5 favourite car games to keep children entertained on long journeys
Just picture it, a wonderful “stay-cation” with the whole outdoors to explore and relax in. But before you can enjoy it there is the long car journey with the little darlings to endure… Okay, so the dread most people feel when faced with the idea of being in a confined space with tethered children for extended periods of time is perfectly normal. There are a few things you can do to alleviate the dreaded boredom for all occupants. They may require infinite patience by the adults, and some adaption depending on the age of your children, but these are tried and tested methods to keep the boredom at bay. There are other permutations of these games, using number plates or finding funny shaped clouds, but the top five games that don’t require spending money or the stress of losing game pieces are here:
- Magnetic drawing boards
These generally have a stilo attached by a chord which alleviates the need to contort your body to try and pick things up from the floor behind you. Younger children seem to be able to occupy quite some time either practicing writing or drawing pictures. Older children may be able to handle the colouring book / pen combo to a better advantage. Play hangman, or make up sums to challenge the brains of those fellow travellers.
- Coloured Car Bingo
A favourite with most people to keep a bit of healthy competition going, this game can be adapted to suit your family. Either let the winner be the first to spot 10 cars of their chosen colour, or the first to 100 depending on how far you are actually travelling! For the interest of fairness it may be wise to ban silver or black from the choices… Perhaps try orange or yellow cars as there are fewer and therefore the game can continue for more than a mile! There are variations, spotting Beetles, or Minis and shouting out “Old Bug Red” or “New Bug Blue”, for instance. The benefit of this game is that it keeps the children looking out of the windows, and for any parent who has experienced a child with travel sickness, this can only be a good thing.
- 20 Questions
An oldie, but a goodie! This game is also known as “What am I?” Each player then has to ask questions with a yes or no answer to discover what the lead is thinking of. Sounds simple, but with a 3 year old this might be easier to confine to an animal or a character from a Disney movie. It can take a while and keep a good focus if the questions are funny!
- “What happened next” stories
As the children get older, this game can be great fun, so long as they are willing participants! You should start with a couple of scene setting sentences that might mirror a favourite fairytale, and let the children tell you what happens next in a couple of sentences, then on to the next person. The plot twists from the imaginations of the children can often be surprising!
- Last hope I Spy!
I say last hope because very often if you have resorted to this then tethers are close to reaching limits! Phonetic alphabet can work better with younger children, or even suggesting finding something coloured green… Always be aware it might be a cow 40 miles behind you! These days it is all too easy to put on a DVD or let them have their gadgets to play on, but much like reading this can lead to travel sickness. These offer an alternative, family inclusive method for keeping everyone from boredom. We hope they help you on your travels. Good luck intrepid explorers!
