6 Fun Games to Play in the Car
Stuck in the backseat on a long drive? Here are some classic (and free!) games to help travel time go by faster.
Already a seasoned traveler? Take our Summer Vacation Hot Spot quiz
LICENSE PLATE GAME
For long trips, the License Plate Game might be the thing. In this version, call out letters from the license plates you see, then make as many ridiculous phrases as possible. For example, AST = Aardvarks Singling Tenderly or After-School Trampolining. You get the idea.
ALPHABET GAME
The Alphabet Game is good along roads with a lot of signs. Find a word with an “A,” call it out, then look for a word with “B” and so on. First one to the end of the alphabet wins. You might want to skip trying to find “Q” and “Z.” Or not.
LINES AND DOTS
Use graph paper for a couple of travel games. With Lines and Dots, draw lines on the paper. Take turns drawing one side of a square at a time, trying to make boxes. When you complete a box, put your initials in it. Whoever makes the most boxes in 15 minutes or so wins.
INFINITE TIC-TAC-TOE
Another game with graph paper is Infinite Tic-Tac-Toe. In this game, the first person to get five in a row wins, and there are no borders except for the edge of the page.
Share these summer vacation jokes for a break between games
I SPY
In I Spy, pick out something you see nearby (that other players can also see), but keep what it is to yourself. Say, “I spy with my little eye …” and then provide one description of the object. For instance, with the windshield wipers you might say, “I spy something long” or “something black.” After each hint, players take a turn guessing what the object is.
ROCK-PAPER-SCISSORS AND 20 QUESTIONS
Rock-Paper-Scissors and 20 Questions hardly need explaining. There are variations of these games, such as Foot-Cockroach-Nuclear Bomb, and 20 Questions about movies you’ve seen or books you’ve read, instead of some random object.
we like to play the Gas Game, whoever spots the lowest (or highest) gas price wins 🙂
We like to play the license plate game like so: this mostly works on long interstates. We look for all fifty states on license plates. We have gotten almost everyone of them on some trips! Kids get excited to find one we haven’t found yet
fun games but not easy to play in the car
these games look fun! :p
the game is called popeye the game is simple you look for a car that has a one headlight out you get 1 point for a car 2 points for a truck you have to say popeye as you see it you can even play in the day light, happy travels
Nice Games 🙂
This was an outstanding website, in keep the kids entertained for the whole trip, cheers 🙂
I was on my way back from big bear today and we played game where you pick a category…we picked famous people.. the point was to say a persons name and the next person has to say another name but that name has to begin with the previous persons last name.. EXAMPLE: I start the game with, Christopher Walken…player b has to name a famous person starting with a W..like, Winona Ryder the next person names a name with the letter R…Reese Witherspoon.. and so on and so forth : )
Nice Game 🙂
Great for all ages to play when there is a long drive ahead!Games are great becasue it made my kids car ride go very fast with these easy games to play.Not only can you play these games in the car you can also play anywhere else!Keeps younger children busy!very good!
I used to play a game where someone in the car gives you a quiz about your family and if you get it right you get a point and who ever has the most points at the end gets to pick where they want to eat.
that game sound fun….any suggestions for questions?
You could play my father owns a grocery store. One person says “My father owns a grocery storeand in it he sells…B.(you could use any letter) Then the rest of the people would have to say foods that start with B. The first person to get it right becomes”it”.(You may not ask yes or no questions.)
Sorry ’bout that comment. You can ask yes or no questions.
That is a great game I’ll make sure to play that!
Not bad i’ve already played most of them
I like the idea.I might print it.
i like i spy
the games inspired (maybe created) by Volkswagen:
Punch(or slug)bug: you make the specific rules, only Beetles to be called out
Punch Dub is for other Volkswagen models
heres one i made up: 2 people take turns looking out the window and saying the first thing they see. when someone says something related to what the other person just said, they lose.
Well I am going from P.A. to Ohio in 9 days and I could not belive my luck just my going on here to play games and then BOOM!!!!! I saw it at the corner of my eye road trip games, AMEN AMERICA
I L-O-V-E love it! <3
Boyslife gives me alot of new ideas and one of them is to play these games!!!!!!!!! : )
I love the license plate game!!! We do it all the time!
i like the license plate game and we are driving from Missouri to Chicago. i know its only a boardering state but it takes 6hours to get there. and with my mom her friend my sister and her friend so i am pretty much gonna have to be a loner. so i need to find some good games to play 😛
I like the sound of I spy.
name evry car that goes past with a suitable name
The car game is good too. You get points for different types of cars
Yellow car 1
Convetible with top down 1
PT Cruiser 1
Hummer 1
Lemo 10
Thanks – I forgot about lines & dots.
My family & I are driving to Florida from New Jersey.
It’s one long drive.
You can try “Escape Animals”.Here’s how you play,when you spot something that looks like an animal, you say it’s name.It helps to have a book about animals.
I LOVE THE UNLIMITED TIC-TAC-TOE AND THE ALPHABET GAME.
or you coul play C e y. It is a fun rock paper sisers game except letters and lower lettrs win
We play “Roadside Cribbage” where each type of animal (cows, horses, buffalo, deer, birds, etc) have a point value. Your score depends on the animals you pass that are on your side of the road. You count them and figure out your score from there. An example would be: cows are 5 points each and deer are 50 points (they are more rare). You automatically lose all your points if there is a cemetary on your side.
You can’t play i spy in the car because your moving and it would get boring spying stuff inside the car 🙁
ya thats right
no kidding!!!!!
dtlux says you can’t play i spy in the car, but what if you are in traffic? duh! 😉
One game to play in the car is a variation of the license plate game. For every state license plate that you see on a vehicle on the road, try to name the state’s official tree, the state’s official state motto, the state’s official state slogan, the year that the state was accepted into statehood in the United States and the state’s official breed of dog.
the i spy game is boring
The License Plate Game is awesoma!!! I played about a hundred times now, and it’s still fun!
Hey how about a game where there is two people and you start at the letter “a” and go on and you are tring to find words out side of the car who have the letter “a”.
When I was little, we played that game. Once, my dad couldn’t find anything that started with J so he made up “Jairplane” LOL…it was so funny. From that day on, we have called airplanes “Jairplanes”. 🙂
makes time go by so fast in the small car
this is awsome man! love it! do it every time in the car!
awesome!!
ilove it <3
or you can play metal-lava-d saw
whats that
Yea but I’m good with just watching movies on the way
or play slugbug……..
whats slugbug?
A slug bug is a 2000 Volkswagon Beetle.
Or you can play the VW game, when you see a VW you hit someone near you.
that’s slug bug
slug bug is awsome
or you could play “go to sleep”
the ideas sound fun
i count and name all recue veicals and cop cars
What I would do is count how many 18 wheelers you see with/without sleeper cabs. Also if your near train tracks, count those freight cars and locomotives too, and what kind of cars you see. Ex. tanker cars, box cars, scrap metal cars, car carriers, and freight containers, etc. (and rarely cabooses)
thats a good idea i like it 😉
How about counting the states of car plates and the one with the most ststes in a certin amount of time wins. All the other games are great for that trip to summer camp.
hopefully that’ll be usefull in my 12 hr. trip to ohio today!
some are weird and fun
yea like there version of rock paper sizzers
you could do a license plate game where you try to find every state on lecense plates my family does that every year but we dont just do this on long car rides it is really fun give it a try