This post has nothing to do with Nature itself, but logistically, if you’re going to visit a National Park, that means you’re going to be spending some time in a car to get there. As road trips are often cheaper than flying for a family of 4 or larger, you may be spending a lot of time in the car to get there. That’s ok. We’ve done several cross-country road trips with our kids and they’ve survived. We even have fun while we are all in the car together. Before you judge me too much, we don’t let our boys play on the iPads or watch movies for the whole trip. There are lots of interactive or educational activities you can do together as a family while you are driving. Here are some of our favorite ideas to make the journey a fun ride.
Games
1) Auto Bingo
There are several versions of these cards. You can buy them online, or we’ve found them at little gift stores in small touristy towns. The items on the cards aren’t always up-to-date (ex. Payphone) and sometimes the items are just silly to consider seeing from your car (ex. Cat), so we create substitute items as needed. If someone gets a bingo too early, we switch to blackout.
2) 20 Questions (I’m Thinking of an Animal)
This game doesn’t need too much of an explanation. Someone in the car thinks of an animal and everyone else asks yes or no questions until the animal is correctly guessed. Whoever wins gets to pick the next animal. While we play this game, we talk with our kids about what defines a mammal or reptile, where animals live in the world, etc.
3) I spy
Find something in the car or outside that’s either repeating or is far away (so it doesn’t disappear) and give a clue about it. Let other people in the car guess what you’ve found. We played this game for an hour on the way to a water park one time, and my son who was two, picked “tree” each time it was his turn. This still makes me laugh.
4) Rock, Paper, Scissors
Rock beats Scissors, Scissors beats Paper, Paper beats Rock. Count one, two, three, and each person displays a hand signal for the item they’ve picked.
5) Rhyming Game
For children of Preschool / Kindergarten age, rhyming can be fun. Pick a word and everyone in the car yells out words that rhyme. When you run out of ideas, call out a different word.
6) Words that Start With
Also, for children of Preschool / Kindergarten age, pick a letter, and everyone in the car yells out words that start with that letter. When you run out of ideas, pick a new letter.
7) Adding / Subtracting / Multiplying / Dividing
We practice math with our kids while we are in the car. With our kindergartner, we use adding and subtracting questions. With our 4th grader, we use multiplication and division. When they get the question right, we try something harder. If they make a mistake, we let them try again.
8) Tic Tac Toe
This game doesn’t include the driver, but our boys can play it together in the backseat.
9) Mad Libs
Mad Libs are still a thing. You can find them online, or there’s an App called “Mad Lib”. We pick nouns, names, verbs, etc., and at the end there is a very silly story that we read aloud.
10) Alphabet game
This is a game that requires words on signs, buildings or cars. We start looking for a word that starts with A. Then we find a word that starts with B, and continue to Z. It works collectively with everyone in the car or competitively between passengers. I wish there were more words that start with Q… We usually get stuck until we come to a city that has a Dairy Queen.
11) State Capital Game
For the number of times I’ve lost at this game, I should have the capitals memorized. This is a game for older kids. Yell out a state and see if anyone knows the capital and keep track of who gives the first correct answer.
12) Cows on My Side
I’ve heard several variations of this game, but these are our rules. If you see cows on the side of the car that you are sitting, yell “Cows on my side.” If you see cows on the opposite side of the car that you are sitting, yell “Cows on your side.” Your side of the car gets a point if you say, “Cows on my side” before someone else says “Cows on your side.” If you pass a cemetery on your side, the “cows” on your side all die, and you lose all of your points. Replace “cows” with turkeys, prairie dogs, buffaloes - whatever you can find to make it fun.
13) What color will the next car be?
My six year-old loves this game. When we are on a non-busy road where we can’t yet see the next car driving towards us, we guess what color the next car will be. Each person gets to guess. Then we wait to see which car drives past us next.
14) Fortunately / Unfortunately
This is an amusing game for Mom and Dad. Start with a statement – it could be true / false or something you just made up. It starts with “Fortunately” and then someone else gives a statement starting with “Unfortunately.” It gets silly quickly. Ex) Fortunately, today we are going swimming. Unfortunately, it is cold outside. Fortunately, the water is warm. Unfortunately, the water is yellow. Fortunately, that’s not the pool we are going to.
