5 games to play when travelling with kids

Are we nearly there yet? How much longer? I’m bored! If this sounds familiar, you are probably a parent who has attempted to take one or more children on a car journey of longer than thirty minutes (sometimes less).

The destination may be exciting, but the journey isn’t, especially if you hit heavy traffic along the way. To help alleviate the boredom, here are our top five games to play with your kids in the car.

Once upon a time

This is a nice easy game that really gets their (and your) imagination going. The first person starts by saying “once upon a time there was a…” before handing over to the next storyteller. Each person can only say one sentence before handing the storytelling baton on. How easy or difficult they make it to continue is entirely up to them but, once you have been around everyone three times, the story must end with a dramatic finale!

Number plate fun

The simple mixture of letters and numbers can be the inspiration for a whole host of games that everyone can join in, such as completing the alphabet by spotting all 26 letters on vehicles of a certain type or colour. You could also try making up random nicknames for your fellow passengers based on letters taken from the car in front. And if you want to get a bit of educational fun into your trip, try multiplying all the numbers together. The first person to get it right is the winner.

Magnetic board games

Trying to play a regular board game is bound to end in disaster, with pieces flying all over the car every time there is a bump or twist in the road. But all is not lost. A quick search on Google, or your favourite shopping site, will reveal a wide range of miniature magnetic games to enjoy including Chess, Draughts, Othello and many more. And the great thing about these games is that they are easy to pack up and carry on if you arrive at your destination only for the rain to begin falling from the sky.

I spy with my little eye

It’s probably one of the oldest games around but it’s still very popular among children (and adults) of all ages. As everyone knows, one person spots something that’s inside or outside the car and announces, “I spy with my little eye, something beginning with…”. The rest of the players take turns guessing what has been spotted using just the first letter as their clue, although additional clues can be given. If you want to make it a little more challenging, try two or even three-word combinations. You can even allow adjectives such as F C for fluffy cloud.

Riddle me this…

If you want to keep their minds active, try solving some brain-bending riddles together. There are plenty of books available with cunning conundrums suitable for all ages. And if you’re the imaginative type then you’ll probably enjoy making up your own brain teasers. But beware, asking children to come up with their own riddles can really make their imagination run wild and you might need to think very laterally if you want to guess it before the journey’s end.

These are just five of our favourite games to play in the car and we are sure you can think of many more. Of course, there’s always the trusty tablet or smartphone, but isn’t that what they do at home? At least this way the whole family can join in the fun.

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