Road trips can be a lot of fun, especially when you have a few engaging games to keep everyone entertained in the minibus. These are CVS’s top road-trip diversions suitable for all ages:
- Twenty Questions: One person thinks of an object, and the others have 20 questions to guess what it is. Questions can only be answered with “yes” or “no.” Younger children will appreciate adding categories, such as objects you might see in a service station, in a zoo, on a building site, in a minibus, etc.
- License Plate Scrabble: can you make a word incorporating 2 or 3 letters from the vehicle in front’s license plate. It’s up to you whether profanities, slang terms or real names are allowed. If you’re all smarty-pants trying using four letters.
- What Am I Thinking? Someone thinks of something, then the rest begin asking questions. You can’t repeat a question that has already been asked and whoever guesses correctly within 21 questions gets to start the next round.
- Shout when you see a cow! Whenever you see a cow (substitute for a sheep or a dog depending on your location in the UK), on your side of the road, yell, “Cows on my side!”. Every time you call a cow, you get a point. If you see cows on the other side you say, “Cows on your side!”. If you call, “Cows on your side,” before the other side sees them, you steal a point. If anyone sees a cat they scream, “Cats Rule”, stealing all the other side’s points.
- Sign Cricket. This is best played in suburban areas and won’t work on a motorway! Taking it in turns, one player bats by looking out for pubs along the route. Whenever one is spotted, he gets a run (point) for each leg possessed by the subject of the title of the pub. So, “The Jolly Sailor”, would score 2 points whilst “The White Horse” gets 4. If a pub’s name is that of an object or concept with no legs, it scores no points. A player is also out if the pub name includes the word “arms” or “head” (e.g., “The King’s Head”, “The Baker’s Arms”), and it is the next player’s turn. The game ends at the end of the journey. The player with the highest score wins. Keep your eyes peeled for The Coach and Horses!
- The Alphabet Game: Starting with the letter “A,” players must find words inside or outside the minibus that begin with each letter of the alphabet in order.
- Name That Tunes: Play a few seconds of a popular song, and passengers try to guess the name of the song or the artist. You can download a selection of pre-edited intros on a mobile phone to be super professional.
- Would You Rather: Take turns asking each other hypothetical “Would you rather” questions, such as “Would you rather have a super strength or the ability to fly?”. But, be warned, this game often leads to Truth or Dare chaos.
- Storytelling Relay: Start a story with a single sentence, and each passenger adds a sentence to continue the story. The goal is to create the funniest and most imaginative stories. Six-to-11-year-olds are surprisingly good at making up this kind of stuff.
- Spot the Car: Choose a specific colour or type of car, and passengers compete to spot the most cars that match the criteria within a time limit. Yellow cars always earn extra points. Supercars are a 10-point bonus.
- Name That Movie: Quote a famous line or song from a movie, while passengers guess the film it’s from. Take turns being the quote master. Google is your friend for this game.
- The Animal Name Game: Start with an animal name, and the next person comes up with an animal whose name starts with the last letter of the previous animal’s name. For example, “elephant” – “tiger” – “rabbit” – and so on.
Remember, road-trip games are meant to be fun and keep everyone happily entertained during the journey. Feel free to modify the rules or create your own silly games based on the ages and interests of your group. Start a new game at the first sign of any tension, crack open the sandwiches and whack up the radio for a raucous singalong.
Sometimes it isn’t the destination that matters, it’s the journey.
