Car Games

Vacations often mean long car rides, and long car rides often mean irritable children.

So here are a few car games which will hopefully delay the "are we there yet?" Or "how much longer?" Questions for at least 20 minutes. 

 

 

I Spy

I Spy is a classic with young kids. Choose a colour and say "I spy something that is green. "Try to obviously choose something that you won't pass by. My daughter likes choosing the sky, or trees, I like choosing small items in the car. 

And after 10ish minutes when I get the "what is there to do now?" I like to switch it up by asking my four year old to find shapes. I spy something that is a circle, or a triangle and anything they find that is the correct shape counts. 

I also used her Toddler find it books - and we looked for different shapes too. Like stars, hearts, Xs and more. 

You can also play Alphabet I Spy - and try to find a different word for every letter of the alphabet. And you can print out this adorable free printable from iheartorganizing to keep track.

 

Can you find a...

I started asking her to find certain items. Like a yellow sign, a green sign, a transport, any animal (cows, horses, dogs, etc), a red car, a blue house, a barn, etc. which she thought was good for a few rounds through out our trip. Although Lily thought it necessary to shout out yellow sign quite loudly over 30 times throughout the trip. Lol. 

Then I remembered when I was younger, we used to have car bingo games where you slid the red door over the pictures as you found them and the first one to get a line (or a blackout) wins. 

I found these Bingo cards on Amazon - and they look just like the ones I remembered having as a kid. 

 

Or you can grab this free Travel bingo printable from Must Have Mom

 

 

Older kids can cross them off with a crayon or marker as they find them but I don't feel confident giving my bored two year old anything to draw with in the car, so you could also use small post it notes, then you can use the printables over again.

 

Starting with the Letter...

This game is great for older children, Tweens or even teenagers. You simply name a place whether it be a country, city, state, province, etc. beginning with the letter the last place ended with. 

So for instance: Toronto - (ends with O) Ottawa -A - Antarctica - Aruba - and so on, and the first person who can't come up with a place loses. 

You can also make variations in this game by using animals, candy, food, or what ever other category has several other words in it. 

Can You Name a... 

The rules of this game are fairly simple. Just choose a category such as chocolate bars and have everyone take turns naming a different candy bar, and the first one who can't think of another one loses. 

You can choose different categories for this game as well. Animals might be easier for younger children to name. 

License Plate Games

 

American States

Find license plates for each of the states. Grab a free printable from iheart Organizing. And check them off as you find them.

 

 

Canadian Provinces

 

the same concept applies except you need to find license plates from each of the provinces. 

the numbers game

Choose a number from 1 to 9 and try to find it the more times before your opponent does. License plates with number equalling your number count as well. 

the whole alphabet 

Write down all the letters of the alphabet you see within different license plates and the first one who finishes the whole alphabet A to Z wins. 

When all Else Fails... 

I don't like my kids to have a lot of screen time but the cars an exception so once you have exhausted all those games pull out the portable DVD player, Leap Pad, I Pad or whatever other electronic device will keep them occupied for any length of time.

And you might also like Tips for packing for Toddlers and Pre-Schoolers where I give tips on how I pack my kids bags for the cars to keep them pre-occupied.