DIY Travel Kits for Kids: 15 Easy Ideas for Road Trips & Flights
DIY travel kits for kids can make long road trips and flights easier by keeping a few favorite activities organized and within reach. Because once the excitement of leaving home fades, “Are we there yet?” can become the soundtrack to your journey.
You don’t need expensive toys or an overflowing activity bag. A small pouch of coloring supplies, stickers, books, or simple games can give children something to enjoy along the way.
These 15 easy ideas will help you put together a kit that suits your child’s age, interests, and the trip ahead, using plenty of things you may already have at home.
Why DIY Travel Kits for Kids Are Helpful for Family Trips
A travel kit keeps your child’s activities in one place, so you spend less time searching for a missing crayon or favorite book. It also lets you choose activities that suit their interests rather than packing toys they rarely use.
Pack a few different options, such as drawing supplies, a book, and a simple game, then offer them one at a time. A kit won’t prevent every restless moment, but it gives you something ready when your child needs a change of activity.
1. DIY Coloring Travel Kit
A coloring kit is a simple place to start, especially if your child already enjoys drawing at home. Keep it small enough to open and pack away easily in a waiting area or on an airplane tray.
What to pack:
- A small coloring book or drawing pad
- A few crayons or colored pencils suited to your child’s age
- A zippered pencil pouch
- A folder for loose pages and finished pictures
Slide the book into the folder and keep the crayons together in the pouch. Choose a handful of favorite colors rather than bringing the entire art drawer. You’ll have fewer pieces to retrieve later.
To make the kit more personal, add a few drawing prompts before leaving: “Draw where we’re going,” “Design a silly suitcase,” or “Draw something you spotted today.”
Practical tip: Choose crayons with flat sides to help reduce rolling, and avoid leaving them in a hot car, where they can soften or melt.
2. DIY Sticker Activity Kit
A sticker kit gives children a little world to arrange, rearrange, and tell stories about. Choose a theme they already enjoy, such as dinosaurs, farm animals, or space.
What to pack:
- An age-appropriate reusable sticker book
- A few sheets of themed stickers
- A small notebook
- A slim folder or zippered pouch
Before leaving, draw simple backgrounds in the notebook: a farm, an underwater scene, or a planet with an empty sky. Your child can add stickers and tell you what is happening in each picture.
Keep reusable stickers on the surfaces supplied with their book unless the manufacturer says otherwise. Ordinary notebook paper may not allow them to peel off cleanly.
Practical tip: Keep the backing sheets inside the folder so unused stickers have somewhere to go. Choose stickers suitable for your child’s age and supervise younger children.
3. Toddler Travel Activity Kit
For toddlers, start with a few familiar items that need little explanation. The aim is to make activities easy to offer and put away, rather than fill a bag with choices.
What to pack:
- A small board book
- A soft toy or familiar comfort item
- An age-labelled fabric activity book
- A drawing pad and chunky crayons, if suitable for your child
Arrange the items in a small fabric bag, with the book and comfort toy easiest to reach. Keep drawing supplies in a separate pouch and bring them out when an adult can supervise.
Try a simple game with the board book: ask your child to point to an animal, find something yellow, or copy a character’s expression. Familiar books can offer more than one way to play.
Practical tip: Check items for loose parts before packing. Keep older siblings’ small game pieces separate from the toddler’s activities.
4. DIY Road Trip Activity Kit
Build this kit around what children can spot outside the window. It gives the scenery a role in the entertainment and requires fewer loose supplies.
What to pack:
- A homemade picture scavenger hunt
- A pencil for an older child
- A small notebook
- A folder to hold the pages
Draw or print six to ten things your child might see along your route, such as a bus, bridge, motorcycle, petrol station, or red car. Use pictures for children who are not reading yet.
Older children can tick items off independently. Younger children can point them out while another passenger keeps track. For a second round, ask everyone to find something beginning with a chosen letter.
Practical tip: Adapt the list to your route. A city journey and a countryside drive will offer different things to spot. A passenger should manage the game so the driver can concentrate.
5. Airplane Activity Kit
For a flight, choose activities that fit into a small pouch and can be packed away quickly. A kit that needs the whole tray table to be emptied every few minutes can become more work than entertainment.
What to pack:
- A slim sticker book
- A small drawing pad
- A few crayons in a zippered pouch
- A compact activity book
- Headphones for downloaded stories or entertainment
Test the kit at home on a small table. If the activities spread everywhere, reduce the contents before packing.
Place the pouch somewhere accessible inside your cabin bag. Keep one activity aside for waiting at the gate rather than opening everything as soon as you arrive.
Practical tip: Download any audio before leaving home, and put the activities away whenever the crew requires tray tables to be stowed.
6. Screen-Free Travel Kit
Turn a few homemade question cards and simple puzzles into a compact collection of screen-free challenges.
