year our kids will be older: 11 and 13.  We expect our ride to be smoother than last time – for one they’ve both got bigger bladder capacity now.   (This time I don’t expect our son to need to publicly urinate in front of state troopers .)

But this time around we are spending more total hours in the car travelling from Ontario to Calgary, Alberta and back.  Dang, Ontario is big – it’s going to take two days just to get to the border from home!

We need some new ideas to keep our family amused during these extra long hours in the car.

I decided to find a whole bunch of free printable road trip car games and make a huge folder of them to spread out over the drive.  

I plan to also bring some plastic sheet protectors and low odor dry erase markers to reuse the best games.  ‘Cause I ain’t bringing a printer on this trip with us.

It would seem like a waste to just amass such a great list for ourselves when we can share them all with you!   So here’s a list of 25+ great free road trip printables – games worth printing for your long drive ahead.

Also, check out our kid-approved list of more  family fun road trip activities and games !

25+ Free Printable Road Trip Games

Don’t miss our kid-approved list of more  family fun road trip activities and games !

New! Save money on your road trip food! Check out:  Travel Recipes: 20+ Meals to Make in a Hotel Room Microwave or Kitchenette 

Fun & Free Road Trip Scavenger Hunt Printable

20+ Best Campfire Pie Iron Recipes (aka Pudgie Pies or Mountain Pies)

Travel Recipes: 20+ Meals to Make in a Hotel Room Microwave or Kitchenette

25+ Family Fun Road Trip Activities and Games to Make the Hours Fly By!

Make Packing Easier with our Family All Inclusive Resort Packing List ~ including special tips for Cuba

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Sunday 1st of May 2022

this stuff is great!!!

Road Trip Activity Bin and Binder (Crafts, Toys, Printables, Tips and More!)

• Scissors (regular and pinking)
• Paint brush markers (because The Babe loves to paint, but I thought that would be too messy)
• Travel play house from 2HeartsDesire on Etsy  (looks like she doesn’t sell this anymore but might on request)
• Twist up and homemade crayons because they’re less breakable than the basic Crayolas
• Drawing Dice (from a post a while back)
• Pipe cleaners and beads
• I Spy Bag from The Crafting Corner on Etsy
• Play dough and a few tools
• Pencil and eraser
• Dry erase markers
• Magnetic Pharaoh Tac Toe pieces (from my post the other day)

• A clipboard

• Mandalas for The Babe to color since she’s really into coloring inside the lines right now
• A journal so The Babe could draw something for each major place we stopped (she’s not writing yet…)
• Road sign bingo from Enchanted Homeschooling Mom
• A drawing pad
• Super cute Road Trip Drawing Prompts from Picklebums

I also took some sage advice from some other mama friends who’ve been there, done that on long road trips with their families.

• Becky from Kid World Citizen has some insightful advice on trip timing and curing boredom.  Check out her whole series A Week of ‘Road-Tripping” with the Kids .
• Adventures in Mommydom has a huge! list of great games to play on trips (both to buy and DIY).
• In case you’re waffling on whether or not to make the drive, MaryAnne from Mama Smiles has some advice after driving cross country in a mini-van with 4 kids and her husband.

Planning your next trip?  Check out the Left Brain Craft Brain Road Trip! Pinterest board for even more fun activities and tips.  Wish us luck and stay tuned for some fun posts from the road…

13 thoughts on “Road Trip Activity Bin and Binder (Crafts, Toys, Printables, Tips and More!)”

Great ideas. With my kids we added also ‘what next bag’, it contained instructions to listen to a talking book, play I-spy, sing a favourite song, count till we had seen 50 red cars etc.

Love the idea of “what next”! The Babe is constantly asking that.

Love how you can personalize the pages in the folder! I don’t have time to do this for our trip tomorrow…but next one for sure!

Have fun on your trip! Where are you headed?

These are FANTASTIC!!!! I love all of the ideas and am pinning it for later. Great post!

Thanks so much and thanks for your tips!

What great ideas! I love the tic tac toe activity.

