Games for traveling with kids by car

Traveling in a car with children can be fun… if you’re prepared to keep them occupied. Especially on those longer rides.

Here are a few ideas for keeping kids of all ages busy when you find yourself on the road. Please share any ideas you have for the same! We’ll start with the very familiar -

Highway Alphabet Game
Play this game as a team: As you start your journey, everyone looks for a word beginning with the letter A. Have the kids scan billboards, road signs, bumper stickers, and storefronts to find an A word. Then move on to B, and on down the alphabet. The longer it takes to get to Z, the fewer times you’ll hear, “Are we there yet?”

Sing Together
Kids love to sing, and the car is a great place to do it because you don’t have to worry about disturbing anyone (except maybe the driver). Slip in a CD of songs everyone knows by heart and have a sing-along, or start a round of “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” and give everyone a chance to sing their own verse about their favorite animal.

Two Truths and One Lie
Kids will delight in discovering tidbits about the grownups past through this simple guessing game. As the name indicates, players take turns telling two truths and one lie about themselves, and the other players try to identify the falsehood. It’s a great way to share stories from your life with your children or grandchildren, and they may surprise you by revealing unexpected facts about their own personalities and interests.

Spot the Motorcycles
Kids love being on the lookout. They also love simple competitions. All you have to do is call out, “The first person to spot _____ wins!”, and the game is on. It can be something as general as ten motorcycles or as specific as three blue houses. This game can instantly turn a boring drive into a fun game.

20 Questions
Pass the time playing this classic game; its simplicity and adaptability appeal to almost any group. One player thinks of a person, place, or thing familiar to all the players. The remaining players ask yes-or-no questions as they attempt to uncover what the thing is. The beginning player must answer all questions honestly, with a simple yes or no. Questions might be: “Does the person have red hair?” or “Is it bigger than a toaster?” The group of guessing players is allowed 20 questions to figure out the answer before officially being declared stumped.

Wiz Kids
This car-friendly card game offers a way for kids to take information they already know, sift through it and process it in an entirely new way. Players pick a card from the alphabet letter stack and a card from the answer stack. Then it’s time to think fast and generate as many logical associations as possible. Great compact card game that fits easily in a purse or glove box.

Buy it now » Wiz Kids

Waving Competition
Here’s a silly, social way to beat the traffic blues. Challenge the kids to see who can get the most passengers in other cars to wave back to them. They’ll smile sweetly, make funny faces, and gesture frantically, and the best part is they don’t have to make any noise doing it. Of course, there are sure to be giggles and cheers for each returned wave.

“I’m Going on a Picnic”
The beauty of this game is that there are so many ways to play. In the standard version, the first player says, “I’m going on a picnic and I am bringing ______.” The next player repeats what the first person is bringing and adds an item of his or her own, starting with the next letter of the alphabet. Players are out when they can’t come up with an item for the imaginary basket.

A fun variation is for the first player to establish a rule about what other players can bring to the picnic — without telling the others. To figure out the rule, the other players ask if they may bring a certain item to the picnic. Examples could include: only items beginning with the letter D, only round items, or only items ending in vowels.

Keep a Postcard Diary
Buy each child two postcards at every place you visit, whether it’s a scenic highway, a classic diner, or a roadside attraction. Have the kids glue the postcards into notebooks and write a few sentences about each one. Later, have them read their words aloud. It’s great to hear their thoughts and enjoy the lively discussions that follow.

Traffic Jams
A great CD to take along even on short trips to the store Traffic Jams by Joe Scruggs will keep your child entertained with Car Seat Exercises as well as amusing sing along songs like Big Toe Truck. Nothing syrupy or saccharine here!

Buy it now » Traffic Jams