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Summer road trips can create some of the best family memories, but even the most patient children can become restless after a few hours in the car. Before handing over another screen, try a few simple games that encourage kids to look out the window, use their imaginations, and enjoy time together as a family.
Most of these games require no supplies at all. A few can be prepared before you leave home and saved for the moments when you begin hearing the inevitable question: “Are we there yet?”
1. License Plate Challenge
Keep a running list of the different state license plates your family sees along the way. Each new state earns a point for the first person who spots it. Create a bonus category for unusual plates, including Canadian provinces, personalized plates, or plates from especially faraway states.
For a longer trip, print a map of the United States and let children color in each state as they find it.
2. Roadside Scavenger Hunt
Before leaving home, create a checklist of things your children might see during the drive. Include a red truck, a motorcycle, a dog in another car, a bridge, a construction vehicle, a cow, a billboard, a flag, and a vehicle towing a trailer.
Younger children can work together, while older kids may enjoy competing to see who completes the list first.
3. Build-a-Story
One person begins a story with a sentence such as, “One morning, we opened the hotel-room door and found a tiny dragon waiting outside.” Each person adds one sentence as the story travels around the car.
The adventure becomes more entertaining as each storyteller introduces a new character, problem, or unexpected twist. Record the final version on your phone so you can listen to it again later.
4. Would You Rather?
Take turns asking playful questions that encourage children to make a choice and explain their answer.
Would you rather fly like a bird or swim like a dolphin?
Would you rather sleep in a treehouse or on a boat?
Would you rather eat pancakes every day or never eat dessert again?
The answers often lead to funny conversations and surprising insights into your children’s personalities.
5. The Alphabet Hunt
Look for the letters of the alphabet in order on road signs, billboards, storefronts, and license plates. Begin with “A” and work your way to “Z.”
The letters Q, X, and Z may take some patience, which makes finding them even more exciting. Families with younger children can play cooperatively instead of competing.
6. Family Trivia
Prepare a few questions based on your children’s interests. Questions can focus on animals, sports, movies, geography, music, favorite books, or the destination you are visiting.
For a trip to the beach, ask questions about sea life. For a visit to Washington, D.C., include a few fun facts about American history. Let children create questions for the adults, too.
7. Animal Alphabet Chain
The first player names an animal. The next person must name a different animal beginning with the final letter of the previous answer.
For example: elephant, tiger, rabbit, turtle, eagle.
Continue until someone cannot think of a new answer. Older children can play the same game using cities, foods, movie titles, or vacation destinations.
8. Twenty Questions
One person secretly chooses a person, place, animal, or object. Everyone else takes turns asking questions that can only be answered with “yes” or “no.”
Is it alive?
Can you eat it?
Would you find it at the beach?
Is it larger than a car?
The goal is to solve the mystery before the group reaches 20 questions.
9. The Whisper Game
One person quietly whispers a short message or silly story to the next passenger. The message travels from person to person until the final player announces what they heard.
The end result is rarely the same as the original, which is exactly what makes this game so funny.
10. Guess the Theme Song
Hum the tune of a familiar television show, movie, or children’s program. The first person to guess correctly chooses the next song.
For a multigenerational road trip, include a mix of classics and newer favorites so parents, grandparents, and children all have an opportunity to play.
11. Name That Tune
Sing, hum, or whistle a small portion of a song and challenge everyone else to identify the title or artist. Award one point for the song title and an extra point for naming the performer.
Create a family-friendly playlist before the trip and use it when everyone needs a break from singing.
12. The Memory Chain
Start with a simple sentence such as, “I packed my suitcase and brought an apple.” The next person repeats the sentence and adds another item beginning with the next letter of the alphabet.
“I packed my suitcase and brought an apple and a book.”
Continue adding items while repeating everything already named. The list becomes increasingly challenging—and usually increasingly silly.
13. Map Detective
Hand an older child a road map or let a passenger open a map on a phone. One player secretly chooses a nearby town, lake, river, or landmark. Everyone else has one minute to find it.
This is an easy way to introduce geography while helping children understand where they are traveling.
14. Roadside Restaurant Race
Each person selects a restaurant chain before the game begins. Players earn a point whenever they spot their restaurant on a sign, billboard, exit marker, or building.
Set a 15- or 20-minute limit and see which restaurant receives the most roadside advertising along your route.
15. Rest-Stop Olympics
A road-trip break is the perfect opportunity for children to stretch and release some energy. At a safe rest area or park, create a few simple challenges: jumping jacks, hopping on one foot, a short race, or a timed walk.
Keep the activities lighthearted and age-appropriate. The real prize is returning to the car refreshed and ready for the next part of the journey.
16. Conversation Starters
Use the quieter moments in the car to ask questions that you may not think to ask during a busy week.
What is something new you would like to learn?
What is your favorite family memory?
What would you do if you could plan the perfect day?
What are three things you hope to do this summer?
Children may surprise you with their answers.
17. Categories from A to Z
Choose a topic, such as animals, foods, cities, or movie characters. Players take turns naming an item in that category while moving through the alphabet.
For example, a food round might begin with apple, banana, carrot, doughnut, and egg.
Adjust the rules based on your children’s ages. Younger kids can ask for help, while older children can play with a time limit.
18. Rapid Word Association
One person says a word, and the next person quickly responds with a related word. Continue around the car without repeating an answer or pausing too long.
A round might sound like this: beach, sand, castle, princess, crown, king, castle.
The moment someone repeats a word or cannot explain the connection, begin again with a new topic.
19. The Forbidden Word Game
Choose one or two words that no one is allowed to say for a set amount of time. For a road trip, the phrase “Are we there yet?” is an obvious choice.
Each time someone uses a forbidden word, they receive a point. The person with the fewest points at the end of the game wins.
20. Count the Cows
This classic road-trip game works especially well when your route passes through rural areas. The first person to spot a cow earns a point. You can expand the list to include horses, sheep, tractors, silos, or barns.
For younger children, make animal sounds instead of keeping score.
21. Vacation Predictions
Before arriving at your destination, ask each family member to make a few predictions about the trip.
Who will be the first person to jump in the pool?
What will be the best meal of the vacation?
Will you see a dolphin, a deer, or another memorable animal?
What activity will everyone want to do twice?
A few simple games can help break up the drive, reduce screen time, and turn long stretches of highway into opportunities for laughter, conversation, and connection. Whether your family plays one game or works through the entire list, the goal is not simply to pass the time it is to enjoy the journey together. Write down the answers and revisit them on the drive home. |
