Are We There Yet?: 5 Fun Road Trip Games

How many times have you heard this question while traveling from point A to point B? Depending on the age of the child, this question may have come as early as five minutes into the trip. Whether this question was asked out of anticipation of the fun that would come (beach, amusement park, etc.) or just plain out of boredom, you probably wondered what to do to keep your child focused on something else.

The following are games we played as a family while on a road trip (and games my parents played with me when I was on the asking end!).

1. I am thinking of a person (or thing, or animal): one person thinks of someone or something while the other players get to ask questions and take a guess. If you are thinking of a person then questions would be like: boy or girl? young or old? Is he/she part of our family? ... If you are thinking of a thing, then questions could be: hot or cold? Hard or soft? One color or more colors? Can we eat it?.... All questions can only be answered by a yes or no. If you have older children and want to challenge them, you can set a limit to the number of questions they can ask (as a group). Once the limit is reached, they have to take a guess. This game can be played by all members, including the driver.

2. The alphabet game: each member of the family has to find letters of the alphabet (in order) on signs, buildings, etc... encountered along the road. For example, the sign for Atlanta would give you the "A". Family members can use the same word, as long as there are multiple letters, in this case, there are three "A's" that could be used. Do you want to make it more challenging? Use only letters at the beginning of a word, or use only road signs, or only restaurant sings. Or find the alphabet starting with the "Z" and going backwards. Do you want to make it easier? Allow family members to use the same letter, use car tags, use the car make and model along with the before mentioned items, and skip hard to find letters, such as Q, X, and Z. Your imagination is your limit.

3. What do you see?: this one needs to be prepared in advance. Create a sheet of paper with several items you might encounter while on the road (flowers, trees, cars, trucks, houses, dogs, etc.). Use words for school age children and pictures for younger ones. Laminate the paper (so it can be used over and over again) and bring it along with a dry erasable marker. Have your child circle or mark in other ways each item as it is spotted. Be mindful of your itinerary as some items can be seen along some roads and some along others. You can make this a little bit more challenging if you play it like a Bingo game. Create different sheets (some items are the same, some are different), and one person calls out the first item to spot; as soon as all the players find that item (if it is on their paper), the caller moves on to another one. Once one player has all the items marked, he/she can say "Found them" and is considered the winner.

4. Tic-Tac-Toe: this one also needs a one time preparation session. Cut out shapes of items you are likely to find on a road trip and place them in an envelope (if you laminate them, they will last for a long time). Prepare a tic-tac-toe board and laminate it. To play the game, have each player pick an item from the envelope. Each player will then need to spot that item three/four times. For each spotted item, the players get to place their mark on the tic-tac-toe board (use a dry erase). The first player to complete a line (horizontal, vertical or diagonal) wins the game.

5. Story Time: for this one you can use the shapes you prepared for the Tic-Tac-Toe game. Have each player pick a few items (divide however many shapes you have prepared by the number of players). Each individual will create a story by using the items in his/her possession. It can be done either by taking turns telling a story using one item at the time or by each player telling a complete story using all the items before passing the turn to someone else.

I hope you will find these games entertaining while on your road trip. Some will require a one time advance preparation, but they will be worth it. These games tap into your and your children's deductive reasoning, observation, and creative skills. Enjoy!