Yes, I do love my minivan’s DVD player and it’s a staple of our road trip routine but I also don’t love the idea of my kids watching 12 hours of videos as we make our way across the country. So it’s nice to have some quality kids road trip activities to turn to without spending a ton of time printing out worksheets, searching for travel toys or making busy bags. Believe me, those are all great ideas and I’ve done many of them, but there are also times you need one place to get it all done.
If I’m in a hurry and need a few new items to update our road trip travel bags, my go to is Usborne activity books. Usborne Books and More is a direct sales book publisher and you’ve probably seen many of their books including their popular “That’s Not My” series for toddlers.
But Usborne also carries a huge selection of activity books for kids of all ages that appeal to a wide variety of interests. I have been very impressed with the quality of the books and with how much they keep my kids entertained, well past the point of the cheaper coloring books I get at the dollar store.
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Why Usborne Books make perfect kids road trip activities
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I recently spoke with Kelly Akers, a mom of 3 and Director with Usborne Books and More who has been a consultant for the past 11 years. She shared a bit about why she loves these books and what she recommends for hitting the road with your kids.
What do you love most about Usborne books and the company you represent?
First of all, I am passionate about children having books in their hands and about parents understanding the importance of reading to their children. Our company’s mission statement is “The future of our world depends on the education of our children. We deliver educational excellence one book at a time. We provide economic opportunity while fostering strong family values. We touch the lives of children for a lifetime.”
Our mission statement fits so perfectly with my passions, that representing our amazing books and this company is a blessing and a joy! I love helping children find books they will love and helping families and schools build their libraries.
What are a few of your favorite books/products for road trips?
Our activity books are a must-have on road trips! In fact, I always keep an “Usborne Activity Bag” in the car with us! It is full of our wipe-clean books, sticker books, maze books, drawing books, and coloring books. Here is a video that shows some examples!
**I purchased several of my own books from Kelly and wanted to share how much we love them with you. Kelly graciously allowed me to set up an affiliate link through her website in which I will be able to earn free books when you make a purchase. All opinions are my own and I work hard to make sure that the products I recommend are only the ones we love as a family. For more information, see my full disclosure policy.
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My Favorite Kids Road Trip Activities
Sticker Books
Keep your kids busy with sticker books! These books offer high quality stickers that won’t rip and frustrate your kids. From dress up to pirates and bugs to dinosaurs, there are tons and tons to chose from. For older kids, you can try the mosaic stickers which let kids put together a sticker mosaic. I also like the 1001 Things to See Sticker books since it combines an “I spy” element to the book as well.
Magic Painting Books
Painting in the car usually sounds like a messy disaster waiting to happen but with these cool Magic Painting Books, all you have to do is add water. You could even saturate a sponge in a small ziplock container so that there was no liquid to spill at all. A paintbrush is included and my kids and I have been super impressed with the quality and brilliance of the colors compared to other water paint books. These are best for kids who can so some coloring in the lines but even little ones would have fun seeing the colors come up on the page like magic.
Wipe-Clean Books
The Wipe-Clean Books are great for the car because kids can reuse them over and over again. My boys love to work on these and I just include an old sock for their eraser in their travel bags. Some of my favorites include Wipe-Clean Garden Activities and Wipe-Clean Castle Activities but there are several themes to choose from. If you want to sneak in a little learning there are quite a few Wipe-Clean ABC, numbers, and first words books for early learners.
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Doodle Activity Cards
My kids love the Travel Doodle Cards that encourage imaginative sketches with the included dry erase pen. I love that I can separate the deck to share between kids or keep a few in a Ziploc back in my purse for when we need to fill a few minutes in a waiting room. The Animal Doodle Cards also look super cute and might need to be added to our collection.
Activity Books
Most of these activity books aren’t aren’t reusable but they are packed full of fun and we get hours out of them before they are filled up. From the giant maze books to these math puzzles, your kids will only need a pencil to be entertained for hours. Plus, you can remove pages so you can dole out a few a time to make them last a bit longer. I love all the themes that are offered so you can really customize for your child’s interests.
How to Keep Your Kids Busy on A Road Trip
If you’ve got a long trip ahead of you and you’re looking to keep your kids busy on a road trip, I highly recommend checking out Usborne Books and More for a great selection of high quality books. It’s a one stop shop to grab everything you need for a big trip!
Make sure to check out the full catalog for all the latest releases. I also highly recommend reaching out to Kelly if you have questions about any of the products or want specific recommendations based on your kids interests!
Happy Road Tripping!
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Contributor
Thanks to Kelly Akers for her help with this post! Kelly is a lives in Hoover, AL and is a stay-at-home mom to 3 kiddos. Her son Rowen, is 17 and is an avid reader. Her son, Hudson, is 16 and is profoundly deaf and has a cochlear implant. She has him to thank for discovering Usborne Books, when his speech therapist first introduced them to these amazing books. And, her daughter, Hannah Ryan is 7. She was adopted from China 5 years ago, thanks to the blessing of her Usborne business which made it financially feasible. Kelly is a Director for Usborne Books and More and has been with the company for 11 years! You can find her on Facebook, Instagram, or join her Raising Readers Group on Facebook for deals and discounts!
Have you tried any Usborne books for your road trips? What are your favorite kids road trip activities to pack for a long trip? Leave a comment below.
I want a minivan so bad…but that’s another topic! thanks for the cool road trip ideas, we road trip about once a month for cheer! These ideas are great to share with other moms also!
I resisted the minivan for a long time but I can’t imaging going back now. I love it! Glad the ideas are helpful. I think they’re been some great books for any age and like I said, I’m always really impressed with the quality of the books too. Thanks for commenting!
I love sticker books! My niece thinks it’s so fun matching them up!
Stickers are magic for little ones! I always have a cheap stack from the dollar store in my purse for unplanned waiting time!
Great ideas. My youngest daughter loves dry erase boards. Taking them on a long trip is a wonderful idea. We always kept travel bingo and hangman in our vehicle when our kids were younger.
What I like about these books is that they go up to high school with interest and activities. Their are math and art books that are really interesting for older kids and not babyish. Travel Bingo is a huge hit in our car too!
I can’t wait to do another rush try! We do a 3.5 Road trip every other month to Chicago and next month will be our first one with our 1 month old! I need tips for her 😉 I love the wholesale books for our 4 yo!
With little tiny ones – just pack your patience! We got good stretches of driving after nursing and then just knew we had to stop more often. Plan it around they’re best time of day so hopefully you get less fussiness. Good luck on your trip!