What to pack:
- A maze or puzzle booklet
- A few homemade question cards
- A small notebook and pencil
- A compact card game suited to your child’s age
Write prompts on cards before the trip: “Name five animals,” “Invent a sandwich for a giant,” or “Tell a story using a boat, a hat, and a dog.”
Keep the cards in an envelope inside the notebook. Children can draw a card whenever they want a new challenge, and siblings can take turns answering.
Practical tip: Include some spoken games for times when your child does not feel like looking down at a page.
7. DIY Snack-Stop and Activity Kit
Keep food and activities in separate pouches within your travel bag. This makes snacks easier to find and keeps crumbs or spills away from books and drawing supplies.
What to pack:
- A sealed container with familiar, age-appropriate food
- Drinking water
- Wipes and a small rubbish bag
- A separate activity pouch
Choose food according to your child’s eating abilities, allergies, and dietary needs. Foods suitable for older children may present choking hazards for toddlers.
For infants and toddlers on road trips, plan stops where they can sit upright and eat under close supervision. The CDC’s choking-prevention guidance advises avoiding eating in cars and strollers.
Practical tip: Keep perishable foods appropriately chilled and food containers separate from art supplies.
8. DIY LEGO Travel Kit
A small building kit can suit children who meet the set’s age recommendation and enjoy making their own designs. It is particularly useful during airport waits or at your accommodation, where there is a stable surface for building.
What to pack:
- A small selection of LEGO bricks
- A shallow, lidded storage box
- A few homemade building-challenge cards
- A photo of a simple model to copy
Choose the pieces around a few possible builds rather than taking random handfuls. For example, wheels, a base, and a few basic bricks could become several different vehicles.
Add challenges such as “Build a vehicle for an explorer” or “Make a house with only the pieces in this box.”
Practical tip: Keep small bricks away from children under three and anyone who mouths objects. Pack this activity away before moving between locations.
9. Travel Puzzle Kit
A puzzle folder is useful for children who like solving something with a clear finish. It also avoids carrying several bulky puzzle boxes.
What to pack:
- A few age-appropriate mazes
- Spot-the-difference pages
- Matching activities or word puzzles
- A pencil and eraser
- A slim folder
Choose a mixture of easier pages and slightly harder challenges. Put each type in its own section so your child can find something that matches their mood.
For reusable activities, place suitable pages in wipe-clean sleeves and use a compatible marker. Keep the marker with the folder and test that it wipes off before travelling.
Practical tip: If you include a magnetic puzzle, follow its age label, inspect it for damage, and exclude loose or high-powered magnets. The CPSC’s magnet safety guidance explains the serious risks of swallowed magnets.
10. Travel Reading Kit
A reading kit works well during airport waits, quiet afternoons at your accommodation, or journeys when your child feels comfortable reading.
What to pack:
- One favorite book
- One unfamiliar book to explore
- A bookmark
- A small fabric book bag
- An optional downloaded audiobook
Let your child choose the familiar book, then add something connected to your destination. A story about sea creatures, for example, can build excitement before a beach holiday.
Keep both books together in the bag to protect their pages. For younger children, take turns finding objects in the illustrations or inventing voices for the characters.
Practical tip: An audiobook gives children another way to enjoy a story when they want a break from the page.
11. Travel Bingo Kit
Travel bingo adds a clear goal to spotting things outside: complete a row before the other players.
What to pack:
- A homemade bingo card for each player
- Pencils
- A folder to keep the cards together
Draw a three-by-three grid and fill each square with something likely to appear along your route. Here is a simple example:
| Red car | Bus | Bridge |
|---|---|---|
| Dog | Petrol station | Truck |
| Motorcycle | Tree | Stop sign |
Players mark a square when they spot its item. The first person to complete a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line calls “Bingo!”
Change the position of the items on each player’s card. For younger children, use pictures and let an adult passenger help with marking.
Practical tip: Skip loose counters. Marking the paper means fewer pieces to lose between seats.
12. DIY Drawing & Journal Kit
A travel journal gives older children somewhere to collect their own version of the trip, including the moments adults might overlook.
What to pack:
- A small notebook
- A pencil and a few colored pencils
- Stickers
- Washi tape
- A pouch for supplies
Before leaving, add a few optional prompts:
- The funniest thing I saw today was…
- If I could design our next stop, it would have…
- A new thing I noticed was…
- My favorite moment today was…
Leave plenty of blank pages for drawings, short stories, or tickets added after the outing. Children do not need to complete every prompt or write a daily report.
Practical tip: Date the entries so the notebook becomes an easy-to-follow holiday keepsake.
13. Quiet Travel Kit
A quiet kit offers familiar, low-fuss activities when your child wants a gentler pace. Keep it separate from competitive games and surprise challenges.
