guides
Games to Play on Holiday: 20 for Rooms and Airports
Games to play on holiday for the bits nobody plans: early mornings, hot afternoons, evenings in one room and the wait at the gate. 20 ideas, ages 3 to 8.
The games to play on holiday that matter most are for the bits nobody plans: the early morning when someone's still asleep, the hot middle of the day, the hour before bed in one small room, and the wait at the gate. Here are 20, sorted by when you'll want them. Most need nothing, and the rest fit in a pencil case.
They're for children aged 3 to 8. For getting there, see our games for the long car journey and the train.
Why do holiday evenings and early mornings need a plan?
Because that's when the tablet wins. The days take care of themselves: a beach, a pool, a castle. It's the shared room at 6am, or at 7pm with a child who's tired but not sleepy, where there's nothing to do and the easy answer is a screen.
Holidays also bring days of sitting: the drive, the flight, the long lunch. The NHS guidance for children aged 1 to 4 is at least 180 minutes of activity every day, spread across the day rather than saved up. For 5 to 18 year olds, it asks for less time sitting or lying down, and for long still stretches to be broken up with some movement. A few of these hotel room activities for kids get them moving, and the rest keep things calm.
20 games to play on holiday
Before breakfast, while someone's still asleep
1. Hide the holiday toy
Bring one small toy from home. One player hides it in the room while the other covers their eyes, then guides the search in whispers only: "warm", "cold", "boiling". Whisper rules make it harder and funnier. From 3.
2. The view diary
Every morning, draw what you can see from the window in a small notebook: the car park, the sea, next door's balcony. By the last day there's a week of the same view, and a page for each day to remember it by. From 4.
3. Mime today's plan
No talking allowed. Each person mimes one thing they'd like to do today, such as swimming, ice cream or digging, and the others guess. It's a silent game that also settles the day's plan before breakfast. From 4.
4. Lying-down stretches
On the bed or the floor, lie on your back and stretch out into a star, arms and legs wide. Then curl up, hold your feet and rock side to side like a happy baby. Then lie still and count ten slow breaths before anyone gets up. From 3.
When it's too hot or too wet to be outside
5. The floor is lava
Lay pillows, cushions and folded towels across the floor as stepping stones. Everyone crosses the room without touching the carpet. Keep it on the floor: no jumping off beds or furniture. From 3.
6. Bedsheet den
Drape a spare sheet or blanket between two beds, or over the desk and a chair, and weigh the ends down with shoes. Everything else happens inside: snacks, stories, the card games. From 3.
7. Room service
Your child runs a restaurant. The hotel notepad becomes the menu and the order pad. They take your order, "cook" it on the desk and bring it to the bed. Tips are paid in crisps. From 3.
8. Washbag memory
Lay eight things from the washbag on a towel: a toothbrush, a comb, a hair tie. Leave out razors, medicines and anything with a button battery. Everyone looks for thirty seconds, then closes their eyes while one thing goes back in the bag. What's missing? From 4.
9. Notepaper planes
Fold planes from the hotel notepaper and fly them at a target, such as the bin or a pillow on the far bed. Score a point for a landing on it. Older children can test which fold flies furthest. From 5.
10. Postcard home
Draw a postcard for someone at home: the best thing so far, the pool, the strange breakfast. Older children can write three lines on the back. Post it, or bring it home and hand it over. From 4.
After tea, before bed
11. Torch shadows
Turn the big light off and shine a small torch at a bare wall. Make shadow animals with your hands: a rabbit, a dog, a bird that flaps. Then let your child hold the torch and you make the shapes. From 3.
12. Sleeping lions
Everyone lies on the bed or the floor as still as a sleeping lion. One player is the keeper and tries to make the lions move or giggle using words only, no touching. Anyone who moves becomes a keeper too. It's a wind-down disguised as a game. From 3.
13. Best bit, funny bit
At bedtime, each person says the best bit of the day, the funniest bit, and one thing they hope happens tomorrow. Write them in the view diary and you'll have a record of the holiday. From 3.
