Kids World Car Games

Car Travel Activities for Kids

Time flies when you’re having fun - The miles fly by too! You can make a long family car trip seem a lot shorter if you have fun with your kids along the way. Plan ahead with a few car activities, and making the journey to the Outer Banks can be as much fun as the destination. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Get a Good Songbook With All the Lyrics
It surprising how many songs you think you know, but you don't really know all the words. Have a singing marathon and learn the old classics by heart.

Let Your Children Have a Map
Give your kids their own copy of a map of where you are going. Show them how far you have come, how much further there is to go and let them mark it with a crayon. Every time someone asks "How much further?” let them see for themselves. You might also like to get a compass and show them how it works along with the map.

Have Bubble Gum Blowing Contests
The weirder the gum the better. Get it at the rest areas and try all the different flavors.

The License Plate Game
Print a U.S. map or list of states off the computer and color in the states as you see license plates from each one. See if you can get all 50 states between Memorial Day and Labor Day. You might even record the time and date and the state where you saw it. This can be a family project as you build your "collection" of license plates together.

Printable Car Games
Print some activities to bring along on your trip such as Car Bingo, License Plate game, tic-tac-toe, lines and dots, scavenger hunt and more. You can find lots of printable car games here.

Magnetic Board Games
Do your children know how to play classic board games like Chess, Backgammon, Checkers, or Chinese Checkers? What better time to learn than in the car to pass the time! The magnetic car versions of these games are nice because they are small and compact, and have easy ways to store the pieces so they don't get lost.

Counting Cows
Count the cows you see on your side of the car. If you pass a cemetery on your side of the car, you lose all your cows. The one with the most cows wins.

Read Out Loud
This passes the time quickly in the car for the reader and for the family members who are listening.

Lego Contest
Have a contest to see who can build the best item that relates to where you are going. Use a shoebox to store the Legos, or large zip lock bags.

Guess How Far Away That Is
Pick an object and have everyone guess how far away it is, then clock it on your odometer.

Play Favorites
Have everyone think of different "favorite" questions for the group. What's your favorite... movie, flavor of ice cream, song, game, toy, place to visit, restaurant, book, animal, fish, etc. Be creative and don't forget to ask the driver too!
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Laurel Smith is a former school teacher and mother of three who has logged thousands of road trip miles both as a kid and a mom. Visit her website for more than 101 travel games and activities for kids at MomsMinivan.com

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