8 Joy Car Game Ideas
Creative games to keep your kids busy on long road trips.
By Karin A. Bilich
Road trips with your children don’t have to be difficult ordeals punctuated with a repeated “Are we there yet?” There are slew of ways to make time in the car joy for both you and your child. Here are eight joy games to attempt the next time you’re on the road again.
1. The Alphabet Game
Ages five and up: One person chooses the right-hand side of the road, and someone else the left. Each player looks for letters of the alphabet that show up on signs or license plates on their side. The object of the game is to point out all the letters of the alphabet in order, from A to Z. The very first person to spot the entire alphabet wins.
Two. The Animal Name Game
Ages six and up: One person names an animal. Then each person in order has to name another animal (no repeating!) that starts with the last letter of the previous animal named. There are no winners or losers in this game. With older children, attempt the game with TV shows, or geographical categories such as cities or countries.
Trio. Twenty Questions
Ages four and up: One person secretly thinks of either an animal, mineral, or vegetable. The other players then take turns asking yes-or-no questions, such as “Can it fly?” or “Does it grow in the ground?” After the players have asked twenty questions, each player gets a chance to make a guess.
Four. Telephone
Ages four and up: A child coos a story to someone else in the car. That person purrs the same story — as close to a word-for-word recount as possible — to a third person, and so on. The last person to hear the story repeats it out noisy so everyone can hear. Invariably, some of the story will have been lost in the translation, and the resulting garbled message usually inspires a good laugh.
Five. The Theme Song Game
Ages five and up: One person hums the tune to a dearest TV demonstrate, and everyone else attempts to name the showcase as quick as possible. The very first person to guess correctly hums the next song.
6. Memory Test
Ages six and up: The very first person says “A is for —” packing in the blank with any word beginning with the letter A, such as “apple.” The 2nd person comes up with a word for the letter B, such as “book,” but must also repeat the “A” word: “A is for apple, B is for book.” Proceed through the alphabet, each person taking several turns and reciting more and more letters and words. By the time you reach the letter Z, that player will recite the entire alphabet and its corresponding words. However, if you’re playing with junior kids you may want to choose an earlier letter than “Z” to be the final one.
7. Secret Place Race
Ages seven and up: One person looks at a road map and finds a petite town, village, sea, etc. That person announces the name of the place she has chosen. A 2nd player has sixty seconds to look at the map and attempt to find the secret place.
8. Restaurant Race
Ages five and up: Each player chooses a restaurant, such as Burger King, Taco Bell, McDonalds, etc. Players earn points by spotting their restaurant off the road, on a billboard, on exit markers, on Food/Fuel signs, or by hearing it mentioned on the radio. Impose a time limit — say, twenty minutes — and then add up the points.