14. Crazy eights
With an ordinary pack of cards, deal five each. Take turns laying a card that matches the last one by suit or by number. Eights are wild, and if you can't go, you pick up. The first to empty their hand wins. From 5.
15. The holiday alphabet
Go through the alphabet with something from the trip for each letter: A for aeroplane, B for bucket, C for chips. Anyone can help with X. It quietly turns into a summary of the whole holiday. From 5.
At the airport
16. Departures board daydream
Pick a place off the departures board that you're not going to. Everyone says one thing they'd do on a day there, true or invented. Older children can find it on a map later. From 5.
17. Tail spotting
Planes on the ground show their tails, and every airline paints them differently. Find a window, count how many different tails you can see, and guess which plane will move next. From 3.
18. Follow the signs
An older child leads the family to the gate by reading the signs and the gate numbers, while a grown-up quietly checks. Getting it right is a big deal at seven. Leave plenty of time. Best 6 to 8.
19. Flamingo queue
In the slow queues at security and boarding, see who can stand on one leg the longest, then swap legs. Wobblers can hold a grown-up's hand. Keep it to queues that are standing still. From 3.
20. Carousel guess
At baggage reclaim, everyone guesses which of your bags will come out first, and counts the strangers' bags that go by until it does. It turns the dullest wait of the trip into a bet. From 4.
How do you string a day of room games together?
The 6am wake-up. Lying-down stretches, then hide the holiday toy in whispers, then the view diary. That's half an hour, and breakfast is closer.
The hot middle of the day. The NHS advice on sunscreen and sun safety is to "spend time in the shade when the sun is strongest" and to "take extra care with children". When the shade is your room, try the floor is lava to use up energy, then a bedsheet den with cards inside, then postcard home once everyone's cooled down.
The last evening. Room service for tea in the room, the holiday alphabet, best bit and funny bit, then torch shadows with the lights off.
What fits in a cabin bag?
Everything below goes in a pencil case and a sandwich bag, so it can live in hand luggage:
- A pack of cards
- A small notebook and a few pencils
- A small torch
- One small toy to hide
- A few sheets of plain paper
The room supplies the rest: pillows, towels, a notepad, a sheet. So does the airport. If the holiday is a rainy week in the UK, our rainy day activities work in a holiday let too.
Is the tablet allowed on holiday?
Yes, if that's what your family does. A film on the flight or a programme while you pack isn't a failure. These games are for the moments the tablet becomes the default rather than a choice: first thing, last thing, and every wait in between.
If evening screens are the bit that worries you, our post on screen time and sleep looks at the hour before bed. And if the holiday habit follows you home, our step-by-step plan to reduce screen time starts with mealtimes.
Frequently asked questions
How do you entertain kids in a hotel room?
Give the room a job. Make a den between the beds, turn the floor into lava with pillows and towels, or open a restaurant with the hotel notepad as the menu. Keep one small bag of cards, paper and a torch, and use quiet games for early mornings and moving games for the middle of the day.
What can kids do in the evening on holiday?
Wind down rather than wind up. Torch shadows on the wall, sleeping lions, a round of crazy eights and each person's best bit of the day all fit in a small room after tea. Leave the floor-is-lava games for the afternoon, so the hour before bed is the quiet one.
What games can you play at the airport?
Pick a destination off the departures board and plan a pretend day there. Spot the tails of planes through the window, let an older child lead the family to the gate by the signs, and hold flamingo contests in the queues. At the other end, everyone guesses which bag comes out on the carousel first.
How do I keep kids quiet in a hotel room early in the morning?
Have a plan for it before the first morning. Whispered games, drawing the view from the window and miming the day's plan all work without waking anyone. A few lying-down stretches on the bed help too. Keep a small torch and a notebook by the bed, so the first child awake has something to reach for.
A mat for the holiday let
If you're driving to a cottage, a caravan or a grandparent's for the week, a mat in the boot gives the lying-down stretches somewhere to happen. Our kids' yoga mats are 800 g and come with a shoulder carry strap. On the Freedom Flow mat, star is pose 3 and happy baby is pose 13, and a child who knows them by number can run the morning stretch. Each one is £34.99, delivered free in the UK.
