How to Keep Kids Entertained in a Motorhome (Without Screens)

Keeping kids entertained in a motorhome is easier than keeping them entertained at home, and that is not a sales pitch - it is what happens when you put children in a new environment with space to explore, things to discover, and fewer reasons to default to a screen. The motorhome itself is part of the entertainment for younger children (everything is tiny and folds out - they love it), and the places you take it provide the rest. Here are practical family motorhome tips organised by when you will need them.

During the Drive

Car journeys with children are car journeys with children, whether you are in a saloon or a motorhome. The same restlessness applies. But a motorhome has a significant advantage: you can stop whenever you want, and when you stop, the children can move around, use the toilet, and have a snack from the kitchen without leaving the vehicle.

For the drive itself, these work reliably across most ages:

The Alphabet Game. Spot things beginning with each letter of the alphabet, in order. Farms, bridges, rivers, road signs - anything visible counts. This can last an astonishingly long time and provokes genuine excitement when someone spots a xylophone-related sign (it has never happened, but the anticipation keeps them going).

20 Questions. One person thinks of an animal, object, or person, and everyone else asks yes/no questions to guess what it is. Simple, requires no equipment, and children from about age five upwards can play.

Audiobooks and podcasts. Not a screen, and they occupy a different part of the brain than passive video watching. The "Wow in the World" podcast from NPR is brilliant for curious kids aged 5-12, the "Terrible Histories" podcast brings history to life with comedy, and audiobooks of Roald Dahl or David Walliams are proven crowd-pleasers for longer stretches of road.

A travel journal. Give each child a blank notebook and a pencil case with coloured pens. They draw what they see, write down place names, stick in tickets and leaflets, and record what they ate. By the end of the trip, they have a physical record of the holiday that they will look at for years. This works best for ages 6-12.

At the Campsite

This is where keeping kids entertained on a motorhome holiday becomes effortless. A family motorhome trip leaves hotel and cottage holidays in the dust. Campsites are purpose-built playgrounds, and the outdoor space around your pitch is an extension of your living room.

Den building. If your campsite has a woodland area or hedgerow, den building will occupy children for hours. Sticks, leaves, whatever they can find - the engineering ambition increases with age, and the satisfaction of building something from found materials is genuine. Carry a small saw and some cord if you want to enable more sophisticated structures.

Nature scavenger hunts. Write a list before you leave home, or make one together on arrival: a feather, a pine cone, a smooth stone, something red, a leaf bigger than your hand, animal tracks, a spider web. Children under 8 find this absorbing, and it gets them looking at their surroundings with attention rather than just running through them.

Campfire cooking. If your campsite allows fires (many have designated fire pits), toasting marshmallows is the obvious starting point, but try damper bread (flour, water, and a pinch of salt, wrapped around a stick and cooked over embers) or banana boats (a banana slit lengthways, stuffed with chocolate chips, wrapped in foil and placed on the coals). Children eat things they cooked themselves with enthusiasm they never show for the same food at home.

Bike riding. Many campsites have quiet internal roads that are perfect for children learning to ride or just pedalling about. If you have space to carry bikes on the back of the motorhome - we can fit a bike rack - this is one of the best campsite activities. The Yorkshire coast and Dalby Forest both have dedicated cycle trails for families.

Rainy Day Backup

Yorkshire weather being what it is, you need a rainy day plan. A motorhome is more comfortable than a tent in the rain - you have heating, a dry floor, windows to watch the weather through, and a kitchen for hot chocolate. But you still need a few ideas to keep the kids entertained in a motorhome on wet afternoons.

Card games. Pack a deck of cards and teach them something beyond Snap. Rummy, Cheat (they will be better at this than you), Go Fish for younger ones, and Pontoon for older children who can handle basic maths under pressure. Card games in a motorhome with rain on the roof and hot drinks in hand are genuinely cosy experiences.

Board games. Travel versions of Cluedo, Connect 4, and Guess Who take up minimal space. Dobble is compact and works across a wide age range. Uno is a motorhome classic - simple enough for a six-year-old, competitive enough for adults.

Drawing and colouring. A decent set of coloured pencils and a sketchbook keep younger children occupied for significant stretches. For older children, suggest drawing the view from the motorhome window, designing their own campsite, or illustrating their travel journal.

Cooking together. A rainy afternoon is the perfect time to make something in the motorhome kitchen. Flapjacks require four ingredients and no real skill beyond stirring. Pancakes are quick and popular. Popcorn on the hob is exciting for children who have only ever seen it come from a microwave bag. A full kitchen is one of the best things about a motorhome for keeping kids entertained on rainy days.

Evening Activities

Stargazing. Away from city light pollution, campsite skies are dramatically better for star watching. Download a stargazing app (Stellarium or Sky Map are both free) before your trip, and use it to identify constellations, planets, and satellites. The North York Moors is a designated International Dark Sky Reserve - one of only 25 in the world - where the Milky Way is clearly visible on clear nights. The Lake District also has designated Dark Sky Discovery Sites at Ennerdale and Grasmere, and the Yorkshire Dales holds its own Dark Sky Reserve status. Children who have never seen a sky full of stars are genuinely awestruck by it.

Torch walks. A short walk around the campsite or along a nearby path with head torches is an adventure for children under 10. The familiar becomes unfamiliar in the dark, and animal sounds are more noticeable. Stay on paths, keep it short (15-20 minutes), and end with hot chocolate back at the motorhome.

Stories. Not a screen, not a book - actual stories told out loud. Sit outside if it is warm enough, or gather in the motorhome with the lights low. Take turns making up stories, or start one and have each person add a sentence. The results are usually absurd and frequently hilarious.

The Bigger Point

When it comes to keeping kids entertained on a motorhome trip, children tend to self-entertain in ways they do not at home, because the environment is stimulating enough that they do not need a screen to fill the gap. A stream to dam, a tree to climb, a crab to catch, a campsite friend to make - these are not lesser alternatives to screen time, they are better alternatives. The best motorhome activities for children involve no batteries at all. You do not need to ban screens or lecture about them. You just need to provide enough good alternatives that the tablet stays in the bag because nobody has thought to reach for it.

Pack light on toys and heavy on equipment: torches, binoculars, a magnifying glass, a fishing net, a kite, a ball. These are the tools of outdoor entertainment, and every one of them is more engaging than anything with a battery. If this is your first trip with the family, our packing checklist covers everything else you need to think about before you set off. Browse our fleet to find a motorhome that suits families with children.