What to pack:
- A soft book
- A small comfort toy
- A fabric activity book suited to your child’s age
- Optional headphones for a familiar audio story
Place the items in a soft pouch and keep the contents simple. Your child might look through a book, hold their comfort toy, or listen to a story without needing to complete anything.
This kit can be useful in shared waiting areas or during quieter parts of a journey, although children may still need movement, reassurance, or rest.
Practical tip: Choose silent items without flashing lights or sound effects.
14. Destination-Themed Travel Kit
A destination-themed kit helps children explore where they are going before they arrive. Choose one theme and build a few activities around it.
What to pack:
- A homemade activity booklet
- Themed stickers
- Picture cards
- A small drawing pad and crayons
For a beach trip, draw an underwater scene, add sea-animal stickers, and include a page for designing a sandcastle.
For a camping trip, prepare animal picture cards, a nature-spotting page, and space to draw the campsite after arrival.
Staple the activity pages into a booklet before leaving, or keep them together in a slim folder.
Practical tip: Include a “Things I want to find out” page. Your child can add questions before the trip and look for answers during the visit.
15. Surprise Travel Kit
You do not need a bag full of new toys to create a surprise. Familiar activities can feel different when they arrive with a playful prompt.
What to pack:
- Three paper envelopes or reusable pouches
- A different activity in each
- Simple labels or picture clues
One envelope could contain a drawing challenge, another a sticker scene, and the third a short story to read together.
Label them with flexible milestones such as “For our next waiting break” or “After our first stop.” Avoid promising an exact opening time if the journey may change.
Practical tip: Let children open the activities when they need a change of pace. The envelopes are a way to organize the fun, rather than a strict timetable.
How to Pack and Organize Your Travel Kit
Start with activities your child already enjoys. For a short journey, a book, a creative activity, and a simple game make a useful starting selection. Add extra options for longer trips without trying to bring every kit on this list.
Use a small bag with separate pouches for drawing supplies, games, and practical items. Keep food in its own sealed container and store anything requiring adult supervision out of young children’s reach.
Let your child choose one or two activities before leaving. Check that everything fits, containers close properly, and the activities can be packed away easily.
Match the Contents to Your Child
- Toddlers: Prioritize familiar board books, soft toys, and age-labelled fabric activities without loose small parts.
- Preschoolers: Consider simple matching activities, suitable sticker books, and drawing supplies.
- School-age children: Offer journals, word puzzles, card games, or building activities that meet the product’s age recommendation.
Use these as starting points rather than fixed rules. Your child’s abilities, interests, and tendency to mouth objects matter alongside age.
What to Leave at Home
Skip glitter, paint, noisy toys, bulky games, and activities with more pieces than you can comfortably manage. Inspect toys for damage and keep older children’s small parts separate from younger siblings’ belongings.
Before leaving, check that any downloaded entertainment works offline and that the kit is accessible without unpacking the whole bag.
Frequently Asked Questions About DIY Travel Kits for Kids
What should I put in a DIY travel kit for kids?
Start with age-appropriate activities such as coloring books, crayons, stickers, puzzles, books, magnetic games, and a small notebook. You can also include snacks, headphones, and a comfort item depending on the length of the journey.
How do I make a travel kit for a toddler?
Start with a board book, a familiar soft toy, and an age-labelled fabric activity book. Add drawing supplies only if suitable for your child and when an adult can supervise. Avoid loose small parts, and keep older siblings’ activities separate.
What are good screen-free travel activities for kids?
Coloring, sticker books, travel bingo, magnetic games, puzzles, drawing, reading, card games, and scavenger hunts are all useful screen-free options.
How do I keep kids entertained on a long road trip?
Use several different types of activities and rotate them throughout the journey. You can combine coloring, games, books, snacks, music, audiobooks, scavenger hunts, and age-appropriate screen time.
How many activities should I pack for a road trip?
There isn’t one perfect number. For a short trip, three to five activities may be enough. For longer journeys, prepare additional options and introduce them gradually rather than giving your child everything at once.
Are DIY travel kits expensive to make?
Not necessarily. You can create one using supplies you already have at home. A pencil case, coloring book, stickers, paper, crayons, and a few small games can create a useful kit without spending much money.
Are travel kits good for airplanes?
Yes. Compact travel kits can be particularly useful on airplanes because they give children activities that can be done while seated. Choose small, quiet activities that don’t contain lots of loose pieces.
Final Thoughts on DIY Travel Kits for Kids
The most useful travel kit is one your child will actually enjoy using. Start with a few familiar activities, add something suited to your destination, and keep everything easy to find and put away.
You do not need to make all 15 kits. Choose the ideas that fit your family, use supplies you already have, and leave room for conversation, rest, and breaks along the way.
A little preparation gives you something ready for the quieter stretches of the journey—and fewer reasons to search under a seat for that missing crayon.
