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Travel + Fun

19th Nov 2019

Road trip? 3 fun and easy car games that might just save your sanity

Trine Jensen-Burke

road trip

Driving in a car that also contains children can be a bit of sanity tester, no?

If you are thinking ‘no’ as the answer to this question, I am going to presume you either: A. Don’t have children. Or B. You’re children are still so young you haven’t had a chance to feel this way yet. But just wait.

Anyway, if you, like me, look forward to a family road trip the same way you look forward to having your wisdom teeth removed – and you are literally just one more game of “I Spy” away from the mental ward, here are three new car games to have fun with on route to your destination. And when I say “fun” – you know what I mean. Not so much fun as “as least the kids aren’t killing each other in the backseat.” But whatever – as parents, we take whatever little sanity saver we can get. So here goes:

1. Alphabet Memory

The first person starts with the letter A and say “A is for —” filling in the blank with any word beginning with the letter A such as APPLE, ALPHABET, ANIMAL, etc.

Let’s use APPLE. The second person then does the letter B, but must also remember what A was! So, they say “A is for APPLE and B is for BOY”. Then, the third person starts with A and B and then adds in their suggestion for C like this “A is for APPLE, B is for BOY and C is for CATERPILLAR” and so on

2. A to Z

The objectives of this game is to complete the alphabet first. Each player searches the letters on billboards, trucks, license plates, buildings and anything else in view and shout out your letter and point. Once a letter has been claimed other players cannot use the same letter. Make it harder by limiting to only license plates or billboard signs for older children. Whoever gets to Z first wins.

3. Name that Tune

How many notes will it take your family or child to name that tune? This is a great game for families to play together. One person thinks of a song and then starts to hum the tune – the first one to guess the song correctly is the next to choose a song and hum.

For younger children, you might need to suggest a few bedtime lullabies (twinkle, twinkle little star) or even Christmas Carols to help them along.

If YOU have got any great tips for in-car games, do let us know in the comments, or tweet us at @herfamilydotie