10 Road Trip Games Your Kids Will Enjoy

Long drives with the kids can be a headache. Keep the fun in your trip by having your younger travelers entertained with some road trip games. These simple ideas are a free or inexpensive way to make sure the kids are having a blast on the road so that you can enjoy your next family road trip.

1. The License Plate Game

Here is a variation on the classic license plate road trip game. Print out a blank map for each child and give them a box of crayons. The object of the game is to spot license plates from as many states as possible.

As the kids find license plates from various states, they color the corresponding state on the map. Make it even more fun by getting them to use the color crayon that most resembles the color of the car sporting that plate. Have the kids search, keep their hands busy, sneak in a mini geography lesson at the same time.

2. Travel Safe Activity Tray

Maybe this one isn’t exactly a game but it’s such a good idea that it deserves an honorable mention anyway. Make a fun activity tray out of an old cookie sheet. Spray paint the inside of the cookie sheet with chalkboard paint. Provide some chalk and age appropriate magnets and let your little ones create their own entertainment.

Bigger kids can draw game boards and use their magnets as game pieces. Little ones can draw scenes for their magnets. Best of all, the mess is contained on the cookie sheet and the magnets won’t roll away.

3. What’s In That Truck?

Get those imaginations working with this fun drawing game. Pick a random truck on the road and have your kids draw what they think is inside. You can also try variations such as what they wish the truck is transporting or what is definitely not in the truck.

Kids can use their detective skills by examining pictures and writing on the trucks to make an educated guess at the contents. Other trucks are best suited for silly and whimsical guesses. Try alternating between serious rounds, and silly ones to keep them entertained longer.

4. Road Sign Bingo

This one takes a bit of preparation. Make a Bingo board showing common road signs that you’re likely to encounter on your road trip. Then just get your kids to put a marker on each sign they’re able to spot. First one to get Bingo wins.

If you want to get really fancy, you can laminate your Bingo boards and have the kids use whiteboard markers on them. When the game is over, wipe the boards clean and start over. Your kids can reuse the boards for many trips to come.

5. Road Trip Musical Challenge

All you need for this road trip game is your knowledge of music. To start, one person sings a line or two from a popular song. The next person must sing a line from a different song but there’s a catch. The next song lyric must begin with the last word sung by the previous person.

Keep taking turns until someone gets stuck. If a player is unable to think of the next song, they’re out of the game and the next person must try to think of a lyric that fits. Last person standing wins.

6. 20 Questions Grocery Edition

In this variation of the classic road trip game, one player is thinking about a specific item that is found at the grocery store. Everyone else takes turns asking yes or no questions to narrow down what the mystery item could be. First to guess correctly wins but if nobody can guess it within 20 questions then the person who thought up that grocery item gets the point instead.

7. Name That Color

Participants take turns in this road trip game. One person is the caller and must name items that are a specific color. Everyone else tries to guess the mystery color. Each item listed before the group can guess the right color gives the caller one point.

8. Triple Threat Storytime

In this game the adults provide the prompts and the kids tell the story. Have an adult choose three nouns. They could be any combination of people, places, or things. The kids must then tell a story that includes all three nouns as a part of the plot. Great game for inspiring creativity and for some laughs on the road.

9. Name That Song

This simple road trip game can be played by each traveler on your next trip. Take turns singing a few lines of a song while everyone else tries to guess what song it is. First person to name the song gets the point.

Keep the age of the kids in mind. Older children will probably enjoy pop songs but the game can be tailored to younger players too. Theme songs and music from their favorite tv shows are more suitable for younger children.

10. Road Trip Zoo

This simple road trip game gets creative juices flowing. Have kids draw pictures of different types of animals they see along the way. The twist is that the children are building a zoo and they need to draw the animals in an exhibit. Make it silly or educational by having the children consider what each animal would need in its exhibit to keep it healthy and happy.

Make your car games even more exciting by offering some fun incentives. Convert points into tickets that your kids can exchange for prizes at pit stops. Pick up some stickers and other car friendly items to use as rewards and keep the kiddos busy for a while after every stop as they explore their loot.

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