Location: Originally from the Home of the only 6 times Super Bowl Champs!
Posts: 12,099
More Fun Games and Ideas to Play While Traveling
Make a Trip-Journal or Scrapbook
Give everyone a big spiral bound sketchpad and a box of crayons or markers. Each day of the trip or for each event along the way, draw a picture of what you did that day, or draw a map of where you went and write about it. You can also paste in souvenirs.
Get a Good Songbook With All the Lyrics
It’s surprising how many songs you think you know, but you don’t really know all the words. Have a singing marathon and learn the old classics by heart.
Give Your Kids an Allowance for the Day
Tell them that this money is for snacks, treats, souvenirs, etc. Help them learn to budget their money and make good choices.
Let Your Children Have a Map
Give your kids their own copy of a map of where you are going. Show them how far you have come, how much further there is to go and let them mark it with a crayon. Every time someone asks, "How much further?" let them see for themselves. You might also like to get a compass and show them how it works along with the map.
Have Bubble Gum Blowing Contests
The weirder the gum the better. Get it at the rest areas and try all the different flavors.
The License Plate Game
Print a U.S. map off the computer and color in the states as you see license plates from each one. See if you can get all 50 states between Memorial Day and Labor Day. You might even record the time and date and the state where you saw it. This can be a family project as you build your "collection" of license plates together.
Cats Cradle or String Loops
You just need a piece of string for this one. See if you can make "Jacob’s Ladder," "Kitty Whiskers" or play Cats Cradle!
Magnetic Board Games
Do your children know how to play classic board games like Chess, Backgammon, Checkers or Chinese Checkers? What better time to learn than in the car to pass the time! The magnetic car versions of these games are nice because they are small and compact and have easy ways to store the pieces so they don’t get lost.
Counting Cows
Count the cows you see on your side of the car. If you pass a cemetery on your side of the car, you lose all your cows. The one with the most cows wins.
Read Out Loud
This passes the time quickly in the car for the reader and for the family members who are listening.
Lego Contest
Have a contest to see who can build the best item that relates to where you are going. Use a shoebox or large ziplock bags to store the Legos.
Guess How Far Away That Is
Pick an object and have everyone guess how far away it is, then clock it on your odometer.
Play Favorites
Have everyone think of different "favorite" questions for the group. What’s your favorite movie, flavor of ice cream, song, game, toy, place to visit, restaurant, book, animal, fish, etc? Be creative and don’t forget to ask the driver too!
Aluminum Art
Give everyone a sheet of aluminum foil. Have them mold it into anything they want: animal shapes, Frisbees, balls, jewelry, crowns, headband, necklaces and masks. Be creative. It’s inexpensive, fun and easy to clean up. Toddlers love this one too.
Remember that it’s sometimes nice to sit in the back of the van with your kids while Dad is doing the driving and play some games right along side them. You might be surprised at how much fun you have too. Happy travels!
One of the games that my children like to play is the Alphabet Game. It doesn't matter how long the ride is (to Wal-Mart or a 3 hour trip) they always play this. Basically the game is this: Each person is trying to make it through the alphabet first by looking for words that begin with each letter in order. You must first find a word that begins with the letter "A", you must say the word out loud and also the letter you are claiming. Then the letter "B", then "C" and so on. Each word can only be used once, except when used multiple times. For example: Driving by a Commercial Bank, the word bank may be used several times on the building, on a billboard, etc. Each player may use a different word for their letter. We use billboards, road signs, trucks, basically anything we can find that has words on it. My boys are 7, 9 and 12 and we have a great time now whenever we go anywhere. The fighting has stopped because they are too busy looking for whatever letter they happen to be on. We have tried a new variation, where each person starts with a different letter of the alphabet. We start with A, then F, then K, then P and then U. Hope you all enjoy this game as much as we do. It's definitely been a sanity saver.
Location: Originally from the Home of the only 6 times Super Bowl Champs!
Posts: 12,099
That sounds like a fun game! It would surely help to keep the kids busy while going on a trip.
Another game that my son and I have started playing goes like this.... One of us starts out saying a word ( any word) and spelling it, the next person then takes the last letter of that word and makes a word with that letter and spells it. This continues until you get tired of playing the game. This has helped my son with spelling, listening and broadening his vocabulary.
Hi, ladies! I'm soo glad to see this thread!! We're leaving next Wed the 16th to visit my inlaws in TX. We're driving down again this year and I'm trying to find some new "entertainment" for our boys, 8 & 10. Lots of great ideas here!! Thanks! One of the things I do is get on the computer (momsminivan.com); it has tons of printable travel games like car bingo, dots, hangman, tic-tac-toe, word scrabbles, word searches, crosswords, etc. So I just print off one of each one I want and then take them to a office supply store around the corner from us and make several copies. My boys love this and it does keep them busy. We also bought each of them a $5 cassette player w/ headphones at WalMart then we'll go to the library and let them choose 3-4 books on tapes to take with us. They love listening to the old stories about Tom Sawyer, Daniel Boone, etc. This keeps them pretty satisfied, too!
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord,"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
Stacia, what great ideas. I will definitely have to check out that website. I really like the idea about the audio books too. Thanks for the input. Hope you have a pleasant trip
I love the idea of reading aloud in the car. I do this with my kids (we have four, not all are readers yet ). We'll pick a book that everyone is interested in, like maybe one of the Harry Potter books, and each person gets to read a chapter out loud before passing it on. This definately passes the time and gets us all laughing and talking together.
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More Fun Games and Ideas to Play While Traveling 
One of the things I do is get on the computer (momsminivan.com); it has tons of printable travel games like car bingo, dots, hangman, tic-tac-toe, word scrabbles, word searches, crosswords, etc. So I just print off one of each one I want and then take them to a office supply store around the corner from us and make several copies. My boys love this and it does keep them busy. We also bought each of them a $5 cassette player w/ headphones at WalMart then we'll go to the library and let them choose 3-4 books on tapes to take with us. They love listening to the old stories about Tom Sawyer, Daniel Boone, etc. This keeps them pretty satisfied, too! 
