Car Games to Keep Kids Happy
For many families, holidays can mean spending a long time in the car. Road trips can be a memorable experience. However, they often have a tendency to stick in your mind for all the wrong reasons, especially when the little ones are involved!
It can be incredibly exhausting to keep the kids occupied for the entire journey, stop the persistent squabbling and continuously answer the ‘Are we there yet?’ question. Luckily, we’ve come up with a few games to help keep your kids occupied and happy during those long drives.
#1 Make Believe Hide and Seek
An interesting spin on the classic game of hide and seek. In this version, one person pictures a particular place inside your house. The game is based on your imagination, so it can be any hiding spot of any size, like the sock drawer or a kitchen cabinet. Once the person has decided on a hiding place, the others will ask questions to narrow down where the person is ‘hiding’. As an example, you may ask questions such as, “Are you upstairs or downstairs?” or “Are you hiding in a drawer?”. Give yourself a limit, as an example, five questions to guess a hiding spot. If you can’t find the person in the limit, they win!
#2 Continue the Story
Continue the story is another favourite game among families and sure to keep the kids occupied for hours on end. To start, one person will say a sentence to kick off the story. The sentence could be anything they like, for example, “Once upon a time, there was a princess.” The next person will then continue the story by adding another sentence, which can be anything they want! For example, “The princess was very sad because she could never leave her castle”.
The story would then continue around until you have a very obscure and funny plot! Make it more interesting by throwing in random twists, which can leave the next person an entirely new story to try and piece together.
This game is a variation of the previous, with a twist. Instead of saying random sentences to further the story’s plot, each sentence said here has a particular theme. The first sentence will begin with the word “unfortunately”. For example, “Unfortunately, there’s a snake in my boots.” The next person will respond with a sentence starting with the word “fortunately”, which negates the unfortunate situation proposed by the last person. For example: “Fortunately, the snake is a vegetarian”. The game continues in this manner until someone can’t think of a reply!
#4 Twenty Questions
A traditional childhood favourite that many know how to play, twenty questions is sure to keep the kids busy for a long time. The game starts by one person selecting a person, place, or thing. It can be absolutely anything, and all other family members then have to ask ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions to try and guess the answer. After each question is asked, whoever’s turn it is can make a guess. The first person to guess what they chose wins!
#5 I’m going to the store, and I need to get X
There are many different variations to this game. However, we’ve gone with the easiest for you to play in the car. The aim of the game is to start with the phrase, “I’m going to the store, and I need to get X”. The player will then finish the sentence with an item that begins with the letter ‘A’.
The next person will then start with the same phrase, repeating the previous item, in addition to selecting their own starting with the letter ‘B’. The game continues, with players required to re-iterate all previous items, in addition to selecting their own while going through the alphabet. If a player cannot remember something that was previously said, they’re out. Last person remaining wins.
Come up with your Own Games
These games are appropriate for both long and short trips as well as multiple ages. Play these games for any length of car ride, whether it’s just on the way to the store or on the way to another town. If your kids get bored with these, challenge them to create their own games!