Honestly, I get kind of jealous of my kids when we pile into the car for a long drive. I mean, when I was a kid, being in the car was so boring that my parents would sometimes let my sister and I put the seats down and set up a sleeping bag fort in the backseat of our station wagon just to get us to shut up. Okay, so that was actually really fun, come to think of it! But I’m talking about technology. Being in the car for hours used to be torture—now it’s like the best place in the entire world, all thanks to the millions of apps at our fingertips.
As happy (and jealous) as I am to hand over the iPad once we’ve buckled up, it’s also really important to me that the apps are both fun and educational. It’s going to be a long car ride, so my six-year-old daughter may as well get to practice her vocabulary or learn to code, right? The genius of it is that some of the apps are so fun that kids don’t even realize they’re learning. Brilliant! Here’s a list of some of the best road trip apps for kids to learn a lesson (or three), both educational and entertaining. Check ‘em out before your next long trip!
More Fun Stuff:
- Amazing Sensory Play Ideas (& How Sensory Play Benefits Kids)
- 29 Indoor Games Your Kids Will Absolutely Love
- Fun Car Games That Will Entertain Your Kids for Hours
Best Road Trip Apps That Will Teach Kids a Lesson
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Slice Fractions
Math was never my thing growing up, but it probably would have been if I had been able to slice through ice and lava (and learn all about fractions) in order to clear the mammoth’s path. Problem solving has never been so fun.
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Sago Mini Road Trip
This app puts kids in the driver's seat, planning their own road trip with Jinga the cat. They start by picking a vehicle (choices include a hot dog car and shoe-mobile) and planning their destination. Then it's time to gas up and go!
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Teach Your Monster to Read
My kids love monsters, especially cute ones, and that's why they have so much fun with this app. First, kids will create their own adorable monster and then they'll go on a journey together, improving reading skills and vocabulary with cool interactive and colorful games along the way.
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Kid Song Machine
Get the car karaoke started with this jukebox of singalong songs, enhanced by fun graphics. Early readers can follow along with the words, but most kids know these popular songs (like "Itsy Bitsy Spider") by heart anyway.
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Crazy Gears
Forget about your run of the mill puzzle app. Crazy Gears allows kids to manipulate rods, gears, chains, and pulleys in order to get their critical thinking skills revved up. Kids will have a blast as they begin to understand how everyday mechanisms work.
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Shake a Phrase
Fun with Words and Sentences - Kids learn about parts of speech and vocabulary through silly sentences like "The clever cheerleader tripped over the bouncy zamboni driver." Keep shaking, because you'll definitely want to know what happens next.
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LumiKids Park
By sorting cute, squirmy critters into different color, shape and size categories, or feeding the flying “nom nom” critters, kids will stimulate their cognitive flexibility and visual-motor coordination skills with this fun, adorable, and adaptive game.
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Math Evolve
Part math lesson, part video game, Math Evolve has kids solving problems while fighting aliens. You'll be wishing their elementary school teachers tried this attention-keeping trick in school.
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Road Trip Bingo
What's special about this game is that two kids can play head to head, sharing the same screen. They'll search the road for street signs, colored cars and points of interest until someone gets bingo and it's time for a rematch. Repeat as necessary.
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code Spark
Want to teach your kid the basics of computer programming while you're on the road? codeSpark Academy is a great way for your 4-9 year old to learn the basics of computer programming. Super cool puzzles, games, and creative projects make this one a real winner.
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Rory’s Story Cubes
"Tell me a story!" is a demand I often hear from the back seat. With this simple story generator app, just shake the iPad or phone to "roll" the dice and receive prompts like a castle, bridge, hot air balloon or shooting star.
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Stack the States
Here's how you teach kids geography: by appealing to their competitive side. When they answer questions about one of the 50 U.S. states correctly, they win that state and get to watch their territories stack up on screen. Learning the state capitals just got a whole lot more fun.
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License Plate Game
Want your kids to look out the window occasionally and not just down at a device? With this app, they'll be searching for license plates from different states, then matching them to an on-screen graphic. The goal is to find all 50, plus Washington D.C., which could definitely take a while.
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Poptropica
Kids create a character who can travel the virtual world of Poptropica, where island mysteries are waiting to be solved. Real information is built into the narrative, so players are picking up fascinating facts about science, history, mythology and more.
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Drawing Pad
If your kids love making artwork, but you're not so wild about getting paint and glue all over the car, try this mobile art studio that allows kids to create with photo-realistic crayons, markers, paint brushes, colored pencils, stickers and roller pens.
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This is My Car Mechanics for Kids
With this app's virtual model car, little drivers learn basic mechanics and how to maintain an automobile. Activities include changing tires, filling up with gas and checking the oil, all of which may come in handy at your next rest stop.
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Duplo Apps
Didn't pack 5000 pieces of Lego on your trip? That's okay, the free Duplo apps have you covered. Kids can choose from Ice Cream, Food, Circus, Animals and Train, then get ready to build.
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Grandma's Preschool
You might be on a road trip, but your young child won't miss a day of preschool with this app. Grandma teaches letters, numbers and shapes through fun, interactive games. Kids can even help out with the class guinea pigs, who keep escaping their cage.
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Wheels on the Bus
Everybody's favorite road trip song is now an app, with 11 verses to sing along with and a funpack of vehicle-oriented games, including brain boosting "memory match" and "happy bus math."
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Monkey MathSchool Sunshine
Kids help a monkey solve all kinds of problems using core math skills like sequencing and patterning. The game instinctively adjusts to a child's ability level and allows kids to collect rewards in an animated aquarium. Cool!
