7 Fun And Easy Things To Do On A Road Trip
Looking for ways to entertain your family on a road trip? We’ve got our family’s 7 favorite road trip games and activities to keep the whole car happy.
As wonderful as family travel is, the thought of hours in a car with not much to do can be daunting. Bored kids and a long car ride is enough to make me want to throw in the towel sometimes.
But with a little planning, the family road trip can be a ton of fun… and it can sneak in learning. Because many of the games that are best for the car involving using your brain. Skills like letters, places, and facts are practiced without hardly realizing it.
We recently designed a fun thing to do on a road trip for our nephew. And now it’s sure to become a staple for our own road trip vacations.
Here are the step by step instructions for this gift giving road trip activity. And then keep scrolling for our list of more road trip games and to download free printables.
Gift giving Game
This road trip activity requires a bit of pre-planning. But, it’s worth it because it’s not just something to do. It also acts as a positive reinforcement tool. (Code word for good, old fashioned bribery. “I have a special treat for you if you can do x, y, z.”)
It works well for a variety of ages. Young kids can get in on the action but older ones also enjoy looking forward to prizes along their trip.
Step-by-step instructions:
Map out your course and decide how often and when you’ll be giving prizes for the activity. My sister and her family were completing a long road trip, traveling from West Virginia to Texas. So they were crossing over 7 states. We decided to do a gift when they crossed each state line. You could also have one gift for every so many miles or at specific time frames. Just keep in mind that if you’re using the game in part to encourage good behavior, intermittent timing is better. (Think back to your Psych 101 class.) Giving a reward on a variable timeframe instead of exactly every hour for example, goes farther in encouraging good behavior.
Purchase a small gift for each prize. We bought 7 small gifts for each time they would cross a state line. Things like handheld games, edible treats, fidget toys, or things symbolic to the place you’re traveling work well.
Look up some fun facts about the place you’re passing through or your destination. We used THIS article on U.S. states and territories from National Geographic Kids. And we grabbed more U.S. geography facts from THIS Ducksters post. We also included personal references, like “this is the state Uncle Erik goes to duck hunt.”
Print your facts and wrap each present.
Attach the facts to the present, with a picture or printout of the state or area.
Explain to the kids when they’ll be receiving each gift as you start on your road trip. Give gifts accordingly.
2. I’m Going To The Grocery Store Game
This memory game is another family favorite.
One person in the car begins by saying, “I’m going to the grocery store and I’m buying”. He or she follows that by something that starts with the letter A.
The second player says, “I’m going to the grocery store and I’m buying”, followed by the item the first player said. The second player then adds something that starts with the letter B. The game continues as each player states all the items named before them and then adds something that begins with the next letter of the alphabet.
When a player can’t remember something, he or she is eliminated from the game.
3. License Plate Game
This classic game is played by simply trying to find a license plate from all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia. Bonus points can be earned by finding a Canadian license plate.
You’ll be surprised how addictive it is! You’ll be searching license plates everywhere you go.
4. Would You Rather Questions
This game of “this or that” is played by asking each participant which of two things they would rather have or do.
For a great list of would you rather questions, check out THIS one from Parade.com.
Get free printables for the games and activities mentioned, as well as more, by clicking the “download free travel book” button below.
5. Two Truths And A Lie
Participants play this game by telling 2 things that are true about themselves and one thing that’s not. Other participants guess which one is the lie.
When playing with family members, you have to dig deep to come up with things that work. So, you end up learning some interesting facts for sure.
6. Audiobooks
Replace family movie night with the car version - family audio books. The best part is even your motion sick kids can enjoy a good plot.
For a fun list of books for your next road trip, Everyday Reading has THIS list of over 25 audiobooks.
7. Podcasts
Family podcasts are another way to kill time on long road trips. We love Imagined Life, a podcast in which listeners are told they are someone famous. After they listen to what “their” life has entailed, they try to guess who “they” are. So, it’s a biography where you get the facts about the person’s life, before you know who that person is.
Also check out Life Wire’s list of the 14 best podcasts for family road trips. It’s another great source for podcasts that both entertain and sneak in learning.
