This time of the year, I start thinking about small things to buy for Buddy’s Easter basket. And one of the things I always look for is travel games. We’ve traveled a lot less in the last year due to the pandemic, but we still have taken several very long car trips. And sometimes, we’ve brought travel games to with us when we’ve had to wait somewhere like a restaurant or a doctor’s office. Here are our favorite travel games.

*Disclaimer- this post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.*

Travel Yahtzee

My family loves playing Mickey Mouse Yahtzee Jr., and we made our own version to play at home. (Our original is from the 80s and is at my dad’s house.) When we decided to do a 18 hour road trip last summer, I wanted to make a to-go version. I looked at the current travel Yahtzee available, and eventually decided to get a vintage one off of Ebay. I had that version as a kid, and I knew it would be easier to keep the dice contained. They way we play it is you have three rolls to get as many of the same kind as possible, with the number 1 being wild. If someone else has the same score already, you get bumped down to the next lowest score. I printed and laminated a score card and put it on a little clipboard left over from our Disney trip.

World of Disney Eye Found It Card Game

We’ve loved the World of Disney Eye Found It Card Game for a long time. It is a staple to play at home, and recently we sent a set to my dad so we can play it on FaceTime. To play the game, you have to be the first one to find a certain object on your card. Then you can discard your card and a new item is chosen. It’s great because it doesn’t take up much space, so it’s great to throw in a purse or carry on.

Spot It

There are so many versions of the Spot It Game. The one we have is Planes Spot It, which has both images from the Planes movie as well as letters. To play the game, you put down two cards and you try to be the first one to find the one thing they have in common. It comes in a heavy duty tin, so it’s really great for travel. We kept this one in the diaper bag for years.

Magnetic Bingo

We bought Take and Play Anywhere Bingo for Buddy when he was 3, and almost 3 years later, it continues to be a favorite game. This version of bingo has 24 different animals and a spinner to use to select the animal. It was a great game before Buddy knew his letters and numbers, and he still really enjoys all of the different animals. This one also comes in a magnetic tin that is very durable. The Take and Play Anywhere game series also includes hangman, memory, and fishing, which all look fun.

Road trip Scavenger Hunt Game

I bought the Briarpatch Travel Scavenger Hunt Card Game last summer before our 18 hour car trip. The box says the game is for ages 7 and up, but Buddy was able to play it at age 5 without a problem. We started playing it with a card holder, but then Buddy discovered that he can just prop the cards on the edge of the window. I modified the rules a bit from how they were written. We each choose 5 cards, and then we discarded them as we find the thing. I go through the cards before we play and pick things that I think are more likely to be seen depending on where we are driving. It takes awhile to play, and it makes a long car trip pass more quickly.

Spin and Play Board Game Book

I bought the Spin and Play Counting Games board book before our trip to Bogota in 2019. This board book has five different board games with two dice in the middle to spin. I liked it especially for that trip because it was easy to take in our carry on, and we played it both on the plane as well as in the hotel room. It’s also a great way to practice counting and simple addition.

Cars and Trucks Card Game

Cars and Trucks is another card game we’ve enjoyed on trips as well as at home. It’s not currently available online, but this war game is similar. We have played it on planes, and we like to bring it as a game to play when we arrive at our location.

Melissa and Doug Flip to Win Memory Game

Buddy likes to play memory, but it takes a lot of space to set up, so it’s not a great choice to play while traveling. So we got him the Melissa and Doug Flip to Win Memory Game last Easter to use for trips. It’s great because there are a lot of different game choices, so it’s nice to use even at home. The flaps are a little loud, so it’s probably better as a car trip game than a plane game.

Mental Games to Play While Traveling

While it’s great to be able to buy games to take with you on trips, it’s also helpful to have games you can play without anything else. We play these a lot while waiting in lines at the store, as well as when we travel.

• Animal Game – One person chooses an animal and the other people ask yes and no questions until they guess it.
• Alphabet Game – You look around at signs, license plates, labels and anything else you can find and look for the letters one at a time in order. We’ve found this to be a great game to play while sitting in slow city traffic where there are lots of lisence plates and billboards to see. We play this in grocery store lines as well.
• iSpy – One person picks something they can see, and the other people ask yes and no questions to guess it.
• Color game – We play this two ways. Usually we play it like iSpy, and one person says the color of the thing they see. Then the other people guess what it is. But we have also played it by picking a color and then seeing how many things you can find with that color. The person who finds the last thing of that color wins.

If you have any other travel game suggestions, I’d love to hear about them in the comments section.