Summer is the perfect time to hit the road with your family. New sights, new smells, new cuisine – there’s no limit to what you may experience on the road. But if you have young children, the long, scenic drives that you enjoy may leave them bored, uninterested, and irritable. With a clipboard, some free printables, and an active imagination, you can keep them engaged and occupied the whole trip through. Here are the 10 best car games for kids:
1. 20 Questions
Get one person to think of an animal, mineral, or food, and keep it secret. Everyone else then takes turns asking only yes or no questions, like “Is it green? or "Can I eat it?”. Keep track of how many questions are asked. After 20 questions, each player gets one chance to make a guess.
2. The Alphabet Game
Designate one person to look at one side of the road, and another to look at the left. Then, each player will look for the letters of the alphabet that appear on signs on their side of the vehicle. Keep track of the letters each player finds on a clipboard with paper. The first person to find all letters of the alphabet is the winner.
3. I Spy
One player will start the game by saying, “I spy with my little eye, something blue.” Each player takes turns spying an object, and everyone else will take a turn trying to find the mystery clue.
4. Connect-the-Dots
There are countless printables available online of various connect-the-dot games. A page will come with numbered dots scattered throughout. Get your child to draw a line from the lowest numbers, through to the highest, to reveal a secret picture or message.
5. Word Search
Much like connect-the-dot printables, you can find word searches online quite easily. These are great for older children, as they simply need to find specific, listed words in a scramble of other letters.
6. The License Plate Game
Again, this car game for kids is well suited for kids older than 5. Provide players with a clipboard, pencil, and paper, and get them to record every new state license plate that they see. The goal is to eventually get all 50 states, or if you’re driving through Canada, each of the provinces.
7. Tic Tac Toe
This classic game of X's and O's is easy to teach most older children. Using the clipboard and paper, draw a square, and separate it into 9 smaller squares. The goal of this two-player game is to get three X's or O's in a consecutive row – up and down, sideways, or diagonally.
8. The Animal Game
Get one person to name an animal. Then, every person, in a specific order, names another animal that starts with the last letter of the animal just named. This game has no repeats, no winners, and no losers. Try different categories such as countries or food with older kids.
9. Telephone
This game is perfect for larger groups traveling together. To start, a person will whisper something to the person next to them. Then, that person listens and whispers what they hear to a third person, and so on and so forth. The last person to hear the message will say what they hear out loud and see how it compares to the original phrase.
10. The Quiet Game
Last, but not least, every parent's last resort when it comes to car games for kids. . The quiet game is simple: announce to your children that the child who can stay the quietest for the longest period of time, wins. This game may not last for long, but the brief break may be enough to ease tensions in the vehicle.
To prevent boredom in the vehicle, do some online shopping for activities and games before the road trip on FlipGive. FlipGive is an online fundraising tool that allows groups to easily create a fundraising page, and invite family and friends to shop.
Enjoy hassle-free fundraising by providing the opportunity for supporters to purchase what they need from amazing and popular brands that provide cash back to fundraisers, all year long. To learn more, visit FlipGive online or call anytime at 1-844-GET-FLIP.
THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS
FlipGive and Cammi Granato would like to thank our official supporters Dallas Stars, Seattle Kraken, LA Kings, Anaheim Ducks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning, Hawerchuk Strong, Jackson Events, Canlan and other donors for helping support future legends as part of the Cammi Granato Girls Hockey Grant.
ABOUT CAMMI GRANATO:
Cammi Granato is a former captain of the United States women's national ice hockey team, Olympic gold medalist and one of the first women to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2010. She currently works as a scout for the NHL’s Seattle Kraken organization.
ABOUT FLIPGIVE:
FlipGive is a free tool to make and manage money for your team. Earn cashback toward team expenses, balance the budget, accept fee payments, and more. Managers and parents save time and energy while lowering the cost to play. Teams across North America have earned $29M and counting. Learn more at flipgive.com
