You're on the road. Three miles into your family vacation road trip and you've already been asked, "How much longer?" and your youngest has to use the bathroom. It wouldn't be a road trip without these questions and requests. To pass the time, create some distraction and have a little family fun along the way and try out a few of these road trip games. Before long everyone will be full of smiles and laughter galore. Just don't forget that your youngest does really need to use the bathroom :)
Punch Buggy
Most everyone should remember this game growing up. You see a Volkswagen Beetle and yell out "Punch Buggy" and slug the closet person in the arm. So before anyone gets in an uproar we have some nonviolent versions of the game. If you're opposed to a little punch in the arm you can always keep a tally of the Volkswagen Beetles you saw. Write down everyone's names and put a mark under the person's name who calls it out first. The one with the highest number at the end of the trip wins.An alternative to this is to play using your own vehicle make and model. For example, use your swagger wagon as the vehicle of choice. If it's the same color then you get to slug your sibling 2 times. Uh, I mean you get 2 tally marks.
Hypothetical Questions
If you were President of the United States what would be the first thing you would do in office? That's the idea behind this game. Come up with hypothetical questions and have everyone give their answers. Get creative with your questions and make them age appropriate to accommodate everyone in the car. You might learn some interesting things from the answers your family gives. I mean who knew that your teenage daughter was concerned with the Pacific Trash Vortex! She must have seen someone post about it on Snapchat.After everyone has answered have the next member of the family ask a question. Go around the car taking turns until you reach the next rest stop. For the parent that likes to pre-plan you can easily jot down a few starter questions.
Twenty Questions
This is a fun game for all ages. To start, one person thinks of an object. The other family members each take a turn asking a question and trying to guess what the object is. This continues until a total of 20 questions have been asked. If no one guesses correctly the person then reveals the object they were thinking of. If a person does guess the object correctly then they win that round and get to choose then next object while the others ask questions and make guesses.To make it easier for younger children you might consider limiting the objects to a few categories like animals, places and food.
Scavenger Hunt
This road trip game takes a little pre-planning to make it successful. Like any good scavenger hunt you should create a list of items or sights that everyone must try to find throughout the road trip. You can get creative and include things like an orange Volkswagen, brochure for an amusement park, 5 drinking straws, sign that says 10 miles, red tractor or whatever else you can think of.Set a time limit to collect as many items as you can. The person with the most items found wins.
Name That Tune
This is one I rarely win at on our road trips but I still enjoy playing. To begin, have one person think of a song from the radio or movie. That person starts humming the song and the other family members try to guess the song as quickly as possible. The person humming continues until someone guesses the correct song. The winner then thinks of a song for everyone else to guess.An alternative to humming songs, you can flip through radio stations. As a new song starts everyone makes guesses as to which song it is. Either version is fun and can make for a bit of family time on the road.
It's all about having some fun to pass the driving time away. Get creative with your road trip games. Change them up during the trip. Create new rules or even new games to play along the way. Add a little prize for the winner like a candy bar or a nap (that's if Dad wins). Have fun on your next family road trip.