You had so much fun on your last family road trip vacation you decided to up the ante and make an even longer road trip this year. Needless to say you're going to need some new family road trip games to pass the time. We have a few tips for road trip games the whole family will enjoy and make the drive pass in no time.
License Plate Game
It's a pretty simple to play you look for license plates from different States around the country. You can either make a list of all 50 States and print it out or write it down as you go along. The first person to see a different license plate says the name of the State and marks it on their list. The person with the most States found is the winner.You can add some variation to this game by giving a point to the first person to name the Capital of the State called out. Or give double points for out of country license plates and 3 points for their Capital.
Find Fast Food
Here is another "find it" game you can play on the road. Create a list of fast food restaurants and distribute a copy to all family members, except the young ones that might just eat the list. As you're on your road trip the first person to see a fast food restaurant on the list calls it out. That person gets to add a tally mark under that restaurant. The person with the most tally marks is the family road trip game winner!Bonus points should be awarded for anyone who can get Dad to pull over for some french fries and a shake. Mix it up by adding gas stations, supermarkets and anything you can think of. Keep your list around 5 to 10 locations.
The Name Game
To play pick a topic like countries, restaurants, movies or animals. For this example we'll use movies. One person starts by naming a movie such as "Ant-Man". The next person must then say a movie that begins with the last letter of the last movie mentioned. In this case that would be "n" for "Ant-Man". So the next family member might say Nanny McPhee. The game continues on like this until someone gets stumped.This is a game about just having some fun. There doesn't need to be winners or losers. Although, anyone who can get Dad to say "Xanadu" should get to pick the next dinner stop.
Alphabet Game
The alphabet game is another fun road trip game that will keep everyone looking around. First you'll want to pick a letter from the alphabet. Once you have the letter announce it to everyone in the car. The first person to spot something outside of the car that starts with that letter is the winner of that round and they choose the next letter.To make it more challenging, keep track of the letters you choose and don't repeat them. You could even limit it to just cars, restaurants and gas stations to make it more interesting.
Mad Libs
This one may cost you a few dollars but the laughs it produces should make up for it. Grab a book of Mad Libs for the road trip and break it out for those long boring stretches of highway. Have one person fill out and read the story. Go around the car and have family members give a word for each given blank in the story. Once the story is completely filled in, read it aloud.After reading it, pass it to another family member to fill out and read. Be creative with your word choices for some funny stories. An extra scoop of ice cream should be awarded to parents for any story that makes their teenager smile or laugh.
Get out, see some sites and have a great family road trip. Just make sure the suitcases are in the car and not sitting on the driveway before you leave. In case you need a few more suggestions, see our previous article on Family Road Trip Game ideas.