Top 5 Games to Play with Kids on a Road Trip
Summer is a time for a family road trip. Here are some easy ideas for keeping the kiddies busy.
1. The Initial Game
Think of a person, either famous or someone everyone in the playing group knows. Knowing just the initials of the person, the group tries to figure out who it is, by asking only yes or no questions.
Make a list of all types of vehicles – semi-trucks, mini-vans, sports cars, sedans, SUVs, pick-up trucks, etc. – and count how many you see. This games is good for counting skills for younger children. Before the game starts, have everyone predict which type of vehicle they’ll see the most. Who was right? 3. License Plate Games
Write down the letters from the first five license plates you see. Try to make words by scrambling the letters.
Taking turns with each license plate you see, players write down the numbers from the license plates. Add up the numbers to see who gets the highest number. 4. Traffic Spies Game
If you’re stuck in traffic in a metropolitan area, kids can get pretty restless and irritated, and so can parents. Tell the kids they’re spies, and have to look around at the nearby buildings and cars and decide what’s going on in them. For instance, if you’re traveling over the holidays, you might lead small children to use their imagination and pretend they can see through the walls of a skyscraper that Santa Claus uses as his headquarters in that city. They could talk about the many floors of elves making toys, the reindeer barn on the roof, the satellite dishes on the top receiving emails from children around the world, etc. For older children, have them read the name of the company on a building and imagine what that company makes and what’s going on in the building. Teenagers can imagine where the people in cars nearby are going and what they’re up to. 5. Songs
Sing-alongs in the car are an old tradition, of course, and one that most smaller children like. Teenagers and older children, however, may think singing is corny, but you can adapt the sing-along by making a CD before you leave. Select songs that fit the towns you’ll be traveling through; there are songs that mention many different places, and you can include them on your CD. If you have teenagers, enlist them for help in selecting songs and making the CD. For instance, if you’re traveling through the southern states in the US, you could include songs like “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Georgia on My Mind.” Singing along with the songs will help the kids to remember the states or cities on your destination and teach them some new tunes. Include some unfamiliar songs on the CD, such as very old or very new songs so the kids can learn something new and get a taste of different kinds of music.
