Games for Road Trips

We thought you might enjoy some of our time-tested, Pellman family tried and true car games.

The Car Color Game
Every member of the family picks a color of car and counts the number they see pass by. We outlawed white, since that´s the most commonly colored car. You can set a time limit or a mileage limit and play this game over and over.

Alphabet Road Sign Game
Each person goes through the alphabet choosing letters off signs along the road. Whoever sees the letter first, gets it. 

License Plate Games

Count the States
Easy to play as a family, everyone watches to see how many different state license plates they can spot.

Make Your Own License Plate Phrase
Make a fun phrase out of letters from a license plate. For example PPG 079 might be “Pugs Playing Games.” The first family member to come up with a phrase wins.

Other Family Activities for Road Trips

Books on Tape/CD/iPods.
We´ll date ourselves by saying when our kids were small we checked out books on tape at the library for our road trip vacations. Now there are all kinds of great options. But in any event, listening and talking about a book together is a wonderful family activity, and unlike movies and handheld electronic games, allows you to still see all of the great scenery you are traveling through.

For More Ideas

MomsMiniVan.com has a wonderful, long, list of more road trip game ideas and free printables for car bingo, tic-tac-toe, scavenger hunts and more.

From Family Fun Magazine, here´s a list of classic car games

Edmunds, the car-buying site, offers this list of top 10 car games.