Last week I wrote a blog with ten travel activities to bring for your preschool child on holidays. I promised I’d follow up with some activities/toys/games to bring if you were traveling with children aged 6-8, so here it is! My youngest is 7 years old and earlier this year, we traveled as a family to Asia. Out of these ten items, we brought 8 and they all were used plenty.

I already mentioned in my last blog that I have some rules for travel activities. They are:

• They need to be small and light and easy to transport
• They can’t be expensive
• They need to be toys or activities that can be done multiple times
• They have to be quiet/sit down activities that won’t disturb other holidaymakers.

So, if you have a holiday planned, whether within Ireland or abroad, with children aged six, seven or eight, I’m happy to recommend these activities to keep them busy in restaurants, on rainy days or during long journeys.

1. Pick up Sticks Game €4

This is a game to test your patience and your skill of picking up a stick without disturbing the other sticks. It’s not suitable to play while traveling as you need a solid surface to play, but it’s a fun game for children and adults alike to play while waiting for a meal to arrive or a shower to pass.

2. Mini Games – Mazes €6.50

Djeco has a fantastic range of little boxes full of different activities in their ‘Mini Games/Logix/Grafic’ range. Each box has 30 cards with activities to complete and some come with a pencil. This one has 30 mazes for your child to work out and a pencil. Once your child has finished their maze they can be packed again, with the pencil into the box for the next time.

3. Putty Peeps – €7

This small jar of putty comes with a set of eyes and is great for your child’s imagination, as they make little animals or monsters. One of the greatest things about putty is that it doesn’t dry out so it can be used over and over again.

4. The Beetle Game – €4.50

This travel version of the Beetle Game comes in a small box with 2 pencils. If you have more children (or the adults want to join in, bring extra pencils). The aim of the game is to be the first person to draw a complete beetle. However, you can only draw each part of the beetle when you throw the dice and get the correct number. The dice is passed around, with each person taking turns. The box contains the dice and a notepad with beetle outlines for your child to follow.

5. The Secret Decoder Game Book – €7.75

Although this activity can’t be done over and over, there are enough pages in it to keep your child busy on and off throughout your holiday. Use the rotary wheel at the front of this book to match the symbols with letters, then write them underneath the codes to figure out what is being said or requested on each page. Then use the invisible ink pen to colour over pictures and reveal other clues.

6. Rainbow Scratch Art – €5.49

If your child is creative, they will love making designs or pictures by scratching the black card with the stylus and revealing an array of colours underneath. The rainbow set comes with a page of stencils, should your child choose to use them. I also stock party packs of scratch art bookmarks and keyrings, so if you are traveling with lots of kids, these kits can be shared out easily.

7. Are we there yet? Travel Cards – €5

This is a game devised for traveling in a car with children where they have to spot lots of different items as you journey. More suitable for traveling in developed countries as some of the items would be hard to find in parts of Africa or Asia.

8. Mini Logix – Wordsearch – €6.50

This is also part of the Djeco Mini range. The box has 30 fun word searches and a pencil. If you are traveling with more than one child and want to share this box, then bring extra pencils.

9. Travel Mosaics – €6.50

In my last blog, I featured some sticker mosaic activities for young children. These ones here are suitable for older kids as the stickers aren’t raised and they need to be placed close to each other to complete the picture. This Mosaic Pad has 8 board pictures to complete and hundreds of stickers.

10. Connect4 – Grab and Go – €10.75

This is a little bit more expensive but it’s a game that can be used over and over on holidays or at home. This travel version is smaller than the original game but looks exactly the same. It’s for two players.

Along with these, I always pack a book for each of my children, a magazine and some markers. We leave the screens at home and we don’t miss them!

I hope this blog has given you some inspiration. Next week, I plan on writing a blog on travel activities for 9-12-year-olds, so if you have children that age, pop back in about a week’s time!

Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope you all have a wonderful summer, whether you stay at home or leave the country.

xx Suzie