Family Car Games

Fun Things to Do on Your Road Trip

© Diane Laney Fitzpatrick

Jun 29, 2007

Your family car trip can be a fun and memorable start to your vacation, with these car games. Watch the miles whiz by as your family plays its way down the highway.

“I’m Going on a Trip . . .”

This is a memory game in which each person in turn tells what he’s taking on a trip, going through the alphabet. The first person thinks of something that begins with the letter A, the next person the letter B, etc. Each person has to remember and recite all the preceding things. For example, “I’m going on a trip and I’m taking an anvil.” “I’m going on a trip and I’m taking an anvil and a button.” “I’m going on a trip and I’m taking an anvil, a button and my cat.”

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.

Counting Cars

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?

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.

• Give each child a blank map and have him color in the state for each license plate he sees from there.

Make a Cootie Catcher

All you need is a sheet of paper and a pencil to make a cootie catcher. (There is one cut to make, but if you don’t have scissors, you can crease and tear it instead.)

Let your children come up with their own predictions or sayings for their own cootie catchers.

Movie Lines

Take turns saying a line from a movie and the other players try to guess what movie it’s from.

Name that Tune

Sing or hum a song and see how quickly other players can guess what song it is. Try this game with TV show theme songs.

Scavenger Hunt

Make a list of things for your children to look for on their trip. Have them watch out the windows and check off things as they see them. Some suggestions: a flashing red light, a cow, a horse, a McDonald’s, a church, a police car, a sign with a Q in it, a mobile home, a yellow Volkswagon Beetle, a motorcycle, a red fence.

The Group Story

One person starts a story and stops in mid sentence. The next person finishes the sentence and adds more to the story. By the end of the story, everyone in the car has contributed and the story has taken lots of twists and turns.

Five Letters

Say five random letters of the alphabet. Come up with a silly sentence with words that start with those letters. “B” “C” “L” “M” “F” could be Bonnie Can’t Leave My Fork. This game can be a license plate game, too. Take the first five or six letters you see on license plates and use them.

Fun in the Car

Cootie Catcher

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