Thanks! I’m a tic tac toe addict and love playing with my girl.

My kids love road trips! When my oldest 2 were preschoolers I prepared a similar notebook and tub. I placed an empty diaper box between their seats to hold their toys, books, and notebooks. I also like to plan snacks. I fill sandwich-sized ziploc bags (the type with the easy slide to open) with a serving of their favorite snacks. Then I wrote their names on the bags. When they asked for a snack I could just handover a small bag and not try to portion it out as we were driving. Thanks for sharing via Family Fun Friday.

That’s a great idea on the snacks. It seems like there’s a constant “I’m hungry!” on this trip.

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Best Road Trip Ever! Free Printables for your Travel Binder

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Summer is winding down, but that doesn't mean your road trips come to an end! We take several road trips through the year, not just during summer. A successful road trip in our eyes means everyone arrives happy! This is much easier to do with snacks, drinks, and plenty of activities to keep the kids entertained.

Of course, we'll have the DVD player in the car and Charlie has a tablet, but screens don't entertain little ones the entire time. We created a travel binder that can stay in the car that is perfect for road trips.

To create your travel binder, you'll need a zip-around binder to store all of your activities for the road. Inside that binder, you're going to put a couple of clear zipper pouches and clear sheet protectors . Now, grab a some dry erase crayons , an eraser, and some printable sheets and you're all set!

I've created 3 free printables for your new travel binder!

• Castle Coloring Page
• At the Zoo Coloring Page
• I Spy from the Car Page

My suggestion is to use a laminator to laminate any sheets you would like to reuse often. I sent all 3 of my sheets that I'm sharing with you through my laminator to preserve them. By laminating them, Charlie can use the dry erase crayons on them, wipe them off, and reuse them over and over again!

If you'd like to just print out some sheets to color once or twice with dry erase crayons, you can slide them into a sheet protector. Some great sites to grab free coloring pages and activities: LEGO Marvel Superheroes , Disney Family , and Crayola .

If you're really interested in the BEST Road Trip Ever, enter to win  “The Best Road Trip Ever” sweepstakes ! The more travel stories that are shared, the higher value of the prize car! As of right now, they're already up to the 4th tier car, which means you could win a 2015 Ford Escape! Wouldn't that make for an awesome start to your road trip!

Now that I've got you thinking about that new car for your road trip, you'll need some snacking supplies! You know how we feel about our snacks! At ACME right now, there are a ton of snacks perfect for road trips. You'll find them labeled Best Road Trip Ever under the normal price sticker.

Personally, a Mountain Dew is essential to me surviving a road trip (or any day, really). Some people are coffee people, but I need a Dew. I do like cans best, but they don't travel as well, so we buy bottles for the road. The boys get water or juice pouches, so some Capri Suns were a great item to grab before hitting the road. Everyone can use a Gatorade, so the little bottles are perfect for travelling.  As far as snacks go, we bought some individual pre-portioned snack bags for the boys because they were on sale, but I also grabbed some Wheat Thins (they are definitely one of my favorite munchies), some caramel Quaker Popped Mini Rice Snacks and some Snickers Bites (we'll keep them hidden upfront with us).

Do you have any favorites you bring on your road trips? We like to have a little bit of everything!

Be sure to share your Best Road Trip ever for a chance to win big! I'd love to hear about your dream travels!

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Kelly @eclecticmommy says

August 17, 2015 at 6:26 PM

Love the idea of a travel binder. Laminated coloring pages is genius! #client

Jessica says

August 25, 2015 at 11:53 AM

A travel binder is such a great idea! And, my kids would love the i spy game! Can’t wait to make this! Thanks so much for the great idea!

Tanya @ Mom's Small Victories says

August 27, 2015 at 12:16 PM

Very clever, we could have used these on our trip to Florida this summer! Thanks for sharing with Small Victories Sunday Linkup. Pinning to our linkup board and hope you found some great posts to visit this week!

