4/26/2018

Play Car Games That Entertain Or Teach

By Kimberly Clark


Over the years there have been many movies about road trips. The stars either have an amazing time or learn something about themselves or the whole thing is a hilarious series of disasters. Most journeys are far from the movie version with boredom being the greatest enemy. If you have kids, boredom can be overcome when you play car games.

Babies and toddlers might sleep through a long trip or be content with nursery songs and a toy. Modern teens will entertain themselves with their phone or tablet by listening to music or taking selfies to share with friends. Between the ages of around five and thirteen it is trickier to keep their mind off when they might arrive at your destination.

There are many things you can do to keep the kids occupied on your trip. For journeys where there is plenty to see you can make a checklist for each child of things they might see. The child who ticks most things from their list is the winner. Tailor the list to the things you might encounter but require them to pay attention. Hunting for farm vehicles in New York might prove difficult just as a yellow cab in unlikely in Ohio.

You can help your children learn their multiplication tables with a number game. Take turns saying the next number in a sequence or count from one to a hundred but replace the numbers that divide by four with a funny word. Decide which tables are appropriate for the age of the children. Maybe the youngest says a word on all the fives and the eldest has to say another word for prime numbers. There can be many ways to keep score or simply see how far from the start you can get.

If the family is musical try a version of name that tune. Someone hums a song and everyone has to guess what it is. The person who guesses correctly hums next. This can actually be funnier if the person humming is not musical! A variation would be TV theme tunes and the guessers have to name the show.

If your journey involves a lot of freeway driving there might not be much to look at except other vehicles. Try spotting unusual vehicles like a VW bug or something bright yellow. The person that spots the vehicle first can pick the next thing to look out for. Make a rule that it has to be something plausible.

On busy holidays and when weather is bad you may find yourself stuck in traffic. On the freeway you can look out for a person wearing glasses or with red hair. Again, the person who spots first gets to pick the next thing to look for. Alternately each have a different thing to spot and whoever gets to ten first wins.

A Long journey does not have to be boring or end up with the family arguing. A little planning and a pen and paper for the children and they can easily be entertained. It can also be a fun way for them to learn their times tables.




About the Author:



0 comments:

Post a Comment