Easy Games for Long Car Journeys

Do you have a long family car journey ahead? As well as checking your car, planning your route and packing everything you need, don’t forget the games to keep everyone entertained – especially the kids! These easy games will help pass the hours of a long car journey.

As well as having a few car games up your sleeve, stock up on a few puzzle books, make a CD of favourite music that all of you will enjoy and pack a few snacks and treats. These can be used as game prizes.

• This tricky word game is guaranteed to get your kids’ attention right away as they concentrate on the task at hand. The driver thinks of an animal – say a wombat. The next person has to think of another animal which starts with the last letter of the animal before. They could say tortoise, for example. The next person could say emu and so on. If someone waits more than 10 seconds to think of a name, they’re out and the remaining people keep playing.
• The last person standing is the winner.
• For variety, you can use any category for this game. Get your kids to suggest ideas to keep them interested. Some ideas are sports, city names and foods.

This is an easy and fun game. Each family member picks a colour and the first person to see ten cars in that hue shouts “Bingo!” and wins.

• If you really want to keep your kids entertained, make a list of ten sights for each before you start your journey.
• Here are some examples of things you can include on the list: a cat, a horse, a street named after a person, an ambulance, a police car, a cow, a person wearing a hat, a car with foreign license plates, an airplane, a mailbox, a car with two children in the back (not your own), a tent trailer, a barn, a sign showing the town you are headed for, a burger truck, a house with a green roof, a neon sign on a building, a bridge or a motorcycle. You can include silly things on the list for fun.
• The first person to tick of each of the items on the list is the winner.

Everyone likes to win so in order to keep everyone happy, dig into that stock of treats you packed and dish out prizes to each of your kids for being good sports – not just to the winner.

With just a little planning, you can pass the hours of a long family car journey away easily with these car games. Your kids will love them!