As you spend more time with your family perhaps you’ll be taking some trips in the car.

We often took advantage of this relaxing time together to engage in faith projects and guessing games while we’d travel. Since we had a large family with 17 years from oldest child to youngest one, these activities while traveling were great for the older ones to model to the younger ones.

Some items we have purchased and used for auto trips can be found at this site: www.HolyHeroes.com and they recently sent out a post showing the different games, activities, and books available from them. But many activities do not have to be purchased.

Free Catholic Family Road Trip Activities

Here are some ideas you can use without spending any money at all.

1. If you pass by any churches, note the name of the church, talk a bit about the saint or title of Blessed Mother in the church’s name. Some kids are budding writers and enjoy making lists. They could keep a running list of all the different saints who are discussed.
2. If you get the chance to stop and make a visit to a church, use it as an opportunity to stretch your legs a bit and see if the kids can spot any familiar saints depicted in statues, paintings, or tapestries.
3. Encourage the kids to find the stations of the cross, altar, tabernacle, the ambry – where the sacred oils are stored.
4. If the parish has stained glass windows, ask what is displayed in the frame of each one. 

Our parish church has a different Gospel scene shown along with the citation from the Sacred Scriptures in each of the lower windows; while reminders of celebrations in the liturgical year are seen in each of the upper windows. Our kids always loved visiting different churches on our travels. All it cost was our time!

Celebrating Mass During Our Travels

Another highlight of our family jaunts was attending Sunday Mass at different churches. When you’re on the road you can easily identify a nearby church by using this convenient website: www.masstimes.com  by simply identifying the location and zip code you are in. This site gives you the name, address and times of Sunday or Holy Day masses. 

Sometimes a parish community offered coffee and donuts after mass, which our kids just LOVED! That was a MUST – to stop and be refreshed with a donut after Mass and before we resumed our drive.

Faith Benefits for your Children as you Travel

By keeping Sunday Mass in our family routine while traveling, we helped our children be mindful of God and the Saints.

When we attended Mass away from our home parish, we helped our children realize they were part of a large beautiful family called the Church. As they got older, the idea of being part of the Universal Catholic Church started to make sense to them. We always kept in mind that as parents, we were setting the example for our kids.

Travel safely this summer and always say a prayer to “Our Lady of the Highways” before you start!

Catholic Family Road Trip Bingo – Free Printable

Be sure to download our FREE Catholic Family Road Trip Bingo cards before your next road trip!

More Summertime posts:

1. Summer Ideas for Faith and Connection
2. Does the Catechism Have any Wisdom for My Summer Vacation?

This article originally appeared on Amazing Catechists on July 2, 2024.