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Taking a road trip with your family during summer break is a great way to connect and have fun together. But spending an extended amount of time cooped up in a car can be tough for kids.
A family road trip requires a little bit of planning to make sure your kids stay entertained throughout the ride. So, in addition to having plenty of road trip snacks, these eight fun car games for your next family road trip will ensure everyone has a blast on your vacation.
The License Plate Game
This classic car game will keep your whole family entertained for the entire trip.
To play, everyone must keep their eyes peeled to find license plates from all 50 states.
Whoever sees a license plate from a state that has not been named and calls it out receives a point. And the person with the most points at the end of the trip wins.
To make sure you keep things fair, print out a list of all 50 states before you leave, then write your family member’s name next to each state they find. When you arrive at your destination, add up everyone’s points and name a winner. You can also use premade games, such as this magnet license plate game, where each license plate is a magnet and you add them to a map as you find one for each state.
Twenty Questions
To play this popular game, one person in the car must think of an animal, mineral or vegetable. Then, the other player may ask yes or no questions in an attempt to figure out what that person is thinking of.
After 20 questions have been asked, each player gets a chance to guess the correct answer. Continue playing the game until everyone has had at least one chance to think of an object, then add up the wins to crown a winner of the game.
The Name Game
This fun game is great for kids of all ages!
To play, one member of the family names an animal.
Then, the next person must name an animal that starts with the last letter of the previous animal that was named. And since you can’t repeat the names of animals as you play, your family members will be forced to rack their brains for new animals.
This game can be played using a variety of subjects, including cities or countries, movies, TV shows, books, or foods.
Storytelling
Get your family’s creative juices flowing by playing a round of group storytelling.
One person starts with the first sentence of a story. Then, each following family member adds a new sentence to the story to create an interesting (or silly) tale.
The beauty of this fun game is that it can go on as long as you like. And while there are no winners, one lucky family member will get to be the one to finish the story.
The Alphabet Game
Similar to the license plate game, in the alphabet game, players must look for letters of the alphabet along the ride.
Family members on the passenger side of the car will scan the right side of the road, and family members on the driver’s side of the car can scan the left side of the road.
As you ride, look for letters of the alphabet on signs, vehicles, and license plates on their designated sides. The first person to go from A to Z wins the game.
Alphabet Categories
Another fun alphabet-based game to play on a family road trip is alphabet categories.
In this game, one person chooses a category for the round (food, cities, animals, cartoon characters, etc.), then each family member takes a turn naming items from that category that start with their letter.
To make the game a little more challenging, ask your family members to repeat the items that have already been named before adding their own item.
For example, one person says A is for apple, the next says B is for Banana…on your turn, you repeat those two items and add your letter: C is for cantaloupe. The winner is the family member who successfully repeats each letter and corresponding item from A to Z.
Restaurant Race
Traveling on the interstate can be pretty boring, but with this game, your kids will stay alert throughout the trip.
At the beginning of the game ask each family member to pick a popular restaurant that is commonly found along the highway – McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, etc.
Each time you spot a sign for that restaurant or see the restaurant on the side of the road, you get five points.
You can also earn points when you hear a commercial for the restaurant on the radio.
You can make this game last the whole trip or set a time limit. Either way, the family member with the most points at the end wins.
Would You Rather?
This fun game is a great way to get to know your family.
Each person asks a “would you rather” question which forces everyone to choose between two things. They can be interesting questions like, “Would you rather be invisible or be able to fly?” or silly questions, like “Would you rather go to school in your underwear or in a clown costume?”
After a question is asked, each family member has a chance to answer and explain why they chose the option they did.
What are your favorite road trip games to play?
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