Something I and many parents have always had to deal with is the ride to the cottage."Are we there yet?" A question, that when asked by children, will get them to the destination faster the more that they ask it. A question, that when repeated constantly will to turn even the mildest parent into a red faced screaming ogre! So the trick is to keep the little sweethearts busy. There are all kinds of electronic games to have and play in cars now, but I still find the games that parents and children can play together are more fun for all. Here are a couple of games we have played to make the time pass on those long car rides.
Car Make Scavenger Hunt
| Required: List of cars, pencil and lots of time
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| Accord
| Caravel
| Escort
| Laredo
| PT Cruiser
| Taurus
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10 Cows
Spot the cows you see on your side of the car. For every group of cows that are seen the "see-er" gets 10 points. That is to be stated out loud as "10 cows". Add up the tens of cows for each person as you travel. The first person to spot a cemetery must call out "Bury your cows!" quickly, and everyone else lose all their cows. The one with the most cows at the end of the trip, wins.
Make a Trip-Journal or Scrapbook
Give everyone a big spiral bound sketchpad and a box of crayons or markers. For each event along the way, draw a picture of what you did that day and write about it. (Where you stopped, what was seen,what was bought). You can also paste in souvenirs.
20 Questions is truly a classic game. It can be played by children of all ages. There are many variations of the game so I will describe only one variation.
One person thinks of something which falls under the category of animal, mineral, or vegetable and then tells the other players which category is correct. The player’s then take turns asking questions which can be answered with a YES or NO. For instance, if the category is animal a player might ask "Can it fly?" or "Does it have four legs?" After 20 questions are asked, if the players have not already guessed the answer, each player gets a last chance to make a guess. Afterward, a new player tries to stump the group.
Leave me a comment and let me know what games you play!
all fabulous ideas
Cool ideas, I'll have to steal some for the next time we're traveling by car with kids (which will be soon and will take at least 12 hours...)