April Ockerman says

August 27, 2015 at 12:59 PM

I am going to save this post and share with my sister. She has little ones that could use this to keep them occupied in the car. Love it!

Kallee says

August 27, 2015 at 2:51 PM

Our best road trip was when we went and visited Niagra Falls!

Sarah G. says

August 27, 2015 at 5:17 PM

Love these ideas for road trips! Thanks for sharing!

Laurie says

August 27, 2015 at 9:27 PM

I wish I still had little people to use these fun printables!

Diana Rambles says

August 27, 2015 at 9:48 PM

This is a really great idea. Love it!

Ashley S says

August 27, 2015 at 10:07 PM

Love this! Definitely printing them out for my lil guy.

Jeannie @ For what it's worth says

August 27, 2015 at 10:26 PM

Your printable is adorable, wish we’d had a binder like yours while we were making so many trips to Dr. trips this summer.

Censie says

August 27, 2015 at 10:56 PM

What a fun idea! I am going to save this! I could see this coming in handy for road trips. So cute!

Chelley @ A is For Adelaide says

August 28, 2015 at 12:09 AM

I love the idea of a travel binder! We go on a big road trip twice a year for doctor appointments for my oldest- I”m going to make her one of these for our next trip.

Shasta L Walton says

August 28, 2015 at 9:22 AM

We love road trips and these printables are such a fun idea.

August 28, 2015 at 10:11 PM

We have a couple of “regulars” for road trips: beef jerky (everyone loves it and we only eat it on road trips), Chex Mix (not something I normally buy), and stopping for a Slurpee somewhere along the way.

Samantha says

August 28, 2015 at 11:13 PM

LOVE these printables!

Tiffany says

August 28, 2015 at 11:35 PM

I agree that screens don’t keep kids busy for long so having something like the acitvity binder is such a great idea. Plus hands on fun is long-lsting fun! I would definitely include Snickers bites in my Road Trip fun since I love how easy they are to snack on and how quickly they can keep hunger under control…

August 29, 2015 at 7:40 PM

I like to bring gatorade and cheetos on road trips. Wipes for the cheesy fingers too!

Melanie says

August 30, 2015 at 2:07 PM

Oh I love the idea of a travel binder, so cool. Need to do that for my kids! We always bring gatorade along something that all the kids like, too

Jane @SustainMyCraftHabit says

August 31, 2015 at 12:32 PM

So great! I love this! Thank you for the printables! Stopping by from Show and Tell Link Party.

Angela Bishop says

August 31, 2015 at 4:03 PM

I love the zipper binder idea! I don’t trust my kids with not coloring all over my car or themselves so I bring a lot magnetic activities. 🙂

Mary, Living a Sunshine Life says

August 31, 2015 at 11:33 PM

That printable binder is a fantastic idea. I think I might do that for some of our homeschooling worksheets. The girls love to work on that stuff while we travel and the lamination makes it a lot sturdier for the car. Thanks for sharing!

Audrey says

September 1, 2015 at 1:37 PM

What a cute printable for little ones! We haven’t done a long road trip in a few years, but holidays are coming.

Thanks for sharing on Creative K Kids Tasty Tuesdays.

Jennie @ The Diary of a Real Housewife says

September 2, 2015 at 10:39 PM

These are perfect! My boys would really enjoy the printables, I guess I need a travel binder now! Thanks for sharing on Friday Favorites! I featured your post and would love to see you there again this week. (Thursday 8est)

Nina Lewis says

September 2, 2015 at 10:49 PM

I’m dropping by from the Ginger Snap Crafts link party. This is such a great idea — and a life saver for parents of fussy young travelers!

I have a link party that I am trying to grow. I invite you to share this ideas (and a couple of other ones) at my Grandma Ideas Sharing Time link party at http://grandmaideas.com . My readers would love this idea as much as I do!

My link party goes from Wednesday through Friday night at midnight Mountain Daylight Time. I hope that you will be able to make it.

All the best, Nina

Julian Green says

June 19, 2018 at 9:27 AM

[…] Free Printables for your Travel Binder […]

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