If you plan to travel with kids, you can look for things to take them on the road. There are many commercial toys available for purchase that will usually have your kids bored from getting there, but there are also a lot of fun road trip games that require little more than paper and pencil, or items that will already be in the car. . Many of these road trips require even less than that. Even better, all these road trip games are likely to teach your kids something!
Alphabet game
The premise behind the alphabet game is simple: players must identify the letters of the alphabet, in alphabetical order. This road trip game is best played with all players working together, but can be played competitively if your kids prefer competition. If your kids are young enough to just learn their alphabet, this game reinforces the learning process. Older kids who already know the alphabet can find this less educational game but still just as fun.
The License Plate Game
For this road trip game, you’ll want to be sure to give your kids some paper and a pen or pencil. The license plate players will want to keep an eye on the license plates of the cars around them. The goal is to try to locate a license plate from as many states as possible. States like Alaska and Hawaii are difficult (unless you happen to live in one of those states), but traveling through a few states is likely to yield a list of very few states. This game is good for teaching kids about geography, especially if they put their list of states on paper later.
Bana/Plantain Game
If you want to play a game with your kids on this road, it’s important that the driver is ready for the game, as this (If you prefer to keep all your kids in one team, be against you.) You need to look for yellow vehicles. Cars, trucks, and vans are “bananas”. point and “plants” are worth two points each. This three-way game is a good counting and basic math game. It also gives you plenty of time to explain to your kids about different types of trucks.
How long until we get to _____?
For older kids, especially those who struggle with division and problems with words, this travel game helps them develop those skills. . As you go, you can mark the road signs indicating how far the destination is, and then calculate how long it would take to get there at different speeds. You don’t need to use the actual speed, but it will help reduce the constant “are we there yet?” questions–the kids already know how long it will take.
Next Route
By providing your kids with a road atlas or map (also likely already in your car), they can follow the progress of your journey on the map. This isn’t always the most fun on a hunting trip, but it can keep some kids well occupied. While helping to strengthen the knowledge of geography, this game also helps kids navigate.
Although not all of these road trip games work with all ages of kids, there are many ideas here that will help you tailor these road trip games to your kids’ skills and knowledge. Some of these road trip games are also interesting enough that adults can get involved too!
