Family Road Trips and Road Trip Car Games

[Mark Sedenquist]

Just heard about a new road trip car game that's designed to work on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. It's a variation of the alphabet game that many of us played as children on our own car trips.

A few more tips from Megan Edwards:

Create a “Go Kit” for each child. Small backpacks or nylon lunch bags work well. Pack them with age-appropriate games and a first day’s travel allowance. Every morning, add that day’s allowance and something new for the kids to discover when they get in the car. A road atlas or paper map is great for a child old enough to follow along. Consider adding a compass , too.

Good on-the-road activities are ones that include everybody in the car. Teach the kids all those old songs you sang at camp. If you need inspiration, pop a sing-along CD into the stereo. Folk songs, sound tracks from musicals, patriotic songs – choose the ones that get everybody singing, and the miles fly by.


Some more game suggestions:

License Plate Game
Print an outline map of the United States for each child. To play, they check license plates on passing vehicles. As they spot plates from different states, they color in the corresponding states on their maps. (A list of states works fine, too.)

What My Bear Did Last Summer
Choose a teddy bear, doll or other portable creature as your road trip mascot. Whenever you stop at a landmark or attraction take a picture of your mascot that shows it was there. After your trip, make a slide show or scrapbook of the mascot’s trip. You may remember some of the photos on this forum from a couple of our members who've practiced this!

Road Trip Scavenger Hunt
Make a list of items to spot on your trip. Print the list for each player. As the items are spotted, players cross them off their lists. A good list combines east-to-spot things like “a white picket fence,” or “a red flashing light” as well as things unique to your trip, like “a tree you can drive through” or “a place where you can be in four states at once.” For older children (or game-loving adults), you can require photos of the items on the list. Be creative!

What are your favorite in-the-car roadtrip games?

Mark