A long car ride may not be the most exciting activity, but it is especially difficult for children to sit on it. Children need stimulation and entertainment so they don’t go crazy. This list of car games for kids is the perfect tool to keep their minds busy while they wait.
Whether you’re going on a week-long car trip or a day trip, these games will keep kids entertained so you can focus on getting to your destination safely and quickly without having to stop every hour on your trip and stop. let the kids have fun. Some of these fun games are perfect for one child, and some require someone else to play with them, be it another sibling or parent.
19+ of the best car games for kids that won’t let them ask “are we there yet?”
1. I’m a spy
Original but still great! It requires no prep work and little to no adult interaction (if you have more than one child). If it’s just an adult and a child, this game is still good because it doesn’t distract the driver too much.
2. License plate games
There are quite a few license plate games to choose from, so you can pick one or play all of them! There is never a shortage of license plates on a road trip.
In this license plate game, family members can work individually trying to find each state’s license plate, or you can work as a team. Every time someone notices a new state, they get a point. You can also earn bonus points if someone spots a Canadian license plate! Bring along a printout of all 50 states, or a US map to cross off states along the way to make things easier.
Using the letters on the license plate, make up a silly phrase using each letter as the first letter of the word. For example, if your license plate has the letters CLS, you could say Cats Love Skittles.
3. Would you rather
You’d prefer questions that are fun for any age, but it’s fun to listen to kids answer them. Their answers will surprise you and perhaps cheer you up. Bring along a list of child-friendly “would you rather” questions, or make them up as you go. You will never get bored as you listen to little kids answer fun questions.
4. 20 questions
20 Questions is another oldie, but a good one nonetheless! To play, choose whose turn it is and ask them to think of a person, place, or thing. Other players can then ask “yes” or “no” questions to help them sort things out, such as “is this a person?” or “can it fly?” If the players think they know what it is, they can use their turn to guess. Only 20 questions are allowed in total. If they can’t guess what those 20 questions are, whoever “it” wins.
5. Little things
Trivia is a fun way for your kids to learn new things. Print out a list of simple questions related to the interests of the children in advance. A few ideas could be children’s movies, music, history, or even your family’s personal experiences. You can also find general trivia geared towards your child’s age.
6. Treasure hunt on the road
Scavenger hunting requires a little prep work, but it can be as easy as printing out a free printable scavenger hunt on the go. Children can use their page and mark things as they see them. The first child to cross off all of their items from the list wins. You can also join forces to cross everything off the list and whoever finds the most wins.
7. Staring competition
Staring competition is probably the simplest game on this list. Although, the driver does not have to participate. This game will work best if you have two or more family members in the back seat, so no one has to turn to face back to play. Let two people look at each other for as long as possible. The one who first looks away or blinks loses.
8. Once Upon a Time
This game is also called Storytime. Have one person begin with “one day…” and add one or two sentences to the story. Then the next person goes on and contributes to the story, and so on. These stories can be silly, scary, or anything in between. You can record the story and play it back for everyone to see.
9. Game of concentration
Concentration is a trendy game for younger students. It is usually played with the hands, but this is not necessary when traveling by car. You start the game by saying, “This is a concentration game, no repetition or hesitation; category _____. The person who starts chooses a category, say animals, and then they take turns calling the animals back and forth. You can do this with different themes like animals, colors, car brands, sports, school subjects, etc. When someone hesitates or repeats, they are out.
10. Don’t say it
Before you go on a trip or when you get into your car for the first time, make a list of words or phrases that are not allowed. They can be travel-related, like “we’re already there,” “miles,” “gas station,” etc. Or they can be random, like “breakfast,” “water,” or “socks.” Any word or phrase that you think they would have a hard time not saying. Count each time someone says one of the words, the person at the end with the fewest marks wins.
