Car games transform a road trip from borrrrring to brilliant, which is great news for kids and parents!
With games to keep eyes, brains and voice boxes busy, little ones will be having so much fun that they won’t want the journey to end. So buckle up, press ‘pause’ on screen time and get the family together for a boot-load of amusement and miles of smiles.
Here are our favourite 13 family car games to keep everyone entertained on the open road.
1. I Spy
“I spy with my little eye something blue…” or “something beginning with A”. This game is a classic way to get peepers on the case inside and outside the car.
2. Car bingo
Before setting off, print out some scavenger hunt and car bingo sheets. Once on the road, kiddos have to find the things, signs and logos on them. Or else personalise a list: Dog in a ute? Tick! Number plate starting with X? Tick! Green sheep? Maybe not.
3. Spotto
Everyone is on the look-out for yellow cars. The first person to see one, yells ‘Spotto’ and gets a point. A variation on this game is ‘Snotto’ (looking for green cars), ‘Pinko’ (looking for pink cars) or spotting particular things, like an orange truck.
4. Sound effects game
Someone tells a story and every time they mention something that makes a sound, the whole family chimes in with its noise. This is a cue for bells, alarms, giggles and – yep – bodily functions…
5. Colour contest
One person chooses a colour, like red, and everyone else has to find things in that hue. To make it trickier, spot cars in the colours of the rainbow. First a red car, then yellow and so on.
6. The alphabet game
Choose a topic, like animals, places or names, then take turns saying words beginning with each letter of the alphabet. Aardvark, America and Anna! For younger kids, forget the alphabet and just name lots of things in each category.
7. “Cheese please”
One person closes their eyes, and another person says in a funny or soft voice, “cheese please”. They have to guess which family member said it, and if they’re right, it’s the speaker’s turn to guess.
8. Connect-a-word
Players take turns connecting words to each other, like ‘cookies’, then ‘milk’, then ‘cows’, then sheep’. Keep going until no-one can think of a connecting word, then start again.
9. Family story-telling
Everyone takes turns adding one word to a story. The. End. Result. Is. A. Funny. Weird. Silly. Story. Made. By. The. Whole. Family.
10. If I was in charge of the world…
Oh the places imaginations will go! People take turns saying what they’d do if they ruled the world. Prepare for funny and enlightening answers! Then move on to ‘if I had a squillion dollars, I’d…’ or ‘if I had a superpower, I’d…”
11. Rock, paper, scissors
This one is for the backseat bandits. Rock beats scissors, scissors beat paper and paper wraps up rock. Take that!
12. Twenty questions
One person chooses an animal or vegetable, then the other players take turns asking yes/no questions to guess what it is, like “do you grow on trees?” If no-one gets it right after 20 questions, the person gets another turn.
13. Silence game
After all that noise, switch to this game! Everyone has to stay totally quiet, and the winner is the person who can stay silent the longest. Genius.
(image via Sugar Pop Ribbons)
Find More: tips for road tripping
21 things every parent should have in their car
Road tripping with kids: the ultimate planner
Five tips for a fun road trip
