Best Travel Games

We are a family of gamers, not video gamers, although we do that from time to time. I am talking about card games, board games, and mind teaser games. We have family game night once a week. We use games for learning in our homeschool classroom. We play games for entertainment when we are waiting for our events at swim meets or waiting for our food at restaurants. We also play games when we travel.

There can be a lot of waiting when traveling and it is very helpful to have something to entertain the family whether you are waiting for your flight, on the plane, in the car, or on a train. Today I am sharing what we have voted the best travel games for families. We own all of these games and these are the ones we always go back to because they are so much fun.

Card Travel Games

Card Games are perfect for travel because of their compact size. We try to find games that the whole family enjoys and games that can be played with either 2 or 4 people because inevitably our 2 children do not want to play the same game.

Blink – This game is great fun and is perfect for travel because it is small (deck of cards) enough to fit easily in any travel bag and it is fast! One round of this game takes about 2 minutes. So if you are concerned about digging out a game only to have to put it away again before you are finished playing than this is a game for you. My kids love it! And even better I love it! It is a quick reaction matching game and even our 4 year old can play.

Uno – This game is a classic and for good reason, everyone can play. Even toddlers can match colors and numbers. It can be a quick game or a long game so if you anticipate your wait time is short then save this game for another time.

Sleeping Queens – This game was our first game from GameWright games. We now own many games from this company and I have to say you can’t go wrong with any game from them. As you can see from the picture this game has been well loved. In this game, kings wake up the sleeping queens who can then be stolen by knights and defended by dragons or put back to sleep with a magic potion that can be undone using a magic wand. So yes, it involves queens but I have yet to meet a boy who did not enjoy playing this game. This game also incorporates math practice of simple addition facts.

Slamwich – Also from GameWright, the makers of Sleeping Queens, this is a great game for the whole family. It is fast and loud so don’t play it if you are waiting in a quiet area or don’t want to disturb other passengers. The object of the game is to have the most cards. Players flip cards and slam the pile when they see a sandwich or double stack. Even the littlest hands will enjoy slamming the sandwiches.

Magnetic Travel Games

Magnetic MightyMind – Magnetic anything is great for travel and road trips because it is easier not to lose the pieces and contain the game. With these sets you get all the shapes and enough templates to keep your child occupied while you are waiting to board your plane or driving down the highway. They put the template they want to create on the lid and then try to figure out how to place the shapes to complete the picture. Everything fits into one box and the box is the play area, perfect for travel! Some of the tougher ones can be challenging for adults. This is a great learning game.

Brain Teaser Travel Games

IQ Twist – In this game you place colored pegs on the board as indicated by the puzzle you choose on the book. Then you have to place all the twisted pieces on the pegs so that they all fit on the game board. This game has kept every member of our family entertained when playing it. It is challenging but you can choose the level of difficulty of the puzzle so it can be played by everyone.

Leaping Lizards – In this brain teaser game you have to jump the lizards from their initial rock placement (according to the puzzle) back to their matching colors. The goal is to get every lizard back to its matching rock. Just like IQ Twist the puzzles have varying difficulty levels so it can be played by the whole family.

Dice Travel Games

Tenzi – This is also a very fast paced game that can get loud. There are several ways to play and you can also make up your own game. Our favorite is the original way to play. 4 players each roll all of their 10 colored dice trying to roll all of them to the same number. You start at 1, once you have rolled 10 ones then you try for twos and so on. The first player to get to 10 and roll 10 tens wins.

Don’t forget your Sleepy Heads travel pillow!

My son is a bright young entrepeuner. He sews this pillows with marginal help from mom. He also designed his own business card and helped with the web page design. He is learning all about making good business decisions. Please consider supporting this young business man if you are in need of a travel pillow for your next road trip!

Find out what our blogging friends have to say about Family Travel as they share with us what “Travel is” to them. Please click the image below to see the other posts in this series.

Gina Dunklebarger invites you to visit her at her blog Vacation Maybe

Travel is Fun & Games