21 road trip and car games

License plate game

Players

2 to 6 passengers

Minutes

Runs through the trip

Ages

6 and up

You need

A list of the 50 states and a pen

1. Passengers look for plates from as many different states as possible.
2. Cross each state off the list the first time anyone spots it.
3. Play as one team for the whole trip, or give a point to whoever calls each new state first.
4. Older players can also name each state's capital when its plate is spotted.

Alphabet spotting

Players

2 to 6 passengers

Minutes

20 to 40

Ages

5 and up

You need

Nothing

1. Look for the letter A on signs, trucks and buildings outside the car.
2. Call out the word it appears in, then look for B.
3. Letters must be found in order. Agree before starting whether Q, X and Z can come from anywhere in a word.
4. Play as a team, or race each other using only the signs on your side of the car.

Road trip bingo

Players

2 to 6 passengers

Minutes

30 to 60

Ages

4 and up

You need

A different road trip bingo card and a crayon or pen for each passenger

1. Give each passenger a different card of things to spot, such as a bridge, a tractor or a tunnel.
2. Mark a square when you see its picture or word through the window.
3. Call bingo with a full line. On a long drive, keep the same cards going for a full card.
4. Clip each card to a clipboard or a book so it is easy to mark in the car.

Without a printer: Before leaving, draw a 3 by 3 grid for each passenger and fill it with nine things to spot.

For this game: Road trip bingo

Road trip scavenger hunt

Players

2 to 6 passengers

Minutes

Runs through the trip

Ages

5 and up

You need

A checklist of 20 things to spot and a pen

1. Write a list of things you expect to pass, with rare ones worth more: a tractor 1 point, a hot air balloon 5.
2. Passengers tick an item when they spot it and tell the others.
3. Only the first passenger to call an item gets its points.
4. Add up the scores at the next stop.

Without a printer: Keep the list in a notebook and choose one passenger as scorekeeper.

For this game: Printable scavenger hunt checklist

Cow count

Players

2 to 6 passengers, in two teams

Minutes

Runs through the trip

Ages

4 and up

You need

Nothing

1. Split the passengers into two teams: the left windows and the right windows.
2. Each team counts the cows they see on their own side.
3. Agree on one landmark that sends a team's count back to zero, such as a gas station on their side.
4. The team with the most cows at the destination wins.

Rare color car

Players

2 to 6 passengers

Minutes

Runs through the trip

Ages

4 and up

You need

Nothing

1. Pick a rare car color, such as yellow or purple.
2. The first passenger to call out a moving car of that color scores a point.
3. Keep a running score for the day.
4. Switch to a new color after each stop.

I spy

Players

2 to 6 passengers

Minutes

10 to 20

Ages

3 and up

You need

Nothing

1. One passenger picks something everyone can see and says 'I spy with my little eye something beginning with B.'
2. The others guess until someone names it.
3. The right guesser picks the next thing.
4. Choose things inside the car or far away, since a passing sign is gone before anyone can guess it.
5. For children who do not know their letters yet, give a color instead.

Twenty questions

Players

2 to 6 passengers

Minutes

5 to 10 per round

Ages

6 and up

You need

Nothing

1. One passenger thinks of an object, an animal or a person.
2. The others ask up to 20 yes-or-no questions to work it out.
3. Start broad, with questions like 'Is it alive?', then narrow down.
4. A right guess within 20 questions wins the round. If nobody gets it, the thinker picks again.

For this game: 20 questions game

Geography chain

Players

2 to 6 passengers

Minutes

10 to 20

Ages

8 and up

You need

Nothing

1. The first player names a real place: a town, a state, a country, a river or a mountain.
2. The next player names a place that starts with the last letter of that one: Texas, then Seattle, then Ecuador.
3. No place can be used twice.
4. A player who cannot think of one within ten seconds drops out of the round. The last one left wins.

I packed my suitcase

Players

2 to 6 passengers

Minutes

10

Ages

5 and up

You need

Nothing

1. The first player says 'I packed my suitcase and in it I put an apple', using a word that starts with A.
2. The next player repeats the whole list and adds a B word: 'an apple and a blanket'.
3. Keep going through the alphabet, each player repeating everything before adding their item.
4. A player who forgets an item gets one hint from the others. A second slip ends their round.

Fortunately, unfortunately

Players

2 to 6 passengers

Minutes

10

Ages

6 and up

You need

Nothing

1. The first player starts a story with one sentence, such as 'A family set off on a long drive.'
2. The next player adds a sentence starting with 'Fortunately', and the one after starts with 'Unfortunately'.
3. Keep alternating, so the story swings between good luck and bad luck.
4. Stop when the story reaches an ending, or after everyone has had five turns.

