Our family takes two BIG road trips to visit extended relatives each year. And by big, I mean 12-14 hour drives. As you can imagine, we've heard our fair share of the dreaded question, "Are we there yet?" To help pass the time and make our trips a little more enjoyable, we occupy ourselves with some fun and easy road trip games.
The Alphabet Game Ages 3+ |
RULES: Players look for words containing each letter of the alphabet, from A to Z, on road signs, billboards, license plates, etc. The first person to successfully find all the letters wins.
Want to make this game more challenging? Players may only move on to the next letter once they've found words that START with each letter.
I'm Going on a Picnic/Vacation Ages 4+ |
RULES: Player one starts the game by saying, "I'm going on a picnic and I'm bringing..." something that starts with the letter A. The second player then says, "I'm going on a picnic and bringing...: something that starts with the letter B and the item mentioned by player one. Each player will add on a new item, A to Z, while remembering every item mentioned beforehand. If you mess up, you're out. The last person who can recite all items correctly wins.
In the vacation variation, players take turns saying, "I'm going on a vacation and I'm traveling to..." and mention locations (real or imaginary) from A to Z.
License Plate Collector Ages 5+ |
RULES: Print out a map of the USA or write a list of all 50 states. Observe the license plates on cars as you pass them. When you discover a license plate from a different state, mark it off on your list or color in the corresponding state on the print-out. The first person to find all 50 wins!
If your road trip isn't very long, the winner is the person who finds a higher number of unique states.
Fortunately, Unfortunately Ages 5+ |
RULES: Players take turns adding to a story, one sentence at a time. Each participant must begin their sentence with "fortunately" or "unfortunately," alternating between a positive and negative addition to the tale.
| Car Cricket Ages 4+ |
RULES: Determine your batting order. When it's your inning, tally vehicles that pass in the opposite direction. For our pre-made scoring chart, motorbikes are worth 3 runs, big rigs are worth 2, and all other vehicles are worth 1. When a red car passes by, you get a strike. Three strikes and you're out!
Rotate through each player until you've each played a certain number of innings or until you've reached a pre-determined score. Switch up the rules by creating your own scoring system using our blank template.
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The Counting Game Ages 3+ |
RULES: The goal is to count to 20 as a group. One participant randomly starts the game by saying, "one." Another person follows at random with, "two." The random calling of numbers continues until the group reaches 20.
If at any point two people say the same number at the same time, the counting must start over. To make things more challenging, if there is ever a pause in counting that lasts more than 5 seconds, you must also start over.
The Movie Game Ages 8+ |
RULES: Player 1 starts the game by announcing the name of an actor. Player 2 then names a movie that the mentioned actor was in. Player 3 must say a different actor from the mentioned movie, and Player 4 then announces a movie that this actor played in.
The game goes back and forth between actors and movies, forming a chain. The game ends when a player cannot successfully name a movie or actor to continue the actor-movie-actor-movie pattern.
Categories Ages 2+ |
RULES: The group decides on a category. One by one, each player names something that belongs in the designated category. A person is out if he/she accidentally repeats a previously mentioned item or if he/she cannot come up with a new item. The last person remaining wins the round.
Category ideas: colors, animal sounds, cities with baseball teams, presidents, foods that grow on trees, famous dogs, words that start and end with the same letter, Broadway musicals, fast food chains, car manufacturers, actors in animated films, books set in the USA.
Two Truths and a Lie Ages 4+ |
RULES: Each participant comes up with 3 sentences- two must be true and one must be a lie. The other players must determine which of the sentences is false. Players that correctly guess the lie on the first try will earn 1 point. If no one guesses correctly, the speaker earns 3 points. The first person to reach 10 points wins.
The Name Game Ages 8+ |
RULES: Player one says the first and last name of a celebrity. Player two must then say the name of a celebrity that begins with the first letter of the previous celebrity's last name. Stumped players are eliminated and the last player remaining wins.
I Spy Ages 2+ |
RULES: Player 1 observes an item and describes it to the group by saying, "I spy, with my little eye, something that..." followed by a simple description. All the other players, one by one, must guess or ask a "yes or no" question about the mystery item. If no one can guess after each player has asked their question, Player 1 can share another descriptive attribute. The first person to guess correctly wins the round and gets to spy a new item.
Road Trip Bingo Ages 2+ |
RULES: Print out your Bingo Card and mark off different items as you find them. The first player to get 5 in a row wins!
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