Car Games for Kids

As the holiday season approaches, so does the season of road trips. When you are on your next long car drive with your children and are looking for fun and easy ways to pass the time, check out the simple games:

Play Punch Bug. Look out for Volkswagon Beetles. When you see one, say what color it is (“Punch bug ____!”) and and gently punch the person next to you in the arm.

Play I Spy, of course!

Play Name That Tune. In this game, one player thinks of a song that everybody knows and hums its first few notes. The other players try to guess the name of the song.

Play Woodchuck. Be on the lookout for cars with wood paneling on them. Keep a tally of who finds the most.

Play Cheezy Squeezy, where you look for yellow cars and squeeze a co-passenger’s arm until they see the car too.

Play Counting Cows. Look out for cows along the sides of the highway, and see how many you can count as you pass by.

Play I’m Thinking of an Animal. Have the kids think of an animal and then provide clues to everyone else about the animal they are thinking about. Have the others try to guess which animal it is.

Play Play Rock, Paper and Scissors.

Play Find a…. One player says, “Find a _____.” The others must find whatever the player is looking for: cows, red signs, etc.

Play the Rainbow Game. Call out a color. Each person must then find something that color. For example, when you call out, “green,” one person might point to grass.

Play the Silly Sound Game. Make up a silly sound effect for each thing you see, and say it each time you pass the corresponding thing. For example, you might decide that the sound for red cars is “beep beep” and the sound for yellow trucks is “honk honk.” You can add animal sounds for animals, “splish splash” for rivers or ponds, “ring ring” (doorbells) for houses, etc. This is lots of fun.

Tell Tall Tales. One person starts off telling a story. He or she talks for about a minute and stops at an exciting moment. At this point, another person picks up where the last person left off. The game continues with the tale twisting and turning with each new story teller.

Play License Plate Math. Have older kids add up all of the numbers in different license plates to find the sum. Or, have the kids write down the numbers from the license plate and read their total aloud.

Play Guess the Number. One player thinks of a number between a range of numbers, (such as 1–100), and everyone else tries to guess the number by asking questions.

Play Are We There Yet? Ask the kids questions about how far you’re traveling. Yards? Miles? Kilometers? How fast are we going? If it’s 3:15 now, and it takes us two hours to get there, what time will we arrive? How far have we gone? etc.

Alphabet Games: