styxgirl
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,943
Jun 27, 2014 4:51:44 GMT
|
Post by styxgirl on Jun 6, 2016 20:03:15 GMT
Hey all! With summer almost upon us, some of us with be traveling by car ...
DVDS and electronics are a good distraction for a little bit, but, I want my DDs, 13 & 11, to experience some road trip games that will keep their noses away from electronic screens for a while too!
Some I remember are like I Spy or Road trip/ license plate bingo, etc...
What are your favorite games or some you remember from childhood?
TIA!!!
|
|
|
Post by redshoes on Jun 6, 2016 21:00:13 GMT
Best thing I did was buy an Atlas for Kids for my daughter....she could see where we were headed, look up next big town to eat, get gas, etc and there were lots of tips/info/did-you-know about different parts of the state. Her book had stickers for each state so she could mark them, etc.
|
|
|
Post by scrapmaven on Jun 6, 2016 21:34:53 GMT
This is more recent, but we like RUBBERNECKERS. In this day and age you have to be careful about using the cards that ask you to engage someone in another vehicle, but there are tons of fun cards. I think you can buy it on Amazon.
|
|
|
Post by FrozenPea on Jun 6, 2016 21:40:47 GMT
We play "celebrity". I say "Mark Twain. T" they next person has to name someone starting with "T" "Tom Jones. J" and everyone gets 3 passes.
And we listen to audio books
|
|
|
Post by melanell on Jun 6, 2016 21:43:00 GMT
We play "celebrity". I say "Mark Twain. T" they next person has to name someone starting with "T" "Tom Jones. J" and everyone gets 3 passes. We've done this same thing with book/TV/movie characters.
|
|
|
Post by melanell on Jun 6, 2016 21:46:09 GMT
We made up scavenger hunt lists. You can find them online, or make them yourself to better work with the type of places you'll be driving. Similar are BINGO cards where you mark things on your card based on seeing them out your window. And if you really want to keep the interest up on that one you can have little prizes to hand out. We all like the old classic 20 Questions, too. And we, too, really like audio-books.
|
|
|
Post by melanell on Jun 6, 2016 21:50:35 GMT
My nieces, nephews, & my older son, ages 11-14, like the one where you say "I'm go on a picnic in Alabama and I'm bringing apples.", and the next person says "I'm going on a picnic in Barbados and I'm bringing bananas", and so on and so forth through the alphabet. You can add or delete things from the game. Some people have a place, a food, and a friend or animal or thing, etc. For a warm-up you can just try thinking up the things for each alphabet letter, but to really work at the game, you have to repeat everything that was said previously. When the girls play that one, they prefer to just add foods and nothing else. So if you were "C", you might say "I'm going on a picnic and I'm bringing apples, bananas, and clementines." My kindergartner likes this game, but he requires help keeping track. (You can decide ahead of time to skip certain letters if you wish. We kick "X" out of the game when we play. )
|
|
|
Post by compwalla on Jun 6, 2016 22:19:25 GMT
Hmm. The only road trip game I play is "sing the cast album of Hamilton over and over until we get there."
|
|
oaksong
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,167
Location: LA Suburbia
Site Supporter
Jun 27, 2014 6:24:29 GMT
|
Post by oaksong on Jun 6, 2016 22:34:54 GMT
DD introduced us to a game she plays with her college friends when they are on road trips. It's called "Cow I Win!". If you see a cow, you shout "Cow, I Win!" and you win the game. It's the stupidest game ever, but somehow we laughed hysterically every time. Sorry, that's all I've got.
|
|
leeny
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,760
Location: Northern California
Site Supporter
Jun 27, 2014 1:55:53 GMT
|
Post by leeny on Jun 7, 2016 1:03:18 GMT
DD introduced us to a game she plays with her college friends when they are on road trips. It's called "Cow I Win!". If you see a cow, you shout "Cow, I Win!" and you win the game. It's the stupidest game ever, but somehow we laughed hysterically every time. Sorry, that's all I've got. This is so funny. On our road trips, our ds used to yell out the window at cows. That was the highlight of many trips. Along with honking and waving at people on the side of the road (at gas stations, in fields, etc)
|
|
styxgirl
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,943
Jun 27, 2014 4:51:44 GMT
|
Post by styxgirl on Jun 7, 2016 1:04:19 GMT
Hmm. The only road trip game I play is "sing the cast album of Hamilton over and over until we get there." Perfect!! ;-)
|
|
styxgirl
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,943
Jun 27, 2014 4:51:44 GMT
|
Post by styxgirl on Jun 7, 2016 1:06:55 GMT
DD introduced us to a game she plays with her college friends when they are on road trips. It's called "Cow I Win!". If you see a cow, you shout "Cow, I Win!" and you win the game. It's the stupidest game ever, but somehow we laughed hysterically every time. Sorry, that's all I've got. This is so funny. On our road trips, our ds used to yell out the window at cows. That was the highlight of many trips. Along with honking and waving at people on the side of the road (at gas stations, in fields, etc) There was one time there was a goose crossing the road ... I yelled out at it the really load, ridiculous "BLAHHHHHH!" My girls cracked up and laughed for a long time! They still talk about it and crack up, years later!! LOL
|
|
leeny
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,760
Location: Northern California
Site Supporter
Jun 27, 2014 1:55:53 GMT
|
Post by leeny on Jun 7, 2016 1:20:32 GMT
My kids still talk about two incidents on road trips: 1) dd threw a gummy worm out of the car because she didn't like the flavor. It stuck to the side of the car and our extended family were driving in cars behind us. They came up and pointed and laughed at that darn gummy worm stuck to our car! 2) the second trip was when a crop duster followed above our car for a few miles along the highway. In the car was my sister, my two girls and her daughter. The pilot would fly over us then turn around and fly toward us, then go dust a field and come back again.
I also remembered another tip. My mom has kept a journal in her car and records fun times and facts of all of her road trips. It sure has made some great reading over the years.
|
|
|
Post by 950nancy on Jun 7, 2016 1:29:37 GMT
DD introduced us to a game she plays with her college friends when they are on road trips. It's called "Cow I Win!". If you see a cow, you shout "Cow, I Win!" and you win the game. It's the stupidest game ever, but somehow we laughed hysterically every time. Sorry, that's all I've got. Yup, we have the same game called windmill. We have another one that starts in November for trees on top of cars. We also used to play 24. You have to take the digits of the license plate and mathematically arrange them any way possible to equal 24. It is a good reminder of order of operations too.
|
|
|
Post by jemali on Jun 7, 2016 1:37:29 GMT
We always played the alphabet game. You have to find all of the letters of the alphabet in order. Look on road signs, stores, license plates, etc.
|
|
loco coco
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,662
Jun 26, 2014 16:15:45 GMT
|
Post by loco coco on Jun 7, 2016 1:41:10 GMT
We do a fun memory game, I went to the zoo and saw an ape. The next person says 'I went to the zoo and saw an ape and a boa. Keep going down the alphabet saying the previous ones each time. You can also do the grocery store, states, etc
We also just play 'I'm thinking of a movie" and they ask questions to figure it out.
|
|
styxgirl
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,943
Jun 27, 2014 4:51:44 GMT
|
Post by styxgirl on Jun 7, 2016 2:48:11 GMT
. I also remembered another tip. My mom has kept a journal in her car and records fun times and facts of all of her road trips. It sure has made some great reading over the years. That is SO cool! What a neat idea!!
|
|
|
Post by Basket1lady on Jun 7, 2016 3:47:29 GMT
Punch Buggy and Cadillac Slap!
|
|
|
Post by Eddie-n-Harley on Jun 7, 2016 4:02:24 GMT
We used to play cows and horses. If you drive past cows or horses, you get 1 point per cow and 10 points per horse if they are on YOUR SIDE of the car. If you drive past a cemetery on your side, you lose all your points. Play til 100 or whatever point amount you want to play to.
Also, if your girls play cribbage you can try to make cribbage hands from license plates. (This works best if you are in a state that typically uses four numbers for its plates. It's hard with three numbers.)
|
|
Judy26
Pearl Clutcher
MOTFY Bitchy Nursemaid
Posts: 2,971
Location: NW PA
Jun 25, 2014 23:50:38 GMT
|
Post by Judy26 on Jun 7, 2016 4:03:40 GMT
I used to play "See who can sit still and not talk and not touch each other" and "Let's pretend we are statues and can't move" and my favorite "How long can you go without making me say "Don't make me pull this car over!"" No one really ever got too excited about those games though so I started a new game when we reached our destination called "See how fast you can get Mommy a cold beer out of the cooler!"
|
|
|
Post by Dori~Mama~Bear on Jun 7, 2016 4:43:43 GMT
What movie are you watching?
We made it up when Amanda was in the 1st grade and we went on a 3 week trip from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Yellowstone, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and back home to Oregon. He had a mini truck with an extended cab so there wasn't very much room for much in the back seat so we made up games. for the movie we would ask Amanda what she was watching. She would tell us stories about the scenery around us. Then we would add parts of it with her. We would take turns starting the movie.
Some times it would last for days.
We also did a daily journal but we did it as we went each day. When we got in the truck for the morning we would Start with Amanda and ask her what the best thing about the hotel/motel to her, what she liked best about the stay and as she told us I would write it in the journal. Then we would go to husband then me. Even though I was writing I would still tell mine out loud. and each time we stopped when we got back on the road we would say what we liked best about the stop. even if it was for gas and toilets. I learned after the 2nd stop the first day when we got out at taco bell for food and to check her hamsters in the trailer (we didn't want to bug them in the back of the trailer with the generator and the gas cans inside a canopy and there was no room in the cab for 2 hamster cages) I didn't ask what the best part of the stop was. Of course it was asking the lady at taco bell if we could get some lettuce for our hamsters that is traveling with us. and every stop after that she asked for hamster lettuce. and most places were happy to give her some hamster lettuce. a few places gave hamster carrots. but we always put it in the journal.
Another one we did was license plates. We had a tablet (paper) that we listed all the license plate states, numbers and letters. We each had a page and every time we would see one that was from a different state than we were in at the time I wrote it done under the persons name who saw it and said it first. This was really good for her because it taught her so many things. math, reading, paying attention, listening and waiting your turn. and best of all these few easy things kept her happy the whole trip. She had a few books that was about traveling or traveling games.
She had a book that had street signs and different driving things and she kept it in the car. she loved it and she knew all the signs of the road by the end of that trip. for years after she would call out street signs on road trips.
|
|
styxgirl
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,943
Jun 27, 2014 4:51:44 GMT
|
Post by styxgirl on Jun 7, 2016 4:43:44 GMT
I used to play "See who can sit still and not talk and not touch each other" and "Let's pretend we are statues and can't move" and my favorite "How long can you go without making me say "Don't make me pull this car over!"" No one really ever got too excited about those games though so I started a new game when we reached our destination called "See how fast you can get Mommy a cold beer out of the cooler!" Hahahaha! Sounds like some of our road trips! ;-)
|
|
AmandaA
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,502
Aug 28, 2015 22:31:17 GMT
|
Post by AmandaA on Jun 7, 2016 10:43:02 GMT
I also remember the car bingo boards my grandparents had as a kid! A few years ago I found some in the dollar spot at Target and stashed them away for when my babies get older.
We make short trips to our lake house on the weekend (through the country) so my 3 & 5 year old like to play guess how many _______ we will see- tractors, cows, grain silos, etc. keeps them occupied for the hour we are traveling.
|
|
|
Post by cmhs on Jun 7, 2016 10:54:20 GMT
I used to play "See who can sit still and not talk and not touch each other" and "Let's pretend we are statues and can't move" and my favorite "How long can you go without making me say "Don't make me pull this car over!"" No one really ever got too excited about those games though so I started a new game when we reached our destination called "See how fast you can get Mommy a cold beer out of the cooler!" We play the companion games to yours: "Wait until your sister falls asleep then ask her for a snack or drink" (she sits next to the cooler) "Stare at the sibling trying to sleep until she/he feels your presence opens his/her eyes and yells STOOOOOPPPPP IIIIIITTTTTT you jerk" This is for the toddler set -- "Say 'Mom' every three seconds for 12 hours straight" Good times. Thank God for electronic devices.
|
|
wellway
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,024
Jun 25, 2014 20:50:09 GMT
|
Post by wellway on Jun 7, 2016 10:59:57 GMT
I have used a couple of different games, variations on the Alphabet Game. A-Z Boys names. girls names, Countries, Capital Cities, Animals, Types of Sports etc.
we have also played a game we call Witch's Brew - a memory game.
First person I am a witch and into my brew I throw four crunchy snails
Second Person I am a witch and into my brew I throw four crunchy snails and two bottles of sour milk
Third person I am a witch and into my brew I throw four crunchy snails and two bottles of sour milk and a smelly sock
and round and round it goes until someone slips up. Of course, the more disgusting the ingredients the better!!
I spy, of course.
Another game involved some paper and pens, front seat passengers call out face part and a shape while the back seat passengers create monsters using the instructions. eg Whole face - triangle, eyes - Square, mouth - rectangle. Can result in some funny pictures.
|
|
MorningPerson
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,543
Location: Central Pennsylvania
Jul 4, 2014 21:35:44 GMT
|
Post by MorningPerson on Jun 7, 2016 11:16:38 GMT
There are so many great ideas here. I'm probably bordering on old and crotchety with this subject. I know that movies and video games can provide some much-wanted peace and quiet, but I think they should be kept to a bare minimum, or ideally, left at home. We have many happy memories of playing many of the games mentioned on this thread, listening to audio books together and then talking about them (Adventures in Odyssey, anyone?), and of course the occasional game of "Let's see who can be quietest the longest." To those of you taking trips with your kids this summer, enjoy these days. Being "stuck" together (and away from the usual busy, busy, days when you're at home) is a great opportunity to talk, laugh, and really bond. I wouldn't trade those days for anything. SaveSave
|
|
kelly8875
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,407
Location: Lost in my supplies...
Member is Online
Oct 26, 2014 17:02:56 GMT
|
Post by kelly8875 on Jun 7, 2016 11:32:03 GMT
We play "celebrity". I say "Mark Twain. T" they next person has to name someone starting with "T" "Tom Jones. J" and everyone gets 3 passes. And we listen to audio books We call this the "name game". DS loves it.
|
|
|
Post by 2peafaithful on Jun 7, 2016 11:32:28 GMT
Growing up our car games we were to use in the car were typically designed to keep us busy and quiet. However, one of my favorite memories of my dad was on a car trip. The day was going on and on and we were bored and had done all our things we brought. Dad told us a few stories. He never did that so it was a new thing. It was magical hearing them and wondering if they were true or made up. I read to my kids often but when I offer to tell them a story they lean in with a look that reminds me of what it felt like when I listened to my dad almost 40 years ago. One thing we love to do in the car is play the question game. We do it a lot just the 2 of us but on longer car rides or trips we see if the kids want to play. We go in rounds and each get to ask a question. The question has to be answered and can be repeated. Simple but we love it and it gets people talking and listening.
|
|
|
Post by Spongemom Scrappants on Jun 7, 2016 11:56:31 GMT
We used to play cows and horses. If you drive past cows or horses, you get 1 point per cow and 10 points per horse if they are on YOUR SIDE of the car. If you drive past a cemetery on your side, you lose all your points. Play til 100 or whatever point amount you want to play to. With my children, we played it as "Cows and Graveyards." Until the year one of my boys had a melt-down about his dead cows. Henceforth, it was always known as the "Dead Cow" game. Funny story -- I grew up in Florida so the license plate game was usually active even on short road trips. The state we saw the most every time was Ohio. My daddy explained that Ohio did not have enough houses so people had to share them. Half the year you get to live there; half the year you have to travel. I'm ashamed to admit how old I was before it finally dawned on me that he was pulling my leg!
|
|
Loydene
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,639
Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Jul 8, 2014 16:31:47 GMT
|
Post by Loydene on Jun 7, 2016 13:26:20 GMT
My best idea was getting TripTix from AAA and letting my DS "navigate" -- ask when is the next gas stop, where can we get a drink or potty, how many miles to XXX. And, once before he was old enough to read the TripTix, I gave him a roll of dimes at the start of the trip and he had to pay me to ask "how much longer"! We've also done the license plate game -- I even have a layout about it that is one of those epic constructions that friends still talk about!
|
|