25 No-Equipment Games to Keep Kids Happy Out & About

Nov 23

If you’ve ever tried to entertain kids in a car, a queue, or a waiting room with nothing but your wits… you’ll know it’s a special kind of challenge.

The good news? You actually don’t need toys, screens, or bags of “stuff”. With a few simple no-equipment games up your sleeve, you can turn car journeys, supermarket trips, café waits, and walks into easy fun.

Here’s a ready-made toolkit of 25 zero-equipment games you can play anywhere. At the bottom of the post there is a list to screenshot as your “emergency boredom buster” list. You might also like my list of 11 Tabletop Games (that fit in your pocket).

1. I Spy (With a Twist)

Best for: Car, walking, waiting in queues

The classic. One person says:

“I spy with my little eye, something that is… [colour / starting letter].”

Everyone else guesses until someone gets it right, then they’re the next Spy.

Tweaks for younger kids:

Use colours instead of letters.
Use shapes: “something that’s round”, “something that’s a rectangle”.

2. Spot the…

Best for: Car journeys, walks

Pick an object and see who can spot it first – or who can spot the most.

Red cars
Dogs
Bikes
Yellow doors
People with hats or backpacks

Turn it into a challenge:

Rainbow Hunt: Find something in every colour of the rainbow in order.
A–Z Hunt: Find things starting with A, then B, then C…

3. Would You Rather?

Best for: Anywhere

Perfect for giggles and conversation. Ask silly questions:

“Would you rather have spaghetti hair or jelly legs?”
“Would you rather ride a dragon or a dolphin?”
“Would you rather live in a treehouse or on a boat?”

Encourage kids to explain why - it’s secretly great for language and imagination.

4. Make-a-Monster

Best for: Walking, waiting (better when they’re not feeling car-sick)

Take turns building a monster, one detail at a time:

“My monster has green fur.”
“…and three eyes.”
“…and roller skates.”
“…and smells like bananas.”

Later at home, you can draw the monster together.

5. Sound Safari

Best for: Walks, parks, sitting on a bench

Everyone closes their eyes for 10-20 seconds and listens.
Then each person shares one sound they heard:

Birds
Cars
Footsteps
Dogs
Wind in the trees

See how many different sounds you can collect.

6. Pass-the-Story

Best for: Anywhere

Start a story with one sentence:

“Once upon a time, there was a cat who hated rain…”

The next person adds a sentence, then the next, and so on.

You can set a theme:

Space adventure
Jungle expedition
Silly superhero day at school

Stories inevitably end up gloriously weird.

7. 3 Things

Best for: Car, walking

Pick a topic and each person has to quickly name three things in that category:

3 sea animals
3 types of fruit
3 things you take on holiday
3 things that are yellow

Make it faster or add a timer for older kids.

8. Fortunately / Unfortunately

Best for: Anywhere

Build a story by alternating “fortunately” and “unfortunately”:

“Fortunately, we were going on an amazing adventure.”
“Unfortunately, there was a dragon blocking the road.”
“Fortunately, the dragon loved cookies.”
“Unfortunately, we had none.”

It becomes chaos very quickly, in the best way.

9. The Yes/No Game

Best for: Car, queues

You’re not allowed to say “yes” or “no”.

Ask each other questions and try to trick someone into slipping up:

“Do you like ice cream?”
“Is your name Alex?”
“Are you sitting down right now?”

If they say yes/no, they’re out for that round. Kids love trying to trap the adults.

10. Silly Interview

Best for: Anywhere

One person is a reporter, the other is a character: a dragon, unicorn, famous singer, superhero, or cat.

The reporter asks questions:

“Mr Dragon, why do you steal socks but not shoes?”
“Princess Unicorn, what do you eat for breakfast?”
“Super Cat, how did you learn to fly?”

Swap roles so everyone gets a turn to be ridiculous.

11. I Went to the Shop…

Best for: Car, queues

A memory-chain game. Start with:

“I went to the shop and bought an apple.”

Next person adds an item and repeats the list:

“I went to the shop and bought an apple and a banana.”

Keep going until someone forgets or muddles the order.
You can change the theme to zoo animals, holiday packing, party supplies.

