It’s very old school, but in a time before handheld screens and in car movies, car games were the only way to sanely get from one place to another with kids on a long road trip.

With the push lately to get kids off screens and engaging more in the world around them, and with school holidays coming around again soon, I thought I’d put a few suggestions out there, which worked for us in the past. Try them with your own kids or grandkids, even for a short while, and see how much more fun and interesting a road trip can be.

******And the one rule is, parents are the adjudicators if any challenges / arguments arise!

Alphabet Spotto

Start with the letter A and name something that you see out the window, starting with that letter as you drive along. It must be done in alphabetical order, and when you get to trickier letters, like X or Z, you can name something with those letters in it. Adults can decide whether kids take it in turns or just first one to see can name it.

Number Plate Words

Use three letters of a car number plate to make up a silly phrase. For instance, OFC – Old Fat Cat

Number Plate Bingo

Use the last two numbers on a car number plate and look elsewhere to spot those two numbers together again and call out Bingo when you’ve found them. It could be another number plate, a letterbox, a street number etc…

Find 10 – Themed Spotto

Find 10 different animals and birds that you see in your travels. Name 10 different makes of cars that you see. Find 10 different types of shops etc…

Car Cricket

This game is best played on a not too busy road as it needs some adding up ‘runs’ as you go.

Each person in the car takes a turn ‘batting’. To score, you add up the value of the vehicles passing in the opposite direction. For instance:

Cars = 1 run, Cars with a trailer = 2 runs, Bus or truck = 4 runs (a boundary) Semi-trailer = 6 runs

The batter continues to score until a red car passes, in which case they are out on whatever their score has added up to. The next batter is then in and the game can be played until a player reaches 100. The rules are very flexible If you want to use a different scoring method, you could try: car = 1 run, ute = 2, motorbike = 3, caravan = 4, bus = 6 and truck OUT!

Colour Game

A simple game for youngest ones even, where they have to look for and name anything they find of a nominated colour. The adult chooses a colour i.e. yellow, then they have to name what they can find in that colour as you drive along.

Hey Cow!

This is just a silly one for a giggle. If you’re travelling past a farm with cows in the paddock, put the window down and yell out Hey Cow! and count the number of cows that stop what they’re doing and look at you. You’ll be surprised.

These are just a few simple games that you can modify to suit your passengers. Let me know what other car games have worked well for you.

Enjoy the travels!

Glenys