How To Keep Kids Entertained On Long Driving Days

Long driving days are inevitable on the Big Lap. Australia is big, and the interesting bits are spread far apart. A 400km day might sound manageable until you realise that 400km at towing speed is 4 to 5 hours of driving, which is 4 to 5 hours of kids strapped into car seats with nothing to do but ask “are we there yet?” every 12 minutes. The good news is that with the right preparation, driving days don’t have to be miserable. Some families even find them enjoyable. The key is a combination of realistic expectations, a rotation of activities, and strategic deployment of screens, snacks, and audiobooks.

A well-prepared activity kit and a rotation system can turn a 5-hour drive from torture to manageable.

Set Realistic Expectations

Maximum driving time by age: Toddlers (1 to 3): 2 to 3 hours with stops. Preschoolers (3 to 5): 3 to 4 hours with stops. Primary school (5 to 10): 4 to 5 hours with stops. Older kids and teens: 5 to 6 hours with stops. These are maximums, not targets. Pushing beyond them creates misery for everyone.

Build in stops. Every 1.5 to 2 hours, stop for 15 to 20 minutes. Let kids run, stretch, climb, throw a ball, or just stand up. A playground stop, a walk to a lookout, or even just a petrol station with space to move makes the next stretch bearable. Plan stops at interesting points rather than random pull-offs: a river crossing, a quirky roadside attraction, a rest area with space to explore.

Accept that some days are just driving days. Not every day is an adventure. Some days the job is to move the van 350km to the next good camp. Make peace with that and plan accordingly rather than pretending every driving day will also be a sightseeing day.

The Activity Rotation System

No single activity entertains a child for 4 hours. The key is rotation: short bursts of different activities, switched every 30 to 45 minutes. Prepare a “driving day kit” that stays in the vehicle (not packed in the van) with a rotating selection of options.

The kit should include: A few books or magazines (rotate weekly from library stops), a drawing pad and pencils (not textas; they end up on seats), sticker books, activity books (word searches, dot-to-dot, mazes), a small toy or figurine set, travel games (magnetic chess, card games), and a clipboard for the drawing pad. For younger kids, add a few small surprises wrapped in paper: the novelty of unwrapping something new buys 20 minutes of engagement that the same toy unwrapped wouldn’t.

Rotate the kit. Don’t bring everything every day. Pick 4 to 5 items for each driving day. The next driving day, swap half of them for different items. Things that were boring last Tuesday become interesting again after a week’s absence.

Audio Entertainment

Audiobooks and podcasts are the secret weapon of Big Lap families. They entertain the whole car, don’t require screens, don’t cause car sickness, and can fill hours without anyone needing to manage them.

Audiobooks: Download a library before departure. Audible, Libby (free with a library card), and BorrowBox offer extensive children’s catalogues. For younger kids: picture book read-alouds, Roald Dahl, Winnie the Pooh, Diary of a Wimpy Kid. For older kids: Harry Potter (Stephen Fry’s narration is outstanding and will last hundreds of hours), Percy Jackson, Narnia, The Hobbit. For the whole car: nature documentaries, Australian history, David Attenborough narrations.

Podcasts: But Why (for curious kids), Wow in the World, Story Pirates, Fierce Girls (Australian women’s stories, excellent for the road), and Short & Curly (ethics for kids). Download episodes before driving days when you have Wi-Fi.

Music: Create a family road trip playlist before departure. Let kids each add 5 to 10 songs. Sing-along sessions work surprisingly well for passing time and lifting the mood when everyone’s getting restless. The Wiggles for little ones, whatever the teenagers will tolerate for everyone else.

Audiobooks are the MVP of driving day entertainment. Harry Potter alone covers about 120 hours of driving.

Screen Time

Screens on driving days are not a parenting failure. They’re a survival tool. The question isn’t whether to allow screen time on long drives but how to use it strategically so it remains effective.

The approach that works: Save screens for the second half of the drive. Start with non-screen activities (books, audio, games) and bring out the tablet or device after the halfway mark or when other activities have run their course. This way, screens are the reward that gets you through the last stretch rather than the default that loses its power by hour two.

Download everything. Netflix, Disney+, and ABC iView all allow offline downloads. Load up before driving days. Streaming in rural Australia is unreliable at best and non-existent at worst. A tablet loaded with downloaded shows is worth its weight in gold.

Educational screen time: If you want to feel better about the screens, apps like Reading Eggs, Mathletics, Khan Academy Kids, and National Geographic Kids combine entertainment with learning. Many homeschooling families use driving days as “educational app time” that counts toward their learning hours.

Games & Interactive Activities

Car games that actually work: I Spy (works for ages 3+, gets old after 30 minutes but is a reliable opener), the Alphabet Game (spot something starting with each letter, A to Z), 20 Questions, Would You Rather, the Number Plate Game (find plates from every state), and the Animal Spotting Game (especially good in outback areas where kangaroos, emus, eagles, and cattle are common). For older kids: trivia quizzes based on where you’re heading, geography challenges, and “two truths and a lie” about places you’ve visited.

Travel journals. Give each child a notebook and encourage them to draw, write, or stick things in it at each stop. On driving days, they can write about yesterday’s camp, draw the scenery, or plan what they want to do at the next stop. This works best for ages 6+ and becomes a treasured keepsake after the trip.

Navigation involvement. Give older kids (8+) a role in navigation. Let them follow the route on a paper map or Hema Maps, call out upcoming towns and distances, and announce rest stop options. Feeling involved in the journey is more engaging than being a passive passenger.

Snacks As Strategy

Snacks are not just food on a driving day. They’re time management tools. A well-timed snack buys 15 to 20 minutes of quiet, marks transitions between activities, and gives kids something to look forward to.

The snack system: Prepare individual snack bags or containers for each child the night before. Include 4 to 5 items: a mix of sweet and savoury, crunchy and soft. Fruit (cut and ready to eat), crackers, cheese, a muesli bar, dried fruit, popcorn, and a small treat. Release one item at a time, roughly every 45 to 60 minutes. The act of choosing and opening a new snack is almost as good as the snack itself.

Avoid: Anything that melts, crumbles excessively, or requires refrigeration during the drive. Chocolate in a hot car is a disaster. Biscuits ground into seat fabric are permanent. Anything requiring a spoon is ambitious.

The Driving Day Routine

Structure makes driving days work. Here’s a sample routine for a 4-hour driving day with primary school age kids.

Hour 1: Car games and conversation. I Spy, spotting game, chatting about the day’s destination. Snack #1 at the 45-minute mark.

Stop 1 (1.5 hours in): 15 to 20 minutes out of the car. Stretch, run, toilet, quick explore.

Hour 2: Audiobook or podcast. Snack #2. Activity book or drawing for those who want it alongside the audio.

Stop 2 (3 hours in): 15 to 20 minutes. More active stop if possible: playground, short walk, something to climb.

Hour 3 to 4: Screen time. This is the stretch where patience is thinnest and screens do their best work. Snack #3. Arrival countdown (“30 minutes to go, 15 minutes to go”).

On arrival: Let kids out immediately. Let them run, explore, help with setup, or just exist outside the vehicle. Don’t try to keep them contained while you set up. Containment ended when the handbrake went on.

The first 10 minutes after arrival are sacred. Let them run. Everything else can wait.