• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Family MattersPractical Parenting Blog

  • Home
  • Series
  • About Ronit Baras
  • Books by Ronit Baras
    • Motivating Kids
    • Be Special, Be Yourself for Teenagers
    • In the Outback with Jasmine Banks
    • Reflections
    • * Your Cart
    • * Secure Checkout
  • Contact
    • Join Us
Home » Family Matters » Parenting » Handy Family Tips: Road Trip Games

Handy Family Tips: Road Trip Games

License Plate - makes for great road trip gamesMost parents dread taking their kids on long drives. Without some cool road trip games and activities, many children grow restless and fall into the “Are we there yet?” routine, which makes everybody go nuts.

We started having a taste of this ourselves when our eldest, Eden, was four and a half years old. We moved to Arlington, TX, where we spent most weekends touring Texas on long road trips with another family that had a boy a bit younger than Eden. We spent many hours in the car, but we did not seem to have a problem entertaining the kids.

When we lived in Thailand, entertainment in the car was a hot topic. At the time, traffic in Thailand was so bad we could spend up to 3 hours just going to the supermarket or to see friends. Our son, Tsoof, was a baby and we spent many car rides touring up and down Thailand. Typically, it was also hot and humid.

Through the years, we have traveled with our kids through the USA, China, New Zealand (twice), Korea, France and Australia. We traveled up the center of Australia and down the east coast when our youngest, Noff, was one year old, Tsoof was 7 and Eden was 13. The trip took us 6 weeks and we spent many hours in the car. People thought we were crazy. Taking 3 kids in one car on such a long road trip seemed to them like a suicide mission. But it worked well for us.

It all depends on how you spend the time in the car. So what did we do?

We sang songs, told stories, did homework, played many fun road trip games and turned the journey to our destination into something enjoyable in itself.

Last week, we drove home from a festival on the coast and Noff (who is now 13) told us about a game she had played on a recent drive with a friend’s family. In Australia, most license plates have 3 numbers and 3 letters, so they looked at the letters and tried to come up with a sentence. It can be serious, funny or silly, but it has to be in the right order. For example, ISA – International Stupid Association.

We decided to try it. As we played the game, I realized that it required fast thinking. As adults, we kept searching for something that made sense, like ISA – International Snowboarding Association. Meanwhile, our kids went for anything that came to mind. It made the drive home most hilarious.

Tsoof, who is 18 years old, was the fastest. There were no boundaries to his imagination (and silliness). While we were all thinking, he had already come up with ways to do it faster. For example, he used “International” for every I. He was so fast we had to ban “International” from the game so everyone could get a chance.

Australian License PlateSome letters, like X, were extra difficult for us serious adults, but the kids made funny sentences like: SXB – Sexy Xylophone Board or Smelly X-ray Bra. The license plate in the picture became World Recording Xylophone. You can tell I made up the ones here, because the kids had lots of stupid, snot, boobs and farts. It was hilarious.

Try this road trip game for yourself on your next long car ride with your kids. It is fun and challenging and uses parts of the brain you usually don’t need while driving. Most importantly, it helps pass the time much faster, making long rides feel a lot shorter.

Happy riding in the car with kids,
Ronit

This post is part of the series Handy Family Tips:

  • Make Your Bed to Make Your Day
  • Handy Family Tips: Dishwasher
  • Handy Family Tips: Pre-Marinating
  • Handy Family Tips: Kitchen Scissors
  • Handy Family Tips: First use date
  • Handy Family Tips: Kids’ Artwork
  • Handy Family Tips: Keys
  • Handy Family Tips: Smelly bins
  • Handy Family Tips: Treasure box
  • Handy Family Tips: Glass jars
  • Handy Family Tips: On time is late
  • Handy Family Tip: Early is on time
  • Handy Family Tips: Electric toothbrush
  • Handy Family Tips: Make a Note
  • Handy Family Tips: Laundry day
  • Handy Family Tips: How to Peel Avocado
  • Handy Family Tips: Bathroom Art
  • Handy Family Tips: Easy Healthy Spread
  • Handy Family Tips: Wake Up With a Smile
  • Handy Family Tips: Color Coded Keys
  • Handy Family Tips: Road Trip Games
  • Handy Family Tips: How to Get Kids to Eat Vegetables
  • Handy Family Tips: What to Do When There is No Shaving Cream?
  • How to Control Your Kids’ Mobile Phone Use at Night

Share This Page

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Related

 

August 7, 2014 by Ronit Baras In: Parenting Tags: activity, behavior / discipline, creative / creativity, fun, how to, kids / children, mind, practical parenting / parents, tips, travel

Reader Interactions

Share Your Thoughts Cancel reply

* Your comment may take up to a day to appear.

Get Happiness by Email

Sign up to receive posts by email and get my free mini-course Seven Emails with Seven Secrets for Seven Weeks to boost your personal development

0% Complete

Join Us on Social Media

  • Click to visit our Facebook page (Opens in new window)
  • Click to visit our on Google+ page (Opens in new window)
  • Click to visit my Twitter profile (Opens in new window)
  • Click to visit my LinkedIn profile (Opens in new window)
  • Click to see my Pinterest profile (Opens in new window)
  • Click to visit the RSS feed (Opens in new window)

Books by Ronit Baras

  • Motivating Kids by Ronit Baras Motivating Kids $9.95
  • Reflections by Ronit Baras Reflections From: $5.99
  • In the Outback with Jasmine Banks by Ronit Baras In the Outback with Jasmine Banks From: $5.99
  • Be Special Be Yourself for Teenagers by Ronit Baras Be Special, Be Yourself for Teenagers From: $5.99

Ronit Baras

Be Happy in LIFE logo
Book your private life coaching with Ronit Baras and learn how to be happy in life

Need Better Movie Options?

SmartFeed better movie options

You’re Reading a Top 50 Parenting Blog

Top 50 Family Blog Award Top 50 Amazing Parenting Blogs 2017

Related Links

  • Be Happy in LIFE – Life Coaching
  • Personal Growth Web
  • The Motivational Speaker
  • Tsoof Baras – percussionist, composer and producer

Primary Sidebar

Your Cart

Speaker Bookings

Ronit Baras
Book Ronit as a Speaker for Your event »

Ready to be happy?

Happy woman holding a cup in the snow
Be empowered and set your spirit free!

Engage Ronit as Your Life Coach »

Give to Receive

Kiva - loans that change lives

Contact Us · Subscribe · Terms of Use / Privacy Statement · Affiliate Program · Sitemap

Copyright © 2019 Be Happy in LIFE · Built and powered by Get Business Online

  • Home
  • Series
  • About Ronit Baras
  • Books by Ronit Baras
    • Motivating Kids
    • Be Special, Be Yourself for Teenagers
    • In the Outback with Jasmine Banks
    • Reflections
    • * Your Cart
    • * Secure Checkout
  • Contact
    • Join Us

Share This Page

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)