Are you planning a family road trip this year? Are you looking for ways to make your family road trip more fun? If you are, I am here to help you with Road Trip Games Kids Will Love.
Car rides can take forever for children and parents, especially when their children complain. It’s easy for us to just hand our children a tablet or smartphone to play or watch movies on. But, there is no real family interaction when we do this.
What are games to play on road trips with kids?
- The License Plate Game.
- Get to Know You Questions
- The Animal Name Game
- 20 Questions
- I Spy
- The theme song game
- Story Starter
- Triple Threat
The License Plate Game
Make a group effort to spot tags from all 50 states. You can track points for each person that spots a plate. (Bonus points for the first person to spy a Canadian plate!) The family member with the most points at the end of the drive wins. Get a license plate game sheet to track your progress here.
Get to Know You Questions
Car rides can provide fewer distractions (if electronics are put away), and this could be a great bonding game with your kids. Get them talking by asking some fun “get-to know-you” questions: What is the weirdest thing you have eaten? What is your favorite vacation? Who is your best friend? Get prompts to print out here, in this Road Trip Games Bundle.
The Animal Name Game
This game is easy to start, one person names an animal. The next person then has to name another animal (no repeating!) that starts with the last letter of the previous animal named (for example, cat, tiger, raccoon). This game can go on for a long time. You can even switch it up with names of cities or countries for more of a challenge.
20 Questions
One person secretly thinks of a person, place, or thing. The other players then take turns asking yes-or-no questions, such as “Can it fly?” or “Does it grow in the ground?” The goal is to get it right by 20 questions.
I Spy
One person states “I spy something…” The blank could be any descriptive word, such as blue, tall, long small, etc. The other people try to guess what the “spy” is. Whoever guesses, gets to be the next “spy”, or everyone can take turns being the spy. Be sure to start the game by saying if the item the person “spies” is inside or outside the car.
Theme Song Game/Name that tune
One person hums the tune to a favorite TV show, and everyone else tries to name the show as fast as possible. The first person to guess correctly hums the next song. You don’t have to limit yourself to Tv show theme songs, it can be any song.
Story Starters
This is one of those really fun games that is sure to end in fits of laughter. One person starts a story but doesn’t finish the sentence. The next person finishes that sentence and starts another, continuing that story. Even little ones can play and often provide some hilarious additions. Example, “Once upon a time there lived a very….”
Triple Threat
Similar to Story Starters, here, the adults must choose three nouns, like “phone,” “cat” and “school,” for example. The kids have to create a story that includes all three things. Be warned: this could cause tons of laughs.
How do I entertain kids on a road trip? Use Printable Games
- Flower Man/Hang Man
- Mad Libs
- Battle Ship
- Road Trip Bingo
- Alphabet Game
- Tic Tac Toe
- Dots and Boxes Game
- Road Trip Maze
- Sudoku
- Wonder Word Maker
- Travel Word Search
- Color Car Game
Printable Games
Printable games are great to print ahead of time and place in a bound notebook or clipboard
Flower Man/Hangman
You are probably familiar with the game hangman. Flower Man is a newer version of the game that is a bit more kid-friendly in its wording. You can find the printable version with instructions here.
Mad Libs
This printable fill-in-the-blank game is a blast to play and is secretly a learning game for kids. You can find vacation fill-in-the-blank Mad Libs here, with instructions.
Road Trip Bingo Fast Food
Bingo is always a fun way to pass the time on a road trip. The family can compete against each other to fill their card out first. Get 10 Bingo cards here.
Battleship
The paper version of the battleship game that you can take along with you on the road. Battleship can be played in teams of two. All you need is my printable battleship game, a pencil or pen, and two people to play.
Alphabet Game
See how many “road trip” themed words you can come up with in this printable Alphabet Game! This will eat up some time and have your kids checking out their surroundings for inspiration.
Tic Tac Toe
Tic Tac Toe is a simple game to help your kids and you pass the time. This is another 2 player game. You can do it on a blank sheet of paper, or use this handy printable.
Dots and Boxes Game
Another great 2 player game. See who can make the most boxed! Draw out your own dot grid, or print this one and add it to your road trip binder.
Road trip maze
Road trip mazes can be quick and fun games to play while passing your time. These fun little challenges can be printed off the web, click here for my favorite mazes in my Road Trip Bundle!
Sudoku
This game can be played on itIs own and involves skills with numbers. I have a few easy Sudoku games in my Printable Road Trip Games Bundle that you can print out here in my Road Trip Games bundle.
Wonder Word Maker
This is a pen and paper game that will get your kids thinking. It can be worked up as an individual competing against other passengers, or as a team. The challenge is to create as many words as you can with the words “Family Vacation”. You can get the printable version here.
Travel Word Search
If your kids love completing Word Searches, they will enjoy my Travel Word Search Games here in my Road Trip Games bundle.
Color Car Game
The Color Car Game will have your kids competing on finding the most colored cars. I created a printable sheet to easily track the colored cars, here.
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