Guest Author - Angela Thompson
Anyone who has ever been on a long road trip with children has experienced the need for a little diversion. Kids lose patience with the car ride, and with each other, rather quickly and need something attention catching to avoid arguments and irritations. While many tried and true games for car trips exist, there are some that cover a variety of ages and situations and work great for families traveling with toddlers through teens.
Play I Spy. Obviously, inside a moving vehicle, the spied items will need to either be in the car or at a distance so that the players have a chance to find the items before they are gone from view. It works great to help the little kids identify colors and shapes and it keeps the older kids interested in stumping the grown ups.
Try the Alphabet Game. This game likely has a catchy title—but, in our English speaking family, we call it the ABC Finding Game. The car passengers must begin with letter A and progress through the entire alphabet, in order, by finding the letter of their turn along the roadside on a sign or building or another vehicle. It takes a while to make it through the alphabet—especially for those seeking out less common letters like Q or X.
Explore The Great License Plate Game. The classic game of finding license plates from various US states and labeling them on a United States map has been a road trip diversion for year. Many vehicle license plates have gotten more difficult to read and identify, so this game is less suitable for younger children. It does work well for the teen/tween set.
Create a Trip Scavenger Hunt. This game requires some prep work, but will keep the kids busy. You may even find that the older ones are more willing to help the little ones read and keep track of the scavenger hunt items. In our family, every person gets a different list to avoid any “I found it first” provoked screaming matches. List items such as a white horse, a one room schoolhouse, a fire station, etc. and make the lists reasonable for the varying ages of the children.
Family Story Time. Play a story starter game where each family member builds on a storyline—one sentence at a time. For example, during a drive through the countryside, Dad may start the story with, “Once upon a time there was a cow named George,”—to which Mom may add, “who wanted to swim in the pond”, etc. until everyone in the car has had time to add to the story and someone concludes it. The story may go on for several rounds or it may end after one time through—it just depends on the imaginations of the trip takers.
These are only a few ideas to avoid those road trip meltdowns. Think about your family’s interests and activities as you plan car games. Consider a math fact contest or a spelling or geography bee if the kids are able to participate in such an activity. For the record, younger kids love to top older siblings in such things—and depending on your family’s personality and abilities; contests may not be the best attention diversion for all!
Most importantly, grown ups need patience to maintain peace during long road trips. Taking a few minutes to distract with a game rather than add fuel to a brewing argument will go a long way in reducing car trip stress!
