Tag Archives: travel games

Quick Travel Games for Rest Stops

When you are traveling by car, interstate rest stops are a great place to take a bit of break. I know it’s tempting to send everyone in for a quick trip to the bathroom and then herd them quickly back into the car. And there are times when we’ve done just that. But taking a ten minute break, or even five minutes, can help everyone’s mood. And don’t just stand around the car, the idea is to get everyone moving. The first activity is trash tossing. I learned this travel hint on a three day field trip. The teacher stood … Continue reading →

Car Travel Fun – the Distance Game and the Silent Game

Sometimes when you are road trips the best thing that could happen is for everyone to be quiet for just a little while. One way to do that is to pick out something in the distance, a building, a bridge, even a billboard. Everyone but the driver shuts their eyes. They players have to guess when they are right beside the building or bridge. If you know the route, you can play this by having everyone (except the driver of course) shut their eyes and guess when the turn to Grandma’s is, or how far it is to a certain … Continue reading →

String Figure Fun

Did you ever play with a piece of string and make a cup and saucer, or a broom, or Jacob’s Ladder? Using string to make shapes and figures is an old game. According to Cat’s Cradle by Anne Akers Johnson, people around the world have made string figures for ages including the Arctic Inuit who made reindeer and wolves out of string, and the Navajo made coyotes and owls. All you really need to play string games is a loop of string and two hands. A few string patterns need the loan a friend’s hand, but most don’t need any … Continue reading →

Keeping the Kids Busy in the Car and on the Plane

I’ve logged many air and road miles traveling with my children. My best idea for travel is for each child to bring along their own backpack or canvas bag. If they’re old enough, they even get to carry it. The smallish size of the backpack limits the number of animal friends that just have to come along. And it gives me a place to put activities and treats. The most important activity that goes in the backpack is the hard cover binder. The binder cover should be smooth because it also acts as surface for drawing. Inside the binder I … Continue reading →

Kids Frugal Entertainment: Travel Games For Anywhere

Many people travel during the holiday season. By car, by bus, by train, by plane. Regardless of how you go, you are stuck “inside” something until you reach your destination. I consider that a place to entertain children indoors. Oddly enough, we’ve carried these travel games to our kitchen table, to our living room on family night and even at bedtime we sometimes play a game. We aren’t traveling this holiday season, but many times even just for a trip to the mall or somewhere else in the car we play these games. The best part? They cost nothing, are … Continue reading →

Book Review: “Are We There Yet?”

What is it with kids? Why do they have to ask, “are we there yet?” before you even back out the driveway? Okay maybe I’m exaggerating just a bit but I swear as I have traveled back and forth from Mobile to New Orleans this past year Tyler seems to grow more and more impatient with the amount of time it takes to drive this short distance. Mind you we’re talking a two hour drive but to him it seems like an eternity. So I was pleased to find on my weekly trip to the thrift shop this little book, … Continue reading →

Fun Travel Games

Summer is synonymous with travel. But what do you do with your kids while you are traveling. Here are some fun travel games for kids of all ages. Trivia Trivia is not only fun but educational as well. Take along a trivia game or find some interesting facts on the Internet and print them off. Make sure that your questions are age appropriate. If your child never knows the answer the game will not be much fun. Let your children take turns asking and answering the questions. They will love it if they can stump you. The Alphabet Game There … Continue reading →

Games to Play in the Car part 4

If your kids do better with non-competitive games, especially when they are caught in close quarters on a long trip (He’s breathing on me!) here are a few for you to try. Free Association This is a fast, funny game that goes pretty much nowhere, but it’s amusing all the same, and the kids will play it until you beg them to stop. One person starts with a word or phrase. It could be an object, an emotion, anything at all. The next person says the very first thing that comes to his mind–no stalling, no thinking, no analyzing. Just … Continue reading →