Family & Parenting Share Tweet So it’s that time of year when you and your family will be off on another road trip with the kids. You are happy, and the kids are happy because you all enjoy these trips. Everyone is excited, but you have one nagging concern – how will you keep the kids from getting bored? The answer – pre-planned road trip games. Now that’s a question that can become a parent’s nightmare on a road trip. “Are we almost there?” The moment you hear it, you can tell that boredom is setting in, and that can make the rest of the journey a challenge. How about turning your nightmare into a game? “Where Are We?” engages the children’s map reading, directional and navigational skills while they answer the question for themselves. Get a map and take it along on your road trip. At some point (great to start at the beginning of the journey), pass it on to the kids and have them identify the various places that you pass through. They will be engaged in observing city names on the various highway exit signs and can even use your GPS navigation system to view the distance from the destination. Check out some of our favourite road trip games for kids below. These driving games are great for kids and keep boredom at bay. Where Are We? You could even add more interest by using a printout from Google Maps or MapQuest. The aim is to have the kids mark off the cities as you pass through them and highlight the route with crayons or coloured pencils as you drive along. That will make the game more interactive and enjoyable. The Quiet Game / Last Word Game A game involving kids really does not have to be noisy or raucous for it to be fun. A game such as one that challenges the kids to see who can be the quietest for the longest can be of mega fun. The Last Word Game mimics the childhood habit of having a back-and-forth argument of “Did not. Did too. Did not.” The challenge of that practice is to usually see who can get the last word in, and we know how loud and infuriating it can get. In the quiet game version, the challenge is to see who can get the last word in the quietest. Whether the child is saying “did not” or “did too”, they have to say it softer than the previous child, while taking a little longer to utter it as well. The aim is to try to say it so that the other child totally misses what was said. If that is accomplished then that child (the speaker) wins. Animal Spotting The challenge of this game is to see who can locate the most animals as you drive along. Once the creature moves or is made to move it qualifies. That means, aside from live animals, sun-dried insects that may have been caught between the vehicle’s dashboard and windshield can also qualify. You can determine the level of competitiveness. Prizes can be used to encourage participation. With a variety of pre-planned road trip games for kids in their arsenal, any parent can combat the possibility of their kids becoming bored during a road trip.