It’s that time of year. Schools are letting out and families are gearing up for summer vacations. If you have younger kids and the trip is longer than about an hour, you may want to play some games to pass the time. I know lots of people these days turn to technology to entertain themselves and their children on car rides but I am old fashioned and like to use the time in the car together to have fun and interact with each other. These are some of our favorite games to play on the road.
I SPY
I spy is a guessing game where one player (the spy or it) chooses an object within sight and announces to the other players that “I spy with my little eye something beginning with…”, naming the first letter of the object. Other players attempt to guess this object.
Example: I say “I spy with my eye something blue”. Then everyone else in the car takes turns guessing what the object is.
We usually limit this to items inside the vehicle.
WOULD YOU RATHER
This is a simple game where the user asks “would you rather” questions. Would you rather go without TV or junk food for the rest of your life? Would you rather spend the day at an amusement park or lazing on the beach? Would you rather be fluent in all languages or be a master of every musical instrument? Would you rather sing a song in front of complete strangers or your closest friends?
You can direct these questions to everyone in the car or take turns providing answers. Of course, when it comes to playing these types of games in a car, it’s important to make sure you’re well prepared.
You can always print out some questions ahead of time to make sure you don’t run out of ideas when on the road.
LICENSE PLATE GAME
The goal is to spot as many license plates from different states as you can. You either need an official game board, a notepad and pencil or a printed list and pencil to play this game. The USA License Plate Game is a simple but fun road trip game. It involves scoring points by spotting license plates registered to different states while driving. A player is awarded points as license plates are spotted. The aim of the game is to spot a license plate from all of the different 50 states or score more points than the other players.
ALPHABET GAME
Keep an eye out for road signs! The objective here is to find a word on each sign you pass that begins with each letter of the alphabet, starting from the beginning (“A” for Arby’s, and so on). Each player must find each of the letters in alphabetical order. Call them out as you drive by. First one who gets to Z, wins!
20 QUESTIONS
Designate one player (the thinker) to think of a person, animal, or thing familiar to all the players. The other players (guessers) take turns asking yes-or-no questions to help them guess the person, animal, or thing. The thinker must keep track of the number of questions asked. If you like, distribute twenty counters (pennies, beans, or paper clips) evenly among the guessers.
As each guesser asks a question, she gives a counter to the thinker. When the guessers run out of counters, the game is over.
Any guesser may try to guess the person, animal, or thing on her turn. If she’s right, she’s the thinker for the next game. If she’s wrong, the guess counts as one question, and the game continues until someone guesses right or until twenty questions have been asked.
If no one guesses right within twenty questions, the thinker reveals the person, animal, or thing and starts a new game by thinking of a different person, animal, or thing.
CATEGORY ABC’S
As far as games for a car ride go, this one is pretty straightforward. Have the first player choose a category and name something that begins with the letter A.
The next person does the same, only their answer should begin with the letter B. The next person is in charge of letter C, and so on. Some examples for the “food” category include Apples, Broccoli, Cookies…
IN MY SUITCASE
I packed my bag is a fun memory game for all ages. In the traditional version of the game, one person says “I packed my bag and in it I put…”, and names any object. The next person then says “I packed my bag and in it I put…”, followed by the original suggestion, and adding their own. The game continues with more objects being added, and a player is disqualified if they forget one of the previously occurring items or can not think of a new item to add to the bag. The game continues until all but the winner has been disqualified.
KOVAC FAMILY FAVORITE
I made this game up with the help of my daughter a few years ago when we embarked on a 3 hour drive to the beach. The kids were fine until we got about 30-45 minutes from our destination. Now, whenever we go to the beach and see a Palm Tree or an American Flag we yell it out and the first person to see it and say it gets a point. You can choose whatever item or items you want to use– but it helps if they are items that are somewhat prevalent in the area.
Does your family have a favorite car game? If so, please drop it in the comments.
