You are attempting to enjoy what was supposed to be a leisurely drive to your parent’s house or a road trip to a vacation spot and, instead of being relaxing, you hear those dreaded words come from a small voice in the back seat: “Are we there yet?” You did it to your parents and now your own children are doing it to you. It is a never-ending cycle, or is it? Here are some games you can enjoy playing with your children to keep them occupied on your next road trip.
* Car Bingo: Before you head out on your next road trip, create some individual bingo cards (at least one per child and one for yourself). On a piece of paper, draw sixteen squares. In each square, draw a picture of something that could possibly be seen on a road trip. You could always cut out a magazine picture, if you are not the best artist. For example, you could use pictures of horses, cows, certain road signs, license plates for a certain state, farm houses, certain crops and certain types of cars and trucks. Let your imagination run wild. Make sure each bingo card you create is different from the next. Give each child a bingo card and some markers (to mark off the objects they see). As you are driving along, have the kids mark off the objects they see on the road. Whoever gets four corners or a complete vertical, diagonal or horizontal line wins.
* Car Theater: If your family loves to read and listen to stories, act out one of your favorite books. For example, if your children know how to read and love Beverly Clearly books, assign character parts to everybody. Pass the book around and let each person have a chance at reading. When that person’s character comes up in the passage, let that person have the book so they can read and act out those lines. This works best if you can get multiple copies of the same book from the library, so you don’t have to keep passing the book around during parts with continuous dialogue.
* Travel Scrapbook: Before leaving on your road trip, give each child and each parent a cheap disposable camera that they can use for the entire trip. In addition, give each person a small notepad they can use to journal those photos they take. During the trip, have the children take pictures of anything they pass that they find interesting and then write a small story about it. It will be interesting to see each person’s perspective of the trip when you get to develop the photos.
* Alphabet Game: Starting with yourself and going in a clockwise pattern, point out something you see that begins with the letter “A.” For example, you can say “apple” if you pass an orchard. The next person has to repeat what the people before them said as well as point out something they see that starts with the letter “B.” For instance, perhaps you are on the letter “F.” You would have to repeat what objects were pointed out for the letters A through E, as well as come up with an object for the letter “F.” It is a little difficult but it’s also hilarious trying to remember what others said before you.