12. Categories

Best for: Anywhere

Pick a category and go around naming items from it:

Animals
Foods
Things that fly
Things that are cold

No repeats allowed. If someone can’t think of one, they’re out for that round.

13. 20 Questions (or 10 for Short Attention Spans)

Best for: Anywhere

One person thinks of an animal, person, or object. Everyone else asks yes/no questions to guess what it is:

“Is it an animal?”
“Is it bigger than a cat?”
“Can it fly?”

You only get 10–20 questions in total, so choose wisely!

14. What’s Missing? (Out & About Edition)

Best for: Park benches, cafés, waiting rooms

Both of you quietly look around and pick 5 things you can see.

One child closes their eyes. You repeat the list out loud but secretly “remove” one item from your spoken list.

They open their eyes and have to figure out which item is missing from the list.

(You can also play this using things inside the car.)

15. Copycat Walks

Best for: Pavements, park paths

Choose a leader. They decide how to walk:

Tiny steps
Giant steps
Tiptoe
Slow-motion

Everyone else copies. Swap leader every 10–20 seconds.

16. Traffic Lights

Best for: Parks, walks

The grown-up calls out:

Green – walk or run
Orange – slow motion
Red – freeze

Add your own silly extras:

Purple – dance
Blue – walk like a robot
Pink – hop like a bunny

Great for getting a bit of energy out without things descending into chaos (well, mostly).

17. Shadow Tag

Best for: Sunny days outside

Instead of tagging bodies, you try to step on each other’s shadows.

It’s gentler than traditional tag and feels like sneaky magic to kids.

18. Follow the Leader

Best for: Anywhere with a bit of space

Leader chooses a sequence of actions, like a mini obstacle course:

Hop once
Touch a bench
Spin around
Crouch down

Everyone copies in order. Older kids can create longer and more complicated sequences.

19. Step Challenges

Best for: Streets, park paths, school runs

Turn an ordinary walk into a challenge:

“From this lamppost to that bin: only heel-to-toe steps.”
“From here to that tree: can we do it in exactly 20 steps?”
“From here to the corner: only giant steps.”

You can even let each child create their own mini-challenge.

20. Guess the Animal

Best for: Car, queues

One person makes an animal noise or gives clues:

“I have stripes.”
“I live in the jungle.”
“I can roar.”

Others guess which animal it is.

You can move on to guess the object or guess the person/character.

21. Secret Code Tap

Best for: Car, cuddled up on the sofa, quiet time

Create a simple “tap code” on their hand or arm:

1 tap = yes
2 taps = no

Ask questions and answer only using taps.
Older kids can invent more codes (3 taps = “maybe”, etc.).

22. Statue Challenge

Best for: Waiting rooms, queues

Take turns making a funny pose. The other person has to copy it exactly and freeze like a statue for 5 seconds.

You can “inspect” each other like an art critic:

“Hmm, interesting use of elbows.”

23. Cloud (or Shape) Stories

Best for: Car, parks, looking out windows

If you can see clouds:

Ask, “What do those clouds look like?”
Turn cloud shapes into animals, dragons, castles and make up mini stories about them.

In the car, use shapes in the dashboard, car interior, or buildings/trees outside:
“That pattern looks like a sleepy owl… what’s its name? Where is it going?”

24. Secret Mission

Best for: Shops, streets, parks

Give your child a quiet “mission” that doesn’t disturb anyone:

Count how many dogs you see.
Find 3 things that are circles.
Spot 5 different shades of green.
Find one thing that is striped.

They report back when their mission is complete.
It gives restless kids a job to do and a sense of purpose.

25. Compliment Chain

Best for: End of a journey, bedtime wind-down in the car

Take turns saying one nice thing about yourself, and one nice thing about someone else in the family.

“I’m proud that I tried something new today.”
“I liked when you helped me with my shoes.”
“You’re really good at making me laugh.”

It’s a gentle, connecting way to end a long outing.

How to Actually Use This List

(Instead of Forgetting It Exists)

A few simple ways to keep these games handy:

Screenshot or save this list to your Notes app.
Write a mini version (just game names) on an index card and keep it in the glove box.
Let the kids pick the game number: “Choose a number between 1 and 25!” and play whatever comes up.

Check out my other post of 11 Tabletop Games (that fit in your pocket).