Nobody likes long car journeys, especially children. Since becoming a mother, I’ve realised that your kids will soon let you know if they’re bored; so on a long journey, various strategies have to be adopted to keep them entertained. And make sure you don’t forget the perennial job of preventing them from going to sleep on each other, from picking small fights and car sickness.
Car games not only help solve the boredom of a long journey, but they can help to keep children’s minds focused, so they don’t fall sleep when you want them to stay awake.
In the 60s and 70s car journeys meant long hauls, uncomfortable roads and even less comfortable cars. During the summer months – when it used to get really hot and sticky – car journeys with bored kids were enough to drive anyone mad. Playing car games with my parents and brother made the trip pass that much quicker – my dad always refused to break any kind of speed limit, ever.
In the last few years the rise of in-car DVD players has helped to keep children entertained on the road, but they’re far from a perfect solution. You end up leaving a house where the kids are hooked up to a screen, travelling in a car where they’re hooked up to a screen, and then when you arrive at your destination they don’t know what to do other than find another screen to watch.
Car games are cheaper, far more interactive and let the children either entertain themselves, or involve others. Mostly, though, car games are just simple fun, designed to make you enjoy the time you spend couped up in a car together, rather than dread it.
So, let your car journeys become a voyage of discovery for every member of the family.
Each child has their own list and a pencil so they can cross off each item as they spot it through the trip.
The kind of things to watch out for will vary depending on what kind of countryside or urban landscape you’re heading through. A mountain might be a good thing to spot if you are going skiing and a skyscraper might be handy if you’re going on an inner city trip.
This one is a tried and tested favourite on car journeys. Instead of humming or playing a familiar TV theme tune, players have to beat out the tune against a car seat or anything that will make a noise: legs, containers but not a brother or sister!
Variation: You can try humming if the rhythm of the tune isn’t a big enough clue.
Playing Tip: With older children you can move on to films or even pop songs, but it’s best not to try too wide a range of subjects or you’ll be guessing all day, followed by the bitter accusations: “That didn’t sound anything like (insert name of song here)” or, “I’ve never heard of that”.
For the older, more complicated tunes, a clue or two might be necessary. Keep the guessing down to a narrow field – such as cartoons, Disney film songs, No.1 hits, nursery rhymes etc.
There’s more acting required in the mime game. One player has to act out an action, such as cleaning teeth, or sending an email, or taking a photograph, and the other players have to guess what it is.
Playing Tip: Start with very easy simple actions before moving on to the more difficult variations.
Variation: Be an animal – this one can have the car in fits of laughter (certainly my meerkat had such an uproarious reaction we had to stop the vehicle once, not because it was a great impression, either, the driver just couldn’t stop laughing).
Without telling the rest of the car what they are, players have to mime popular, distinctive animals, from moles to meerkats, from kangaroos to koalas.
Importantly, players are not allowed to use any sound effects whatsoever. They can use their hands, for instance; to act out a cat licking its paws and cleaning its fur, or to show how big their ears are.
This is a favourite old game that people know in many different forms. Basically, it’s all about remembering a long list. Or, if you’re bad at it, forgetting a short one.
The next player adds another item to the list. “When I went on holiday I remembered to pack a toothbrush, some toothpaste, and my pet iguana called Alfonse.” Gradually, the list grows until someone is bound to get the sequence wrong. And then they’re out.
Variation: Personalise it with: Coming back from ___________ I saw… And make players add things they really have seen or visited during the trip.
Playing A-Zs is great for the car and is educational too. Each player takes it in turn to use the next letter of the alphabet to name a certain subject or object. The great joy of this game is that you can make it as difficult as you want by choosing your subject accordingly.
Playing Tip: Set a time limit the bong out for the last five seconds – Bong, Bong, Bong, Bong, BONG! Give players three “passes” so you can skip difficult letters.
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Alternative games- Spotting pub names and scoring points for limbs! For example, King’s arms=2 ,Horse and Jockey= 8( 2 arms and legs for Jockey,4 legs for horse) Next persons turn when their is a pub with no arms or legs ie Cottage Inn. Obviously better when going through towns and cities!
Another option, thinking of songs from place names or road signs eg. London-London’s burning, San Francisco- let’s go to San Francisco! Played this driving thru California but my husband made me stop when we came to Crazy Horses and I started singing the Osmonds at the top of my voice!