Car Games to Play

A long, boring car ride is painful enough without the constant "Are we there yet?" coming from the back seat. Kids are notoriously impatient when it comes to keeping themselves occupied in the car, whether it is a ten-hour trip to the beach or a one-hour trip to Grandma's house. Make your trip much more tolerable by coming up with some car games that will make the time fly by.

  1. Scavenger Hunt

    • Keep your kids busy for hours by preparing a scavenger hunt game in the car. Make up a list of things that can be seen from a car window on the drive that you are making. Your list will vary depending on the route you are taking. For instance, a list for a long ride through the country could consist of finding a baby cow, a tractor, something that starts with an "S." If you are driving mainly through city traffic, have kids find things like a car with more than five bumper stickers, a lady sleeping, or a car-top luggage carrier. Be creative and challenging enough to keep the kids busy for an hour or so. Keep arguments between competitive kids to a minimum by enlisting another adult or older child as a referee. Kids can point things out as they see them and the referee can vouch for them. This game can be easily altered for younger kids and toddlers. Find pictures of the things they can find and partner them up with older kids for help.

    License Plate Search

    • Being stuck in heavy traffic can be mind-numbing for the driver and passengers. However, it also presents an opportunity to play a fun car game with license plates. Print out a list of all of the states and put a box next to them that you can check off. See how many you can spot during your trip. This can be done individually as a competition, or as a fun group project. For shorter trips, just keep the list in the car and resume the game every time you have bored kids in the car. Keep your kids motivated by promising a special treat after a certain number or all of the state license plates have been spotted.

    Card and Board Games

    • Bingo is a great game that kids of all ages can enjoy. Make a special version of the game just for the road. You can print out bingo cards ahead of time on your computer. Instead of using numbers and letters, fill each block of the card with a picture of a different kind of vehicle. For example, you could have a motorcycle, police car and school bus among others. The pictures allow younger kids to be able to participate and the activity will keep kids' minds on what is going on outside rather than being bored.

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