Vacations
November 12, 2022
20 No-Prep Road Trip Car Games

20 No-Prep Road Trip Car Games

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Sure you’ve packed your clothes… but have you taken care of how you are going to entertain your kids in the car, plane, or train for hours and hours? Here are 20 road trip games that are fun to play with your family to make the time go by quickly. These games to play in the car are perfect for all ages from preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade, jr high and high schoolers too. So make some memories on the journey to vacation with these FUN road trip games your whole family will love!
Sure you've packed your clothes... but have you taken care of how you are going to entertain your kids in the car, plane, or train for hours and hours? Here are 20 road trip games that are fun to play with your family to make the time go by quickly. These games to play in the car are perfect for all ages from preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade, jr high and high schoolers too. So make some memories on the journey to vacation with these FUN road trip games your whole family will love!

Road trip games

Ah, summer time… Kids and parents are out of school, and it’s time for everyone’s favorite thing to do…Road trip! Whether you’re going out of state, or a few hours from home,  the kiddos are going to cause a ruckus with lots of “He’s looking at me!” or “She’s touching me!” or some other such complaints. There’s also the famous “Are we there yet?” I’m here to help save your road trip with some fun car games for the whole family that can be played in the car. These road trip games are easy to play and lots of fun. Use these games to play in the car with preschoolers, kindergartners, grade 1, grade 2, grade 3, grade 4, grade 5, grade 6, grade 7, grade 8, and high school students too.

Car games for road trips

You will love that these car ride games can be played without having to pack more stuff into your already-crowded-car! Just pull up this post with these fun games to play in the car and you are ready to go! No suplies needed! So pick the first road trip car games you want to play and dive right into making memories and passing time!

License Plate Game (Who can find all 50 states first)

Everyone be on the lookout for the most states! Everyone keeps a sheet of paper or notebook, and write down all the state license plates that you see. The person who finds the most states by the time you get to your destination wins!  Hint: We like to use this Melissa & Doug License Plate Game Board

Scavenger Hunt for Road Trips

Think of interesting things that you’ll see between your home and your destination like fences, farm animals, different color cars, etc. Make up your list before leaving the house, and give everyone a copy.  The person to find the most items wins the game.  Hint: Get this pre-done Roadtrip Scavenger Hunt if you have trouble coming up with ideas

Gymnastics Competition at Rest Stops

You’ve been pent up in a car for hours, and your body has to be stiff! Have everyone do arm circles, leg lifts, lunges, race around the rest stop, any exercises to help get your muscles working again. See who can do the most before it’s time to leave.

Mad Libs 

A great game that you can purchase on Amazon. A bunch of stories already written for you to choose nouns, verbs, adverbs, etc to make the funniest
stories.

Travel Bingo 

You can purchase the boards, or you can make your own. Find things like fire trucks, mail trucks, or anything else you see on the go. Don’t forget to yell BINGO! when you win!

Restaurant Race

This game requires everyone in the car to choose their favorite fast food restaurant chain. Then each person keeps track of the number of times they see their choice and the person who sees their restaurant the most time wins the game.

Jacob’s Ladder/Cat’s Cradle

This game is pretty old school, but still a ton of fun. Make sure you bring a cutting of yarn or twine, and each person tries to make shapes like Jacob’s Ladder or the Cat’s Cradle. You (the parent) may want to show your little ones how to make the shapes before you leave.

Padiddle

If you’re going to be traveling at night, padiddle is great fun! Watch for cars with one headlight out, and smack the ceiling of the car, yelling Padiddle! See who can find the most cars.

Spelling Bee

If you have kids who love to spell or even kids who don’t, what’s better than a spelling bee? The kids can brush up on their spelling skills. The younger kids will get smaller words, and the older ones bigger words. You can bring a dictionary or thesaurus to help you come up with words, or find the kids old spelling lists from the last year of school.

I Spy

This one is pretty self-explanatory… The “spy-er” finds something with their “little eye” and everyone tries to figure out what the item is. Great game for long car rides.
road trip games for kids of all ages

Fun car games

Who knew there were so many road trip games for kids to play in the car, right?

I’m Going On a Picnic

This game is fun to play. It starts with “I’m going on a picnic” and every player has to come up with something that you’re taking on that picnic following the alphabet. For example “I’m going on a picnic, and I’m going to bring an apple!” The next person would choose something that starts with b, and so on. If you’re in a car full of older kids or adults, try to make it harder by making everyone come up with a food or beverage that starts with the corresponding letter. If there are smaller kids, let them choose anything.

Cookie Sheet Lap Boards

This works for quiet time when you’re tired of playing games. You can purchase cheap cookie sheets at the dollar store, and give one to each kid. Pack coloring books, crayons or markers, sticker books, etc. that require a hard surface. This way there’s less mess and less crying about not being able to color or write.

Road Trip Bags

This isn’t really a game, but it does help for keeping a bag at the ready with everyone’s favorite toys or games to take on road trips. Just keep them close to the door and ready for your next road trip!

Movie Game

In this game, each player chooses a character from their favorite cartoon or movie, and everyone guesses the movie or cartoon they appear in. If the kids are older, choose actors, and try to guess every movie/show they’re in until no one can come up with anymore.

Fortunately/Unfortunately

For this game, you come up with crazy things that could possibly happen while on your trip. For example, “There’s a tiger in the backseat!” Well, fortunately, that tiger doesn’t eat little kids!”
and so on. Great game for using your imaginations!

