Passing Time With Travel Games

“How long ’til we get there?” The question sends a shudder down the spine of parents when the time comes for summer travel.

The best defense for those long drives is a good offense. Instead of quelling uprisings in the back seat, pre-empt them with these activities for children (and adults) of all ages:

License plate bingo
Each player selects a five-letter word and announces it to fellow travelers. Letters are marked off when you discover any of your letters on the license plates of passing cars. For example, if your word is PUTTY and you see a car with the plate 2U WYR, you can mark off the U and Y. Opponents can use letters from the same plate. The first person to find all the letters in his or her word wins.

A to Z
Take turns announcing a category as follows: “The game is A to Z, the category is ______.” If you fill in the blank with the word “animals,” the answers might be antelope, baboon, cow, and so on. Everyone works together to make it to Z. Try new categories such as flowers, colors, foods, movie titles, or professional athletes. The letters Q and X may be impossible, but don’t pass them by too quickly.

Getting to know you
Learn more about your companions with these questions: If you could have one super power, what would it be? What cartoon character are you most like? What’s the saddest/best/worst song you’ve ever heard? Which five personal items would you place in a time capsule to tell future generations about you? If you were given 24 hours to spend a million dollars, where would the money go?

Tap
One person taps out the beat of a song on the dashboard or his or her leg as others try to identify it. Whoever guesses correctly becomes the next tapper. To get started, you might want to confine your songs to one theme such as Christmas songs, Disney tunes, or patriotic songs.

Creative thinking
Use your collective brainpower on these challenges, then add your own. Recast The Wizard of Oz with people you know. How would you have gotten off Gilligan’s Island? List jobs that nervous people shouldn’t hold.

Name that tune
Push the seek button on your radio or move the tuner knob until you arrive at a new radio station that is playing music. The first person to name the song playing gets 100 points. Then move down the dial to the next station for each round. The first person to reach 1,000 points wins.

As Roy Rogers sang, “Happy trails to you.”

Michael Nolan, a frequent contributor to American Profile, is author of Smileage (Cumberland House), the source for these ways to pass time on the road.

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