You can use props like balloons, crackers or whatever to make it more fun. Each person starts with 10 and every time they say a forbidden word they lose one of their marbles and whoever catches them on it gets it. Whoever has the most balloons at the end wins! This is a fun game for kids and adults and it’s a challenge for everyone.
11. Joke
Children love jokes! You can print out a list of jokes ahead of time or have the kids come up with them as they go along. Everyone will be interested to know what the children came up with. Their imagination is sure to run wild! If you’re traveling for the holidays, these Thanksgiving kids jokes are the perfect addition to your car ride.
12. Crazy Libs
Making crazy books is serious fun for the whole family! If you’ve never done mad libs before, you should give it a try. The whole family will laugh. The best way to make crazy libs in the car is to bring them from home to fill up on the road. You can find many free printed books about insane libraries online, or get a book about insane libraries.
13. Determine the brand of the car
If your kids or family members are into cars, try to find at least one of each brand. Make or print a list of all the most popular car brands and take it with you, or you can compile it while driving. Every time someone notices something on the list, they get a point.
To make the game even more fun, you can decide that unique car brands are worth more points. The family member with the most points at the end wins.
14. Tic-tac-toe
Another simple game, but a classic! You can bring your laptop for a car trip and let the kids play tic-tac-toe on your next vacation.
15. Name a song (or movie)
Before you leave the house, make a playlist on your phone of songs your child knows, perhaps soundtracks from children’s films. Play the first few seconds of the music and see if the kids can guess what song or movie it is.
16. Slug beetle
Some call this game punch buggy. Every time someone sees a Volkswagen beetle, they yell, “Slug beetle!” (or perforator). Whoever finds the most mistakes at the end wins. This game is now a bit more difficult because this car is no longer as popular as it used to be. So you can play it while playing other games at the same time.
17. Simon says
You may need to get creative with this since you are in a car and are limited to the movements kids can make. There are many more ways to play, and creativity stimulates the brain!
18. Let’s make a picture
There are several different ways to use drawing in the car as a game! Using a piece of paper or an LCD drawing tablet, have one child draw something, maybe a line, a circle, etc. Then pass the paper to someone else and have them add something new to the picture. Continue for a certain amount of time or until each person has made a certain number of moves and see what picture you get.
19. Alphabet games
There are many different alphabet games to choose from! You can play one or play all. The best thing about alphabet games is that they not only entertain but also educate.
To play this alphabet game, someone starts with “I’m going on a picnic and I’ll bring…” and they choose something that starts with the letter A. The next person repeats what the previous person said, and then adds another element. to bring something that starts with B. You keep going until someone can remember all the previous things people said. To make things easier for young children, don’t worry about repeating the last points. Just keep adding an element for each letter of the alphabet. It’s fun to see how far kids can get in the alphabet.
Letter hunting can be an individual challenge or a team effort to find every letter of the alphabet in your surroundings, whether it’s on license plates, billboards, road signs, etc. Start with the letter A when you see it, then move on to B and soon . It may seem easy until you get to more difficult letters like Q, X, Z, etc. You can also create a scoring system and make more difficult letters worth more points!
Choose a subject for the continuation of the letter (we will use animals as an example). You can choose any category like animals, food, etc. The first person chooses an animal, say a zebra, and the next person has to come up with an animal that starts with the last letter of the previous animal. So the next animal should start with the letter “A”.
Bonus: Tablet games for kids to play in the car
If your kids have a tablet or iPad, you can download a wide variety of kids games and kids apps that don’t require an internet connection. You can find educational learning games, racing games, multiplayer games for kids and more! If your child is into computer programming, try these games for kids.
Final Thoughts: Car Games for Kids
From this list of travel games, we hope your kids will find plenty of ways to keep themselves busy during your family trip. Stimulating their mind with different games is a great way to vent their energy without having to stop and get out of the car. You can always change or add games to reduce or increase the difficulty in order to work better with children of different ages. These games are suitable for kids of all ages and any number of players!
This article originally appeared on Wealth of Geeks.