Engaging Games to Play On the Way

On family trips, engage and exercise children’s minds and memories with the following games. Most of these games are suitable for plane, train and automobile rides; almost all of them can be played with no materials, although two require paper and pencil. This list is not exhaustive: a little imagination will discover many variations on these basic games. Approximate age levels are given in parentheses, just as a rough guide.

General Word Play

Chaining Words (5 and up). Choose a category of objects, for example: names, animals, or food. The first player names an item from the category, e.g., “pizza,” for the food category. The next player must name another item in the same category, but his/her item must begin with the last letter of the previous item, e.g., “apple.” Play continues until you can chain no more.

My kids are 12 and 16, and we played this game in January when we were returning from our Christmas trip. It kept us busy and cheerful in the security lines at the airport.

Couplets (4 and up). A couplet is a simple poem of two lines that rhyme. The first player provides the first line, e.g., “My cat is fat”; the second player provides the second line, “And wears a hat.” You can really go anywhere from there.

Five Words (4 and up). To begin, one player states five words that describe him/her. Each player adds one word to the list. After inspired discussion, the next player takes a turn.

Buzz (7 and up). Players agree on a “buzz” number – seven (7), for example. Players then take turns counting in order, starting with zero. When the buzz number comes up alone or as part of any other number (like 17, 27, etc.), the player whose turn it is must say “Buzz” instead of the number. Any player who forgets to say “buzz” or who says it at the wrong time is out. Variation: multiples of the buzz number also become buzz numbers. For seven, this would include 14, 21, 28, and so on.

Categories (3 and up). Players agree on a category, for example, fruit. They take turns naming items in that category until no one can think of a new item. Category suggestions: countries, U.S. states, flowers, girls’ or boys’ names, food, songs, cars. To increase the challenge, allow each player only a few seconds to come up with an answer.

Quiz Games

Some of these probably need no explanation!

I Spy (3 and up). This game can be tailored to be more challenging for older players, of course. One player chooses an object within view of all players. She describes the object in one word, e.g., by shape or color: “I spy something yellow.” The other players guess objects until someone discovers the correct one.

Twenty Questions (5 and up). One player thinks about any object (object can be categorized as “person, place or thing” or “animal, vegetable or mineral”). The other players take turns asking up to 20 “yes or no” questions to discover what the object is. For younger players, extend the number of questions allowed.

State/Country Capitals (8 and up). For this game, you need a parent or other adult who knows many U.S. state or world country capital cities. This person serves as quizmaster, naming states/countries to which the other players must try to name the capitals. Alternatively, the quizmaster may name a capital city to which players must name the corresponding U.S. state or country.

Hangman (6 and up). One player, the leader of a particular round, thinks of a word or phrase. Using pencil and paper, he makes a blank space for each letter (and a clear break between words) and draws a gallows for the potentially hanged man. Players take turns guessing letters. When a correct letter is guessed, it is added to the correct space(s). When an incorrect letter is guessed, the leader notes it on the paper and adds part of the hanged man to the gallows. Any player who guesses the correct word/phrase during play is the winner. However, if the hanged man (head, neck, body, two arms and two legs, two feet) is completed first, the round is over.

Especially for Car Travel

Billboard Alphabet (5 and up). Write out the alphabet on a piece of paper; cross off each letter as you see it on a sign or a billboard. Variation: find the alphabet in proper order. Or: do the alphabet backwards.

My kids and I usually played this game without paper, finding the alphabet in order. The older they got, the more they enjoyed making a contest out of it, competing for each letter (the first person to “call” a letter on a sign gets it, and competitors must find a different one).

Billboard Spelling (7 and up). Each player chooses a word with the same number of letters. They then look for the letters in sequential order on passing billboards. The first person to complete his/her word is the winner.

Especially for Toddlers

Fill-in-the-Blank. Recite familiar nursery rhymes or songs, occasionally pausing to allow your toddler to provide a word or short phrase. This is particularly effective when you require him/her to provide the final (rhyming) part of a line.

Finger play. Songs and finger play are very appealing to toddlers. “Itsy-Bitsy Spider” and “Where is Thumbkin” are classics that you may already know. Here are a couple more to add to your “arsenal”:

Ram Sam Sam. Chant: “A Ram Sam Sam, A Ram Sam Sam, Guli Guli Guli Guli Guli Ram Sam Sam. (Repeat once more.) A Ra-fi, A Ra-fi, Guli Guli Guli Guli Guli Ram Sam Sam!” Motions to make: hit fists on top of each other on “Ram Sam Sam”; roll hands on “Guli,” and lift arms on “Ra-fi.”

There is a tune to this; you can hear it in this YouTube video.

Little Turtle. Recite the following, with the motions: “There was a little turtle (make a fist) that lived in a box (draw a box in the air). He swam through the puddles (pretend to swim) and climbed on the rocks (walk fingers across child). He snapped at a mosquito (make snapping motion); he snapped at a flea (snap again). He snapped at a minnow (snap), and he snapped at me (snap at yourself). He caught the mosquito (tickle child); he caught the flea (tickle again). He caught the minnow (tickle), but he didn’t catch me!

By Carol McDonald

Carol’s kids are 16 and 12 but will still play a few of these games from time to time.

Illustration by Albina Nogueira

Albina has been a primary school teacher since 1992, and a writer and illustrator since 2006. She currently lives in Switzerland, but her homeland is Portugal. She is also the author of Letters to Grandparents  and Hairdresser. To find out more, like her on Facebook or see her books in Amazon.