A long car trip to Grandma's house or during a family vacation doesn't have to be an ordeal everyone dreads. Planning for fun activities for car trips can keep everyone from becoming bored and irritable and help the miles roll along faster. These activities are a great time for family bonding and making memories
Compete to see who can spot license plates from the most different states. Make up funny sayings from the letters on license plates. For example, if you see a license plate with the letters TNY, this could stand for "10 nice yankees" or "two narrow yodelers".
Teach children to read a map and help them follow your route. They can use a highlighter to trace the map. Supply crayons and a drawing pad and ask children to draw their own maps, illustrating sites they see along the way. Older children can help figure distances, guess the time to the next rest stop and calculate gas mileage.
You can buy travel bingo cards or make up your own. Give everyone bingo cards and markers they use to mark roadside sites, such as a McDonald's, a cow, a red truck and so on. Award a prize to the first person to get a bingo.
Count green cars, cows, oil pump jacks, windmills, gas stations or anything else you pass along the way.
Buy or check out CDs from the library of books for the whole family, old comedy shows, or music you can all enjoy. Sing along to the music or take breaks to discuss the story you're listening to.
Make a list of questions and let each person in the car take turns answering them. Ask each person to share his or her most embarrassing moment, best memory, one thing they've always wanted to do but haven't done, one place in the world they want to visit, a famous person they'd like to meet or a favorite holiday. You could read from the list or write each one on a separate slip of paper and put them in a jar. Take turns drawing from the jar throughout the trip.
