games to play in the car (using just your mind)

[MamaLema]

So far all I can come up with is I Spy, lol. Can anyone suggest another game.

We have a DVD player for the van, dollar store toys, etc, but our drive will be looooooooooong (2 days) and I need to be creative.

 

[bethbuchall]

How old are your kids?

An alphabet game...find the letters of the alphabet (in order) on signs, license plates, etc. Generally we play it as a cooperative game but limit the number of letters each person can find in a row so that everyone has a chance to add letters.

"Would you rather..." game...someone starts with two choices "Would you rather be able to fly or swim without having to come up for air?" Everyone in the car answers and the next person picks something. You can theme the game or just go with whatever.

Rhyming or starts with...great for younger children, though it gets a bit tedious for older children and adults. Pick a word and go around the car rhyming or coming up with another word that starts with the same letter.

One of the many variations of "I went on a trip/picnic/to the beach/to Disney World/etc." Starting with the letter "A" and working through the alphabet, select something that starts with the letter and fits the theme. The next person must say the list of things that came before and then add an item for whichever letter is next. (I'm not explaining this well...) For example:
Person 1: I'm going on a picnic and taking an apple.
Person 2: I'm going on a picnic and taking an apple and a banana.
Person 3: I'm going on a picnic and taking an apple, a banana, and my car.

Pick a color and type of vehicle to try to spot.

Make up BINGO type cards with things that you expect to see along the way. Use some of the Dollar Store toys as prizes.

Let the kids spend some time reading the map and charting where you are going.

Books on tape from the library are wonderful!

Hold back some toys for later in the trip, so that there is something new to do.

I'll keep thinking.

Beth

 

[briarberry]

My daughter and I drove home unexceptedly (due to Hurricane Frances) in early September and I was planning on flying so we had to be inventive! We drove from Orlando to Detroit.
Thank goodness she had her Gameboy with her. We had fun reading all the names on the signs. Of course we did the "punch buggy" thing whenever we saw a Volkswagen Beetle. We also kept track of all the big icon things along the way especially once you are into Georgia and Kentucky (giant peach, giant peanut etc.). I swear we even saw a giant Jesus!
Have you tried doing a Google search on car games?
Have a good time and the drive isn't that bad, it's well worth it!

 

[ttichenor]

Go to Cracker Barrel. They have an excellent book for traveling that has all sorts of games, including license plate bingo and a game my family has taken to playing called "ghost". This game is for older kids. One person says a letter, the next adds one and so one. The person to spell a 3 letter word gets a point. There are several rules, but easy to catch on to. We even played on the bus on DD9's field trip a couple of weeks ago and boy was it a hit with the teachers. Fun and learning!

 

[Disneyof3]

We did it in 23 hrs and with a 7,21/2,4 and this is what we did in the car when the kids weren't sleeping.

1. give the initials of a ride or character in the parks eg: SM (space mountain),tell them it is in MK, they must then guess the ride or character.
2. My parents bought a 3in 1 box of games. They had perfection,guess who and connect 4 all in one box but the mini version and the kids played with those.
3. Gameboy advance
4. I packed each of them there favourite toys from home, daughter wanted a couple of barbies, little son wanted wiggles figurines, and oldest wanted gameboy and bionicles.

Hope this helps a little

 

[kerry34]

My older kids (12yrs-8yrs) like to play an alphabet game as well. I don't exactly know what they call it but they have fun. Here is an example: A my name is Alex, My wifes name is Anne, We live in Albany and we sell Apples. I usually join in at some point too. Sometimes they make up their own names for places if they run out of them and they have a laugh about it. They actually played it the other day on the way home from the apple orchard and it was only a 20 min drive.

 

[GaTech]

Here are some ideas...Activities for the Road

 

[kldmom2000]

Depending on how old your kids are, we used to do the license plate game.... we'd write down all 50 states and when we saw a car with that particular state's plate, we'd check it off-my mom would get so into it that she'd have my dad drive around parking lots at rest areas so that she could succeed in her goal of all 50 states!LOL!

 

[GaTech]

Originally posted by kldmom2000
Depending on how old your kids are, we used to do the license plate game.... we'd write down all 50 states and when we saw a car with that particular state's plate, we'd check it off-my mom would get so into it that she'd have my dad drive around parking lots at rest areas so that she could succeed in her goal of all 50 states!LOL!

We did the license plate thing this time and I'll admit it, we drove around the Grand Floridian parking lot after a character meal to look for license plates. We got 3!!!

 

[POOH&PIGLET]

How about 20 questions. We do this in the car all the time (and at restaurants while waiting for our food). We usually do "Disney World 20 questions."

 

[MamaLema]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I printed them out and they're ready to go - and so are we, lol