by Charlotte Louise Nystrom

Created on: November 07, 2008   Last Updated: November 16, 2008

Spending a long period of time in a vehicle can be difficult for anyone. Picture perfect family vacations are often reduced to arguing, pushing, shoving, and crying in the back seat. After nine hours in a car your well-behaved little one can become unbearably irritable. Fortunately, my mother had an arsenal of songs and games to alleviate the boredom.

Keeping children occupied during long road trips does not have to be complicated or expensive. Use the games below to turn stressful road time into treasured family time. Before you know it, your children will be giggling and your destination will be near. The rules are easy, have fun, get a little bit creative and super silly.

*I Spy:

Having trouble getting your rowdy youngsters to settle down? Search the horizon or the interior of the car for an interesting object. Then announce, "I spy a color and the color is ___". Fill the blank space at the end with the color of your chosen object. Next comes the fun part. The other passengers guess until they find what you were looking at. Whoever guessed right gets to go next. "I spy a color and the color is green" and the game continues indefinitely.

*The Alphabet Game:

This is a fun game for children and adults of all ages the only requirement is that you know the alphabet. As a group look for each letter of the alphabet beginning with letter A and ending with Z. As a rule all letters should be found outside of the vehicle street signs, billboards, and license plates are more fun. This is a great way to keep your children engaged, actively searching the environment. It is also a great way for younger children to brush up on their alphabetical skills. In addition, this game naturally gets more difficult as you get near the end of the alphabet. It can take a bit of patience to find that coveted X or Z.

* Packing for a Trip:

This game can get outrageously silly and is still educational. Your child can use their imagination while practicing the alphabet and taking turns. As the adult, you can choose to present the phrase with a given theme or allow your child to decide on a playful destination. We often used Mars because it made all of our answers sound extra silly. Alternatively, you can use your actual destination, a fictional island; even time travel is up for grabs.

In this game, everyone in the car takes a turn completing the phrase: "I am going on a trip to (Mars) and I am going to take with me _____". Each answer should follow the alphabet. The first player might say: "I am going on a trip to Mars and I am going to take with me apples". Then the second player's choice must begin with B and so on ending with Z.

Memory Challenge: Before stating their next choice, each player repeats all of the luggage chosen far."I am going on a trip to Spain and I am going to take with me ants, baboons, cats, dogs, and an elephant."

* License Plate Game:

This game is better for children who are a bit older because it requires them to be able to read, and know the names of the states. Give them a pad of paper and a pencil before you leave. . Try to spot a license plate from each of the fifty states. We played this game during longer road trips and we almost always completed the list. To make it easier for them you may set up the page for them by writing the numbers 1-50 and the states. This way your child just has to place a checkmark beside the ones, you have spotted.

Capital Challenge: Each time a state is checked off the list, also challenge your child to name it's capital.

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