Travel Games and Activities

Planning ahead to have activities along the trip can make the difference between frustration and fun for your vacation travel.  Games can make the travel time go quickly and keep the family in a festive mood to make the vacation memorable.  Here are some ideas to get you going:

1.  I Packed my Trunk For India:  This is a memory game that everyone can play.  The game begins with the first player saying: "I packed my trunk for India and with me I took:" then they name something starting with the letter "a".  Example:  "I packed my trunk for India and with me I took an apple."  The next person has to recant the list and then add an item with the next consecutive letter.  Variation of the game we have enjoyed is packing the trunk with absurd items that couldn't possibly fit in a trunk or be needed on a trip to India.  It adds to the humor of the game. 

2.  Treasure Hunt:  When on a long trip, we have fun by listing off things that we might likely see along the way and creating two different lists and dividing the car into teams that will be on the lookout for the items on our list.  Here are two sample lists, but you can create your own:

Team 1
18 Wheel Truck
Vegetable garden
Grocery Store
Waterfall
Car from out of state

Team 2
Truckstop
Swingset
Billboard for the destination
Falling Rock Sign
Car with cargo on top

3.  Word Games: Make a game out of considering how many words you can form with the letters of you destination.  For instance, if you are going to Busch Gardens, write down how many words you can form with those letters like: (bush, guard, gas, bus chard, den, etc).  This can also become a competition between teams to increase the fun.

4.  20 Questions:  One person says: "I have something in mind, see if you can guess what it is".  The players ask yes/no questions to determine the item.  The players go around the circle asking one question each until they reach 20 questions.  If someone uncovers the answer, they win - if no one uncovers the answer, the person answering the questions wins.

5.  Hangman: Old fashioned game of hangman can be great fun on a vacation.  Increase the connection to the travel destination by selecting words that would be associated with that location. 

6.  Wave game:  When on the highway, make a game out of seeing how many travelers on the road you can get to wave back to you.  It can be a lot of fun and people will wonder how they know you.

7.  Story telling:  If visiting a family member or going to a location that is a family favorite, share stories about great memories that you had of that person or location.  It will not only help prepare the family for creating memories of their own, but will also help them to become acquainted with what to expect and they will know you more personally as well as a result.

8.  MORE GAMES:  If you didn't find the perfect game for your family check out the Top 21 Travel Games for the Car.