Imagine you are preparing for a family trip. You have thought about what to pack, checked the weather forecast, planned around bedtime routine, found attractions that will suit the needs of the whole family, and sorted out meals and snacks.
Then comes the realisation:
What about the traveling part?
What about waiting in a queue or sitting in a restaurant? Those real-life moments when you need to focus on something else while knowing your kid is happily entertained for more than five minutes?
I didn’t want to be a parent that uses VOD or mindless games for such occasions. A colouring book is good for five minutes — perhaps fifteen if the theme is right. Travel games are great too, but sometimes I need something that doesn’t require me to join in because I need to focus on chores that the trip requires.
What I really wanted was a ready-to-use, screen-free travel activity kit for kids: something where my little monkeys could go on a mission with their favourite character, something that can be either printed on paper or used on a tablet in offline mode with no ads, in-app purchases or other distractions.
What I found instead
I browsed the internet for an answer, but most of what I found were ready-to-print worksheets. They felt too much like schoolwork, which is not desirable by kids who want to have fun on their adventure. I needed something that will be a mission full of fun with educational value. No school vibe.
Then I asked AI for ideas and discovered detective-style activity books where children search pictures for clues, find missing objects and use stickers to solve puzzles.
Now that was brilliant, but still not exactly what I needed.
I wanted something that is age-specific and can be easily grabbed from home before we left.
I know! A brilliant thought illuminated my mind. I will make something myself.
Admittedly, it wasn’t exactly a time-saving idea.
But if putting in the work once meant having a ready-to-go solution at my fingertips for future trips, it seemed worth it.
So, I deprioritised ten thousand other things a mother has to do, borrowed a few additional hands from AI, and started creating travel activities.
Finally, the months of my life spent on doing maths, English and logic competitions with my kid paid off. All the books and educational games we had enjoyed together for years had clearly rubbed off on me.
I was able to challenge the AI rather than simply accept its suggestions, guiding it towards activities that were difficult enough, attractive enough and, most importantly, interesting enough to get my kids excited.
Tested on real family trips
I tested the activities during flights and car journeys.
Then I adjusted them.
I changed the types of activities, created new missions for favourite characters, introduced more characters and kept refining the idea.
And eventually — bam — there it was.
A ready-to-use travel activity kit where children help their favourite characters complete different challenges.
The clever part is that the kids don’t necessarily notice the learning happening underneath the adventure and if they do, then they don’t mind.
They might complete maths calculations required to find their way through labyrinth, or clues in a detective story, practise logic by completing patterns or spark their imagination by putting words into a character’s mouth in a comic strip.
It is all wrapped in an adventure rather than presented as schoolwork.
And yes, it also had to look beautiful. With my high aesthetic standards, I wouldn’t be able to stand something ugly.
There are no adverts, pop-ups or hidden messages encouraging children to buy more things. The idea is simple: child-centred design, engaging activities and genuine educational value without unnecessary digital distractions.
From our travel bag to yours
I shared the kit with other parents and received very positive feedback.
So now I am sharing it more widely.
What began as a solution to a very practical family-travel problem has become something we can grab before a flight or car journey whenever I know the kids will need entertaining.
I hope other families enjoy it as much as we do — and I’d love to hear which activities keep your children busiest on their travels.