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Family Road Trips: Put Down the Screens and Enjoy the Ride
Road trips are about the journey, not just the destination. Spending time on the road offers families the chance to create lifelong memories, sharing laughter and good times all along the way.
Screens, be they TVs, tablets, phones or whatever else, are the way of the world today. However, road trips bring the perfect chance to put the screens down for all family members. Although, without the screentime, you’ll need to plan for entertainment for the long stretches on the road. Games and activities are the way to go when keeping the whole family out of the throes of boredom.
Let’s revisit some of the road trip classics for the ultimate on-road entertainment that doesn’t involve a screen:
- The License Plate Game
A simple, yet entertaining game with easy-to-understand rules; just call out all of the different state’s license plates spotted on the road to your final destination. Want to make it competitive? Instead of blurting them out, have family members write down answers or keep a tally and whoever has the most at the end of the trip, wins. - I Spy
The go-to game for almost any trip and another well-known, easy-to-understand one. One person in the car selects something either on the road or in the car, without saying what it is to the rest of the car and repeats the phrase “I spy with my little eye something…” followed by either the letter the object begins with or some other defining characteristic. The other passengers then try to guess what it is. - 20 Questions
20 Questions is a game that offers endless opportunities for road trip entertainment. One person picks a person, place or thing and the rest of the car takes turns asking yes-or-no questions in an attempt to uncover the mystery. Whoever guesses correctly before 20 questions are asked selects the next object. - Music Trivia
Most road trips already involve a soundtrack. Turn it into a game by asking the car to name the artist or song title before the song ends. Create a point system or offer the incentive that whoever guesses correctly chooses the next song. - Scavenger Hunts
Similar to I Spy or the license plate game, scavenger hunts are a great way to get everyone involved and paying attention to what’s going on outside. Simply create a list — either one for the whole family or one for each member — of items to spot during the trip. Whoever spots the item on the list first gets the credit, but at least one other person has to also see it to confirm.
A classic that now offers an app (if you want to be a little more lax on the no-screen rule) or the classic books and offers fun (and education for those learning grammar and language skills).
This one is simple; choose a category and go around the car to see how many related items, people, etc. you can name. Whoever gets stumped first, loses. Create more competition in this one by adding a point system or placing “bets” on who can name the most in the shortest amount of time.
This game requires focus from all, helping time fly by while on the road. In My Suitcase is a memory game where one person begins by saying “I’m going on vacation and I packed…” followed by any item that begins with the letter “A”. The next person repeats the sentence said by the first and adds an item to the list beginning with the letter “B” and so on. Keep going until someone forgets one of the items in the list.
Regardless of which games or activities you choose on your road trip, challenge everyone in the car to spend as little time as possible looking at a screen and just enjoy the sights along the way and the company of family, while creating lasting memories.