We Reviewed Dozens Of The Best Road Trip Apps For Kids So You Don’t Have To. Here Are Our Top Picks.
Family road trips (in the car or otherwise) often tax adults’ patience and kids’ mental well-being. You really need to have a bag of tricks ready to keep kids of all ages occupied during long rides and wait times, and your phone or tablet can be a godsend.
Here are some of the best of the best road trip apps for kids that need occupying. These focus mostly on preschool and younger elementary kids, since they are the ones that need the most help keeping busy in the confines of car or plane, but there are several apps on the list that promote family fun that even the driver can enjoy (as long as they aren’t behind the wheel!).
Sago Mini Road Trip Adventure
Sago Mini Road Trip AdventurePrice: free ($4.99 for full version)
iOS App Store / Google Play Store
Young kids will relish being in the driver’s seat as they choose a destination, pick a great vehicle (or a silly one!), wash and fuel the car, then drive away. Choose from over 10 vehicles and 6 destinations.
This app is free but does have an in-app purchase to unlock all the content at $4.99. It’s perfect to play on real road trips, and will tickle preschoolers, ages 2-5.
Roxies a-MAZE-ing Adventure
Price: $2.99
This maze and search-and-find game sets players on a hunt through 10 different environments to find dozens of hidden items. It is different every time, too. The interactive adventure is beautifully illustrated, and will provide hours of productive fun for the kids.
This app costs $2.99 and is suitable for both younger and older kids in your family. It’s unique and fun and will keep kids entertained for quite a while.
Roadtrip-BINGO
Roadtrip-BINGOPrice: free
Here’s a nostalgic game that has occupied kids on trips for decades. There are 9 different gameboards with a randomized assortment of things commonly seen out the window. There is a color board, an airline board, a food and restaurant board, and other variations to suit any trip.
Roadtrip-Bingo is free to download. There is a two-player mode (landscape orientation of your device) where players can actually play head to head, as well as single-player. A settings screen lets players customize their game play.
The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Car Trip
Price: $2.99
iOS App Store / Google Play Store
This interactive book fro Oceanhouse Media is a great companion on car rides. Users have left a perfect 5.0 rating for this app! It’s awesome for kids from 4 to 8 years of age. Follow the Berenstain Bears as they head out on a car trip with their usual adventures.
This ebook costs $2.99. It features parental controls, highlighted narration to encourage literacy, tappable words and pictures, and capability to record your own narration.
Bogga Vacation
Bogga VacationPrice: $3.99 on iOS; $1.99 on Google Play
iOS App Store / Google Play Store
This vacation app will build logic and creativity in young children as they go through all the steps to go on a vacation, then land on a tropical island. Once there, they can make castles, take pictures, go treasure-hunting, and more. It’s everything that kids love about vacations, and all in the palm of your hand!
Bogga Vacation is $3.99 for the iOS version, and $1.99 on Google Play and safe for young players. The kids will learn to plan a trip, interpret signs, read maps, and more. It’s well worth the investment.
Extreme Road Trip
Price: free with in-app purchases
iOS App Store / Google Play Store
Older kids will love this driving game that pits players against limited gas in the tank and stuck gas pedal. Drivers control the car by tilting the device and can do stunts and much more. The goal is to cover as much ground as possible before you run out of gas, and the stunts and jumps will help players win the game.
Extreme Road Trip costs nothing to try, but the app does offer in-app purchases ranging from ninety-nine cents to $1.99 on iOS and $74.99 on Google Play that will enhance the game. Players can choose from 20 vehicles and 6 locations for play.
Car-tegories
Car-tegoriesPrice: free with in-app purchases
This trivia game may be just the ticket to keep complaints to a minimum on your next family adventure. Choose trivia questions from 15 different categories and try to answer as many as possible in 60 seconds. The whole family can play, but make sure the driver keeps eyes on the road!
The app is free and offers in-app purchases of additional decks of questions for ninety-nine cents each or access the entire set for $2.99. Get everyone in on the fun, and give it a try!
Smule
Price: free with in-app purchases
iOS App Store / Google Play Store
What family doesn’t love singing along with the radio on a long car trip? Smule adds more depth and dimension to this favorite way to wile away the miles. This app not only gives you access to millions of favorite tunes, it also provides you with a way to record yourselves and even make videos. That’s right, it’s KARAOKE!! Sing duets or have a family group. You can practice until you’re perfect, then hit that record option.
The app offers loads of songs on its own, but there are in-app purchases available for prices between $2.99 to $7.99 to expand the collection even more. Imagine singing along to all your Disney favorites, or hit songs you know and love. You can purchase week-long access to some collections that might be perfect for your road trip.
Top Road Trip Travel Games
Top Road Trip Travel GamesPrice: free
iOS App Store / Google Play Store
Top Road Trip Games includes 11 favorite travel games, plus utitilities such as a game countdown timer, a self-updating scoreboard, a game stopwatch, and a player profile system. Games include stand-by favorites such as Spot It, Slug Bug, Memory, Name that Tune, and more. The app even includes a simple gas mileage calculator to keep your budget on track while you play.
The app is free to download, and has no in-app purchasese. The games are suitable for kids young and old as well as adults.
Trivia Crack
Price: free with in-app purchases
iOS App Store / Google Play Store
This game was quite the fad several years back, but it’s become a classic, and it’s perfect for your next road trip. Challenge your knowledge of the most unimportant facts you can think of in this fun, competitive game. There are 6 different categories with hundreds of thousands of built in questions, plus the option to insert your own questions.
The game is free to download. There are available in-app purchases of in-game currency packs ranging from ninety-nine cents to $24.99.
Fruit Ninja HD
Price: Free ( Offers In app Purchase)
iOS App Store / Google Play Store
The name pretty much says it all. Slice and dice your way through flying fruits to score as many points as you can. Older children and adults will be happy trying to beat their best scores, while younger kids will be thrilled to just cut the fruit. For parents looking for a little more education – check out Ninja Chicken. Same slicing premise – only players slice composite numbers and save the prime numbers.