On the Go Art and Games

Compact Games and Art for Big Fun

• What: On the Go Art and Games
• When: 3 years and up
• Why: Keep kids entertained, limit complaints
• Where: On the road

Looking to keep the kids entertained while you’re on the road? Whether it’s a trip across the city to their grandparents’ house, or a cross-country expedition, these compact games and accessories will keep kids busy for hours on end in tight spaces.

Mad Libs: The entire family can get in on the fun with these fill-in-the-blank games. Each pad comes with a different theme, and requires players to come up with various parts of speech to complete the story. Take turns filling in the spaces or write down the first word that someone shouts out. Either way, the end result will keep kids laughing at the zany combinations, and they won’t even notice that they’re learning parts of speech and composition skills.

Chalkboard Placemats: These chalkboard placemats make art and games on the go even easier. With a black background, kids can play tic-tac-toe, hangman, or just doodle to their hearts’ content. Once they fill up the black canvas, they can erase and start all over again, without needing more paper. When they get bored, they can color in the side with outlines of pictures.

License Plate Bingo: If you’re traveling by car, particularly between states, this game requires no equipment and can keep kids interested in the view outside the car. Try and find license plates from all fifty states. If you want to expand their geographic knowledge, have them name the capital or make lists in alphabetical order for even more advanced learning fun. 

Boogie Drawing Board: This magic drawing board lets kids trace as well as write. The translucent blue drawing surface works with almost any stylus, letting kids write, draw, and doodle at their leisure. Once they finish, the push of a button wipes the screen clean. While these devices do work on battery power, we have yet to replace a battery in one of ours. And now you can get accessory packs for more drawing and tracing fun.

Doodle Mania Scratch Art: This scratch-off art activity book provides a ton of art projects without needing many materials. The simple wooden stick will remove the black coating to reveal the rainbow of colors underneath. Kids can complete the activities on each page, or use the stick to reveal their own creations.