How We Travelled 20 Hours With Two Kids—Screen-Free and (Mostly) Smiling!

I’m just back from our family holiday to Freiburg in Southern Germany. It’s a 534-mile journey—10 hours each way—which we covered by car with two young boys… and no screens. Yes, you read that right: no iPads, no in-car movies, no electronic games... and it didn't cost a fortune in new gifts.

In this post, I’ll share exactly how we managed a 20-hour road trip screen-free—and stayed (mostly) sane without spending loads on new things. My boys are 9 and 5, full of energy and not known for their long attention spans. If we can do this, I genuinely believe most families can too, if like us, you prefer screen-free travel.

1. Rediscover Old Toys

The single biggest tip I can give? What’s old becomes exciting again when you’re not at home.

A few weeks before we travelled, I quietly gathered up forgotten toys—think transformer figures, fidget spinners, random party bag items, magnetic and travel games, wind-up toys, hand-held games, sensory toys and a few books.

2. Build a “Tat Bag” of unused crafts from Around the House

I also hunted down unused or half-used activity books, magazines, sticker sheets, and party bag crafts. I put together a little “tat bag” (A4 wallet) for each child filled with pocket puzzle books, unused colouring pages, left-over stickers, and craft bits they’ve forgotten they owned or were previously uninterested in finishing. It feels exciting and interesting now its not new to them—and costs nothing. As well as saves on waste like half used magazines. If there's only a few unused pages, I just rip them out.

3. Use Travel Tins

Instead of bringing bulky toy sets, I repackage small portions into lap-sized (former biscuit) tins. For this trip, I filled a tin with Geomag magnetic construction pieces for the boys to share. You could do the same with Lego, small dolls, animal figurines, the abandoned collection of Kinder Surprise trinkets, or even crafts like a bracelet-making bead kit. The tin helps contain the mess and keeps play focused in one spot and means that you now have a travel version of their larger play sets and craft sets at home.

4. New toys

I did buy a few new toys and the latest Pokemon encyclopedia for my eldest, About 5 small new things each, which I spaced out giving during both journeys for maximum effect. I also kept all the toys in the car boot during our holiday so they were exciting and wanted, for the return leg of the journey.

All packed - Now what!

Everything was spaced out across both journeys. The boys knew the toys included both old and new and I deliberately held off giving the first of the new toys until a few hours into the journey. They were excited to see what old toys I had brought with us and eagerly anticipated what I would reveal. Rather than give everything at once, I distributed the toys at regular intervals - sometimes it was a toy, sometimes a craft, sometimes a book. The journey was also interspersed with toilet breaks, sweets, the Shuttle tunnel and other interesting things along the way.

For some parents, this might appear to require considerable effort, but it’s satisfying to rediscover long-forgotten toys and utilise old crafts, magazines, and party bag gifts. Whether you are a parent who avoids screens entirely or you simply wish to cut down on screen time during lengthy trips, this provides a method to achieve that primarily using items you already own, without needing to purchase much more.

Check out what plastic-free travel suitable toys we have available at Timeless Toys.