Our family takes one road trip for summer vacation each year. Some are bigger than others, but we went on a big one this year. And by big, I mean a 10- to 12-hour drive. 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. Here are nine of our family's favorite road trip games:
1. I'm Going on a Picnic/Vacation
Ages 4+
Rules: Player 1 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 then the item mentioned by player 1. 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 of the 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. The Counting Game
Ages 4+
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.
5. 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.
Need some category ideas? Try these: 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.
6. Two Truths and a Lie
Ages 4+
Rules: Each participant comes up with three 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.
7. Road Trip Scavenger Hunt (Free printable)
Ages 3+
Rules: Print out this road trip scavenger hunt list before you hit the road. You can play together as a family or print out copies for everyone and make the game a competition. Whoever spots the item on the list first gets the credit for that one, but at least one other person has to also see it to confirm the item was actually there!
8. 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.
I hope these ideas for road trip games help your family pass the time happily on your next car trip, and help keep the "Are we there yet?" question at bay!
Rebecca Campagna is the publisher of Macaroni KID South Baton Rouge
