The long stretch of road can begin to seem endless in what is supposed to be an adventurous experience, a summer road trip. Especially for little ones, whose attention span seemingly gets shorter and shorter over each generation. After the umpteenth “Are we there yet?” you begin to consider ways to refocus their attention so the trip can be more enjoyable. While a portable DVD player might seem like the perfect solution, it overall diminishes the bonding that occurs in the family experience of a summer road trip. That’s why we suggest road trip games that everyone can be a part of! Keep your road trip buddies engaged and make the experience worth remembering!
- The first game is the good old, classic, timeless “Punch Buggy”- if you don’t already know the rules, here’s where you and your buds must spot any Volkswagen Bug vehicle. Once you identify any of the above, you immediately shout ‘punch buggy’ and punch you’re the other players. The person who spots it first gets points and the punched victim is not allowed to punch back unless the person who called it misidentified the car model. If they misjudged the car their point is revoked.
- Spelling Challenge- The next time you travel with kids between nine and twelve years of age, ask them to try the spelling challenge. They can take turns in shouting out letters. For example, if player 1 says a letter like A, player 2 will lose if they say Z because no words begin with AZ. If player 2 shouts T, he or she will also lose because “AT” is a complete word. The idea is to create the longest word possible with different vowels and consonants which in turn is a brain teaser and will teach your children about grammar.
- Twenty Questions-One player has to think of something that is either a person, place, or thing. Then the other players have only 20 “yes or no” questions to ask in order to guess this thing. With a group of older friends, this game is an ideal pastime for a long car ride once you run out of small talk. You can also kick it up a notch by having the guessers think of detailed, vivid questions.
Road trip games are vital this time of the year. If you have to take a long journey anywhere for vacation, you should consider enjoyable ways to pass the time before you reach your destination. You already have to spend hours and hours in a confined space, might as well make it a memorable. Remember, it’s all about the journey.
