Summer is truly in full swing (despite the weather not being sure what it’s doing) so I thought it was about time I wrote the next blog in my Travel Activities series. If you missed my last blog ‘Travel Activities for 3 and 4 year olds’, you can read it here.

So, if you’re travelling within Ireland, going abroad or doing some day trips, here’s 10 travel activities that I’m happy to recommend and which I’ve found great at entertaining my kids when we’ve been hanging out in hotels, coffee shops, outdoors and on airplanes.

1. Mosaic Stickers

Sticking stickers according to their size, shape, colour and pattern is something kids love doing and which takes them ages to do. I stock different types of mosaic sticker crafts but the following two packs are suitable for children aged 5 and 6.

Maped – Mini Box of Mosaic Stickers

Djeco – Make your own Mosaic Masks

2. Rainbow Scratch Art

These scratch art sheets come with a stylus and some stencils. They are brilliant for encouraging free drawing and doodling. I have brought these with us on a holiday before and the girls have loved it. It’s a slim pack, that’s light to carry. Before leaving, I cut each sheet in half so there was twice as many pages and it encouraged smaller, more intricate patterns and drawings.

3. Dot-to-Dot books

These activity books from Galt have 24 fun pictures to complete varying in difficulty from 20, 30 or 40 dots to join. Once done, your child can colour in the pictures. If you are bringing a book like this one, don’t forget to pack some colours, a pencil and a sharpener/eraser.

4. Misticat Card Game

Most of the time, a lot of us find it hard to find the time to sit down and play games with our kids. But holidays are different and if you are looking for a card game suitable for five and six year olds then check out Misticat. It’s a really fun card swapping game where you have to find a match for all your cats but at the same time, you don’t want to be left with the Masked ‘Misticat’ card. Great for family fun, observation skills and learning how to take turns, win and lose!

5. Wipe Clean Activity Books

I stock three of these which would suit this age group – a Spot the Difference book, a Numbers book and a Mazes book. These can be used over and over and will keep children busy as they try and solve the puzzles.

6. The Four Seasons Lotto Game

This is a simple memory game. Each player gets a card that illustrates ones of the four seasons. The disks are placed face down on a table and then players take it in turn to turn over a disk to see if it matches their season. If packing space is an issue, take the contents of this box out of it and place in a zip locked bag for travelling with.

7. A Magnifying Glass

If you want to encourage some outdoor time, a magnifying glass will go down a treat. I stock this lovely wooden handle one and the Terra Kids Exploration Magnifying Glass, which is quite large so would suit a staycation better. They are both great for helping children look at details on insects, plants, rocks and so much more. If your child is very interested in exploring nature, they might prefer a bug viewer. I stock the ‘Worlds Best Bug Viewer‘.

8. Magic Markers

It’s nice to have some nice colours for holidaying and these markers are magic! Colour like normal but then use the white marker over the coloured picture and the colour changes to a different colour. Brilliant for adding fine detail and patterns to pictures.

9. Create Animals with Stickers

If you are holidaying with other children, then this craft set is great for sharing. There’s 4 of each picture (16 pictures in total) which you need to decorate using the 424 stickers. Ideal for whipping out as you wait for food to be served.

10. Colouring Velvet

These little ‘On the Go’ pads from Melissa and Doug Toys really are perfect for being on the go. The cover has a  built in compartment that holds the six felt tip pens. The book has six velvet pictures to colour in. The velvet adds texture to the pictures but it also means that your child can’t go outside the lines and the pictures look really impressive. Something they will feel very proud of. I stock two types of these – Magic Velvet Animals and Magic Velvet Butterflies.

So, there you have it! 10 travel activities to keep your five and six year olds busy on car journeys, coffee shops, airplanes or wherever your find yourselves,  while you relax on your holidays.

Have a great one,

xx Suzie

Since writing this blog, I have added a range of beach toys called Scrunch. They are the buckets, watering cans and flying discs are all made of silicone so they are super light, easy to squeeze into small spaces and really durable. The spades are made of recyclable plastic.