Cows on My Side

Divide the car into sides. When you see cows (or horses or whatever you choose), you yell I see cows! The person with the most cow spottings by the end of the game wins.

Quiet Game

See who falls asleep first lol. This is best played when everyone is tired and cranky, usually by the end of the  trip, or on the way home.

This Looks Like That

For this game, Everyone finds a hill or cloud that looks like something else. Describe what you think it looks like, and have everyone do the same.

20 Questions

Players come up with anything they can think of…The passengers get 20 questions like: Does it bark? to guess what it is.

Tunnels

See who can hold their breath the longest when going through a tunnel. This could be a bad idea if you’re going through really long tunnels,
but for the short ones, it could be fun!
Road Trip Games for Kids

Games to play in the car

Print off these 20 free printable road trip games to play along your drive. (black and white) So, there are 20 fun games to choose from for your next road trip. Do you have any favorite games you played as a child with your parents on road trips? Let me know in the comments!

20 Road Trip Games - so many fun, easy to play kids activities for cars, planes, trains, and boats. Great for family vacation, summer road trips, and more. #roadtrip #familyvacation #vacation Printable Roadtrip Games Kids will enjoy exploring the state park or campground with this free printable camping scavenger hunt. This camping scavenger hunt for kids will have children searching for different shaped items such as a flashlight, tent, campfire, and more. This free printable scavenger hunt is fun for toddler, preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, and 3rd grade students as it contains not only the name, but a cute picture too.  Simply print camping scavenger hunt printable pdf file with camping activity for kids in color or black and white and you are ready to play!  Disney World Planning in 6 simple steps

Car games

DIY Lava Lamp - super easy way to make your own lava lamp with simple things you have around your house. This homemade lava lamp is such a fun science project for kids of all ages to sneak in some summer learning. This science experiment is for toddlers, preschoolers, pre k, kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and kids of all ages at home, homeschool, summer camps, classroom, etc. Looking for a really fun and memorable science experiment for kids? You will love these EPIC pop rocks experiment. Try this pop rocks science experiment with preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and 4th grade students to try a simple chemical reaction. This Whether you try this pop rocks science experiments for homeschool science, at a science birthday party, or as part of a summer science project - this is a MUST try,  really cool science experimentkids will LOVE. Take your homemade playdough to a whole new level of FUN with this amazing Color Changing Playdough recipe. This is sure to be a hit with toddler, preschool, pre k, kindergarten, first grade, and 2nd grade children alike.  These super EASY to make marshmallow shooters are a must for your summer bucket list. This summer activity for kids is not only fun, but it is actually a STEM activity for kids too! Students assemble, tweak, and design this simple marshmallow cannon to try to get the most distance they can. THis is such a simple, but fun summer activities your preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, and elementary age students in first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grdae, 4th grade, 5th grade, and 6th grade students will want to try over summer break!

Summer Fun

Looking for more outdoor activities for kids and things to do in the summer? Your toddler, preschool, pre k, kindergarten, and elementary age kids will love these fun ideas to keep them busy all summer long:

If you are looking for a fun unique activity using eggs, you will love this silly egg head craft. This egg shell diy chia pet is cute, simple and silly spring activities for kids. This egg shell craft is fun for toddler, prsechool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, and 2nd graders too! bleeding tissue paper fireworks craft Spring is the time for field trips to the local zoo. In an attempt to make our homeschool field trips extra fun (and educational) I created these super cute, zoo scavenger hunt templates. We have lots of choices with these zoo scavenger hunt printable pack to accomidate kids of all ages from toddler, preschool, pre-k, kindergarten to elementary age students in first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, and 6th grade students. Whether you use the simple animal scavenger hunt or learn about endagered animals or animal habitats in one of these zoo scavenger hunt ideas - kids will have fun learning about zoology in science. Simply print free printable scavenger hunt pdf file and you are ready to learn about animals with this printable scavenger hunt at your local zoo. EPIC Bubble Painting - kids of all ages will love this fun summer art project where they will make a bubble craft by blowing bubbles. Recipe included for this fun to make, easy, summer activity for kids!

Summer Activities for Kids

Edible Ice Cream Playdough Recipe - amazing 2 ingredient playdough recipe perfect for toddler, preschool, kindergarten and kids of all ages for an ice cream thing, kids activity, or summer bucket list #playdough #playdoughrecipes #icecream This vinegar and baking soda rocket is an out-of-this-world fun AND educational summer activity for kids! Preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, and 6th grade students will enjoy making the baking soda rocket. This how to make a bottle rocket project is one of those really cool science projects your kids will remember forever!  EASY Stained Glass Craft for Kids - this fun art project is great for kids of all ages from toddlers, preschoolers, kindergartners, elementary age age and families to make to bright their front door or a window up with a spring craft for kids. You will love this art project

Fun Summer Activities for Kids

Beth Gorden

Beth Gorden is the creative multi-tasking creator of 123 Homeschool 4 Me. As a busy homeschooling mother of six, she strives to create hands-on learning activities and worksheets that kids will love to make learning FUN! She has created over 1 million pages of printables to help teach kids ABCs, science, English grammar, history, math, and so much more! Beth is also the creator of 2 additional sites with even more educational activities and FREE printables – www.kindergartenworksheetsandgames.com and www.preschoolplayandlearn.com

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