Car Games: Keeping Kids Entertained on Long Drives

These days when taking a long trip, it seems like an easy solution to stick a DVD on and drive away. But here are some ideas for interacting with your kids on a long drive that will actually be fun for you too, and it's good for their brains

The Alphabet Game

This can be an every-man-for-himself game or a team effort. Using road signs, car tags, billboards and anything else with letters on it, try to find all of the letters of the alphabet in order. Call out the word and the letter as you find them from A to Z. For younger children you may want to work together and help out, and for this it is easier to find the letters in whatever part of a word you can. For a challenge, try making a rule that you have to find the letter at the beginning of the word and that nobody can use the same word on a sign as another person. This makes the game last longer, especially when you get to Q, X and Z. If you play every-man-for-himself the person who gets to Z first wins, then you can let everyone else continue until they reach Z. The person who wins can be allowed to choose the next activity.

The Car Tag Game

When you are traveling to popular areas you will find car tags from all different states. Call out each different state and see who can find the one that is farthest away. For older children, try naming the capital of each state that you find for a challenge and a learning experience.

Eye Spy

A game of good ole eye spy can keep younger children entertained for quite some time. You can play "Eye Spy something red (or black, or yellow or blue..." with colors, or you can play "Eye spy something that starts with the letter...", or "Eye spy something in the shape of a....", or any other combination you can think of.

Reading

Try reading books in the car with your children. You can take turns reading chapters or pages and follow along with the story together. Even a good audio book read over the speakers of the car can be a nice break from watching a movie.

Music

Listening to music and signing in the car can not only be fun and entertaining, it can be a time of family bonding. Find kids silly songs that you can sing to and laugh with, or find selections from Disney movies that your kids might already know. Either way, sing your heart out and have a good time!

Try these fun games next time you and your kids are on the road again!