Fun Travel Games to Play While Traveling in the Car on a Road Trip

Like many families we travel and take long car trips (up to 12 hours long) a few times a year. Thank goodness for Nintendo, PSP, and portable DVD players. But even with their video games children eventually get tired of riding in the car. Remember back when there weren't all of these technological gadgets? Well maybe you don't, if not you must be younger than me. Back then we used to play car games with each other. I have compiled a list below of fun games to play while you are on one of those long trips. You might want to pack a small prize bag for the winner of the games you play (something that might keep them busy for a while). Are we there yet? Sorry I can't guarantee that they won't ask, because they will. But instead of being zombies staring into a TV screen, they might just have some fun - maybe mom and dad will too.

Cow Counting Game
You start by counting the cows you see on your side of the car. Keep track through your entire trip or limit the game to an hour. If you pass a cemetery on your side of the road, you lose all your points. You can try to distract the other players, so they will not see the cows on their side of the car. The one with the most cow sightings is the winner when the time is up.

I Spy
Look around for something that everyone can easily see. Then say, "I spy with my little eye..." (You can tell its shape, color or size) You can keep giving clues until someone guesses what you picked. The first person who guesses right becomes the new spy.

Punch Bug
Every time you see a VW Volkswagen Beetle Bug, shout out "Punch Bug!" Then you punch the shoulder of the person next to you. You might not want your kids hitting each other; if they are anything like mine they won't know when to stop. You could have them poke each other in the shoulder, still painful but much less forceful.

20 Questions
First the player thinks of a Person, Place or Thing, and lets everyone know what they have chosen. The other players take turns asking up to 20 questions, as long as it can be answered with a yes or no. Whoever guesses what the "it" player was thinking becomes the next person to become 'it" and think of something. If no one can guess it in 20 questions, the first player wins and can take another turn.

License Plate Game
See how many different states you can identify from license plates. You can print out a list of state names before your trip, then they can check off the ones they see. Or they can just write the state names on paper when they come across each one. See who can get the most states.

A to Z Game
The idea is to find words that begin with each letter of the alphabet, starting with A up through Z. Each player keeps track of where they are and shouts out the letters they see. They can look on signs, trucks, license plates, and billboards. The person to get all the way to the letter Z is the winner.