15) Make Up a Game
After we’ve been in the car long enough playing silly games, we get a little bored and our imaginations start to make up our own games. For example, we’ve come up with a nonsense game that starts with the word “Submarine.” The next person says a word that has nothing to do what-so-ever with a Submarine. “Water” or “boat” would not be acceptable words, but “spoon” would be ok. Then the next person says a word that has nothing to do with “spoon”. “Fork” or “knife” would not be ok, but “tree” would work. See what game you can come up with.
Finding Things
16) License Plate Game
Make a list with all 50 states. Put a check mark next to each state after you see a car from that state. See how many states you can find. We found a car with a Hawaiian license plate when we were in a hotel parking lot outside of Mesa Verde National Park. We were so excited; my husband took a picture of it just as the owners of vehicle were coming outside. I was mortified, but they laughed as they realized we were playing this game and we ended up talking to them for a while.
17) Count things
Another great game for a Preschool / Kindergarten age child – just don’t pick something like trees or clouds. Try counting red cars or motorcycles.
18) Scavenger Hunts
This is one of my favorite things to do in preparation for a trip. I make a scavenger hunt for each day of the vacation (just a piece of paper with 5x5 squares). I think of 25 things for each day that we might see based on where we will be that day. I usually throw in some things that I’m not sure if we’ll find to make it a little harder. On one trip, I included “banana” on each day’s scavenger hunt. It was harder than you’d guess trying to find a banana in the airport.
Things to eat
19) Snacks
Having the right food is essential for a happy road trip. I pack multiple snacks and only get out a few each day so each day there are different options. Beware of chocolate which melts or anything sticky. If you are eating in the car, most likely you are in the front seats and your kids are in the back. It’s really hard to keep their hands clean from the front seats, so choose snacks wisely. Favorites of my kids are cheez-its, trail mix (I mix this up before hand), grapes, graham crackers, fruit snacks, and nutrigrain bars. We pack re-usable water bottles for everyone in the car that we can fill up at rest areas along the way, and buy Gatorade packets that can be mixed into the water bottles for variety.
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Workbooks
20) Erasable Boards
These boards work well to draw pictures, play hangman, write messages, or play home-made Pictionary (guess what the person has drawn).
21) Activity Books
The car is a great time for kids to do word finds, crossword puzzles, math books, or sticker books. You can buy these books at a store like Target, order them on Amazon, or just google the words (ex. Crossword puzzle” and there are sheets you can print out for free.
22) Coloring Books
Bring a clipboard or a large hardcover book for the kids can use and a pencil bag with crayons, markers, or colored pencils.
23) Junior Ranger Books
When you go to a National Park, stop in any of the Visitor Centers and go up to the main Information Desk. Ask the Park Ranger for a Junior Ranger Book. In every National Park I’ve been to so far, with the exception of Yellowstone, these books are provided free of charge. They will ask the age of your children, and based on their age, there will be different activities to do. If you are spending a few days in the park, you can do these books there and bring them back to do the Junior Ranger Pledge and get a badge. If you only have a few hours though, save the activities in the books and do them in the car. When you are back home, mail the books to the National Park in a manila envelope. The Park will mail you back the book and give you the Junior Ranger Badge.
24) Make a Journal
I bring a notebook for each of my boys and ask them to write or draw about one of their favorite things they did that day, something new that they saw for the first time, or a funny story that happened. They fill out at least one page for each day and there is space to add photos when we get home. I have these saved for the boys so they can remember our family trips when they were young.
Reading
25) Stop at the Library
We read a lot in the car. To avoid the cost of buying several books, we stop at the library a few days before the trip.
26) Reading Aloud Stories
Our youngest son isn’t old enough to read by himself yet. Instead we pack simple chapter books (that don’t have many pictures as it’s hard to show the pictures from the front seat). Our boys love the Magic Tree House and Imaginary Veterinary books. We read aloud a few chapters at a time.
27) Audio Books
Audio Books are a great way to make a road trip go faster for adults in the front seat.
Discussions
28) Talk with your Kids
This might be crazy, but we pass a lot of time in the car just by talking with our kids. When we are all stuck together in the car and equally bored, the boys open up a little bit more, and we get to hear more than usual about what’s going on in school and with their friends, what’s going well, what they like, etc. The same is true when we go hiking - my favorite hikes are those when it’s just me and one of my boys. I treasure those conversations.
