A well planned road trip can easily become a nightmare if the road trip passengers are bored out of their minds and we all know how miserable both adults and children can become at that point! Road trip planning should include a complete map of the road trip from start to finish including stops. Finding interesting things to do when you make your stops along the way is much easier that engaging your partners in fun activities when they are actually in the vehicle.

Arranging a good playlist is definitely a good move especially one that caters to all persons, however after a while even your most favorite music can take a toll on the brain during prolonged periods. As such road trip activities must be broken up to keep the trip interesting. So apart from your planned or spontaneous stops, and fabulous music, incorporate fun road trip games to keep energy levels up. Here are some fun road trip games to get you started, try having prizes on hand to incentivize participation and pump up the excitement.

Classic Road Trip Games

The Car Next Door – Get creative juices flowing by inventing stories of people in the cars you come across.

The Geography Game – One person will start with the name of an animal, place, celebrity etc. Whatever criterion is used the next person will then use the last letter to name their entry. The game continues until someone is unable to complete their turn. No entry can be repeated.

I Spy – One person chooses an object. The guessers are given one clue: “I spy with my

little eye something that is (insert clue here)”. Objects must be within sight long enough for the guessers to see it. The first person to correctly identify the object is declared the winner and is next in line to give a clue.

Travel Scavenger Hunt – Compile a list of objects that are likely to be seen on your road trip and ask road trip members to identify these objects along the way. The adult or child that found the most will be the winner.

License Plate Lingo – The goal of this game is to come up with a phrase using the letters on another car’s plate. For example a vehicle with plate number NEH 123 could be phrased “No eating here”. Phrases should make sense and each logical phrase will earn a point.

Road Trip Games for Teens and Adults

Who Am I? – One member adopts the persona of a familiar person or celebrity. The other members are to guess who they’re imitating by asking yes/no questions. The first person to guess the correct identity wins.

The Spelling Game – Similar to scrabble. Build a word one letter at a time, however on each player’s turn the goal is to try to end the word so that the other player/s are unable to add to it resulting in a loss.

Road Trip Games for Toddlers

Castle in the Sky – Identify clouds in the sky and determine what they look like. The child that gives the closest renditions is the winner.

The Alphabet Game: Pick a letter and find words or objects starting with that letter. Move through the alphabet. Or play as a memory game where each player should recite what the previous letter stood for in addition to naming the next letter in line.