5 Games to Play in the Car

Whether you are just travelling 10 minutes down the road to the store or a few hours for some long overdue quality time with loved ones, chances are the common question “Are we there yet?” will arise at some point. While car trips are typically interesting and exciting for kids, they could cause some anxiety, especially after months of staying home.

It is certainly not impossible to travel with kids and even babies, but it does involve lots of logistics and requires patience. It also takes positive attitude on the part of parents and caregivers in order to make the trip as pleasant as possible.

Before getting into the car, take a look at these play ideas and choose one or two to try with your family, keeping in mind the age of the travelers and the destination you are going to.

1. I Spy
   This game is easy to learn and is ideal for pre-school children. The instructions are simple: one of the players sees something and says, “I spy… something green”, finishing with a clue. The other players look around trying to guess the mysterious object in question.


2. License Plate Game
   The idea is that travelers, armed with pencil and paper, look at the license plates of the cars on the road and try to find one for each state. If this is a longer trip, it is quite possible that the kids will spot license plates for the majority of the 50 states.


3. Alphabet Race
   Kids will not want to arrive at the destination too soon when they are playing this game! Give each child a sheet of paper with letters written on the left of the page in alphabetical order, one underneath the other (A on the first line, B on the second – all the way down to Z on line 27). Ask them to look around for things that start with each letter (for example, a bird for B, a store for S). After a certain previously agreed upon time (e.g. half an hour or the entire length of the ride), see who has the most words.


4. 20 Questions
   This game is for kids 4 and up. One of the travelers should think of an animal, person or place (without saying it aloud). The other players then ask “yes” or “no” questions, up to 20 per each round, trying to guess who or what it is. The player who has the most correct guesses after several rounds wins.


5. Broken Telephone
   Whisper a message in one child’s ear and ask to pass the message to the child next to him or her. The message must pass from one child to another until the last child whispers it back into your ear. Reveal the message that you told the first child and compare it with the one you heard from the last child. There are high chances that the messages will be different (and will provoke lots of smiles as a result).

“It is during these trips that kids create memories they will be sharing with their friends and their own children over the course of their entire lives.”

• Print
• |
• Share