29) Telling Jokes / Riddles
Sometimes our boys remember good jokes, but often this is my husband or I looking-up Jokes or Riddles online (assuming we are near a city where we have a cell signal).
Here’s a joke from my boys to get you started: What did the janitor yell when he jumped out of the closet? SUPPLIES!
30) Sing along to Favorite Songs or Sing Camping Songs
I download new music before a trip to surprise our boys, but often we just sing along to existing favorites. We also like to make up verses to Down by the Bay. Have you ever seen a goat driving a boat?
31) Discussion Questions
This is my husband’s creativity. He likes to make up silly questions that each of us has to answer. Here are some of his questions: Which bone in your body is most like you? What kind of tree would you be? If there were only one color in the world, which would you want it to be? What would your super power be if you could pick?
Imagination
32) Stuffed Animals
As a reward for an amazing day of hiking (without being carried by Mom or Dad), we will stop at the Visitor Center and let each boy pick out one stuffed animal. The boys also pack 2-3 stuffed animals each for the car ride. (Or if I’m being honest in case my sister-in-law is reading, maybe they each bring 7…) Although the car feels a bit like a zoo, the boys make believe with the stuffed animals for hours in the car.
33) Reusable Sticker Pads / Felt Books / Magnet Books
When our boys were younger, the books with movable items worked well for short periods of time. Note that we did lose several pieces in the car, though.
34) Creating Group Stories
These stories can get a little silly as well. Each person gets to add a certain number or words or a full sentence (you decide). Then someone else in the car adds the next line, etc. until we run out of ideas. Then we switch and start a new story.
35) Invent Something Together
We start by talking about a problem that needs a solution or something that would amazing to have or do. Then we pick a topic and brainstorm together.
Stops
36) Stop Along the Way
Each family is going to need to stop at different frequencies and for different amounts of time. Some days we need more stops than others. The rest areas along interstates usually have great tables for picnics. There are also times when it’s cold outside, so we’ll eat a McDonalds just so the kids can play for awhile in the play area. When the boys were younger we also stopped for bathrooms, a lot.
37) Hiking
There are often beautiful viewpoints along the way. The Earth’s land is stunning in its varied landscapes, and a benefit to driving versus flying is getting to stop a see the view. A little hike to see the view is also a nice break as well to stretch your legs.
38) Museums
I like to hike and be out in the environment, while my husband teaches history and would rather be inside at a museum. When I plan a trip, I try to find a museum or two, or a Historic National Monument along the way, to entice him to come with us. This requires some pre-planning along the route, so we know where to stop and how to get there as well as know how much it will cost ahead of time. We’ve found some cool places – the End of the Oregon Trail, an Aviation Museum housed in an old Blimp Hangar, and an authentic general store from 1871, to name a few.
39) Crazy Road Side Attractions
Sometimes we just have to get out of the car when we see a sign for something that makes us laugh – dinosaur sculpture gardens, a very large cow, ball of string, Wall Drug, etc. It’s good to stretch your legs, and I guarantee you’ll remember these road side attractions. I would caution against stopping at the Corn Palace though…
Electronics
40) Educational Movies – Documentaries
If you bought the minivan with the DVD player and you want to use it, don’t feel bad. Our car has two dvd players in it, which I thought was the most ridiculous feature – why would anyone need two? Apparently us when we are on a 60+ hour road trip… Disney movies are great options, but we also through in a few documentaries. Anything National Geographic or focused on animals are great for kids. We have one on Corn (remember my husband is a history teacher…) and the boys have actually asked to watch that one more than once.
41) Educational Games on the iPads
The boys have found some educational games for the iPads that they like to play and the car is as good as any other place to play them. Favorites of theirs are Prodigy, Stack the States, and Letter School.
42) Learn About the States that You Drive Through
When I stop at the library, I may pick up books about the states that we will drive through, and we will read them aloud together. We also pick up children’s books about the National Parks that we will be visiting, so we can learn about the geology, plants, and animals before we get there.
Hopefully a few of these ideas will be fun for your family, or even better maybe they will get you thinking creatively about new ideas that you can share with us.
Good luck, have fun, and enjoy your road trip!
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