Song chain

Players

2 to 6 passengers

Minutes

10 to 20

Ages

8 and up

You need

Nothing

1. The first player sings a line from any song.
2. The next player sings a line from a different song that shares at least one word with it.
3. Keep the chain going, with no song used twice.
4. A player stuck for more than ten seconds drops out of the round.

Guess the arrival time

Players

2 to 6 passengers

Minutes

Runs through the trip

Ages

6 and up

You need

A notebook or a phone note kept by a passenger

1. At the start of the trip, each passenger guesses the exact time the car will arrive.
2. A passenger writes every guess down.
3. Add a second guess, such as the number of stops or the first animal anyone spots.
4. The closest guess wins and chooses the next snack stop.

Would you rather

Players

2 to 6 passengers

Minutes

10 to 30

Ages

5 and up

You need

A list of would you rather questions, read by a passenger

1. A passenger reads a question with two options.
2. Everyone picks one and gives a reason.
3. After every five questions, let each player make up one of their own.
4. If the reader starts to feel carsick, stop reading and switch to made-up questions.

For this game: Funny would you rather questions

Road trip trivia

Players

2 to 6 passengers, in two teams

Minutes

20 to 30

Ages

10 and up

You need

A set of trivia questions with answers, read by a passenger

1. One passenger acts as quizmaster and reads each question aloud.
2. Split the other passengers into two teams.
3. Teams take turns answering. A miss lets the other team try.
4. Pick questions about the states you are driving through to tie the quiz to the trip.

For this game: U.S. states trivia questions

Riddles in the car

Players

2 to 6 passengers

Minutes

10 to 20

Ages

6 and up

You need

A list of riddles with answers, read by a passenger

1. A passenger reads a riddle twice.
2. The others take as long as they need to think. Give a hint after a minute.
3. The first right answer scores a point.
4. The solver reads the next riddle.

For this game: Riddles for kids with answers

Dots and boxes

Players

2 or 3 passengers

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

6 and up

You need

A dots and boxes sheet, a pen for each player and a book to lean on

1. Take turns drawing one line between two dots that sit side by side.
2. A player who closes the fourth side of a box writes their initial in it and takes another turn.
3. Play until every box is closed.
4. The player with the most boxes wins.

Without a printer: Draw a grid of dots, 6 by 6 or larger, on any paper before the trip.

For this game: Printable dots and boxes

Hangman

Players

2 to 4 passengers

Minutes

5 to 10 per word

Ages

7 and up

You need

A hangman sheet and a pen

1. One player picks a word and draws a dash for each letter.
2. The other players call out one letter per turn.
3. A right letter is written in every place it appears. A wrong letter adds one line to the drawing.
4. Guess the word before the drawing is finished to win. Places and travel words make a good theme.

Without a printer: Draw the dashes and the drawing in a notebook.

For this game: Printable hangman sheets

Sea battle

Players

2 passengers

Minutes

15 to 25

Ages

7 and up

You need

A sea battle sheet for each player and a pen

1. Each player secretly marks ships on their own grid: one of four squares, two of three and one of two.
2. Take turns calling a square, such as B6.
3. The other player says hit or miss, and both mark it.
4. When every square of a ship is hit, its owner says sunk. The first to sink every ship wins.
5. Hold the sheets on books tilted away from each other so neither player can peek.

Without a printer: Draw two 10 by 10 grids, lettered A to J across and numbered 1 to 10 down.

For this game: Printable sea battle grids

Road signs word search

Players

1 or more passengers

Minutes

10 to 15

Ages

7 and up

You need

A printed word search and a pencil

1. Hand out the puzzle at a quiet point in the drive.
2. Passengers find every road sign word in the grid.
3. When a word is found, look out of the window for the real sign.
4. Check the answer page at the next stop.

Without a printer: Open the puzzle on a tablet and select the letters on screen.

For this game: Road signs word search

Printable mazes

Players

1 or more passengers

Minutes

5 to 15

Ages

4 and up

You need

A few printed mazes, a crayon or pencil, and a book to lean on

1. Print mazes in two or three sizes so each child has one that suits them.
2. Children trace a path from the entrance to the exit without crossing a wall.
3. Swap mazes when a child finishes.
4. A front-seat passenger keeps the answer pages for a child who gets stuck.

Without a printer: Draw a simple maze on squared paper before the trip.

For this game: Printable mazes with solutions