With the holidays approaching many families, both homeschooling and non-homeschooling, will find themselves on the road traveling. Sometimes we may worry that this time spent in the car can result in taking days off from school, setting us back on our agendas, and/or massive boredom (probably our worst fear!). So how do we solve all these problems when we know that we have to travel? By playing travel games of course!
Our family often rides for 13 hours at a time when we go visit family. We have found several fun (and shhh! educational) games to play along the way. Not only are we having fun but we are learning as well.
- The traditional License Plate Game. Find and name as many state (and Canadian providences) as possible. The one with the most found when you arrive at your destination wins.
- A twist on the License Plate Game is to print off blank maps of the United States. Everyone gets a copy. As you find state plates everyone marks it on their map. When you get all 50 states or reach your destination whoever has the most states in the correct places on their map wins.
- The Billboard Alphabet Game. In this game you try to find the letters of the alphabet in order but never using a sign for more than one letter at a time. Either score with finding the most letters or just take turns with each letter and everyone wins!
- The Alphabet Object Game. This game is fun because you find objects that start with each letter of the alphabet (a=automobile, b=barn, c=cow, etc). The objects can be anything as long as they start with the appropriate letter. The game becomes even more interesting when you get to the lesser used letters.
- Have a Travel Scavenger Hunt. Before your trip create a list of things for your kids to collect at the various stops you make… a postcard, a receipt, a flower, a map, etc. Pair up in teams if you need to. The ones with the most objects collected at the end of the trip wins.
- The License Plate Spelling Game. What words can you make from the letters on a license plate? DG3 M4N could become “dog” or “man”. Have a rule that you can’t add extra consonants but you can add vowels if you need to. Who can spell the longest word? The silliest?
Traveling, especially during the holidays when there are so many people out on the roads can be time consuming, exhausting and let’s admit it, boring. But it doesn’t have to be. Using travel games can help the time go by quicker, provide hours of fun and teach at the same time.
What kinds of travel games have you played?
When Michelle isn’t planning travel games to put an end to the question “Are we there yet?” she can be found writing about her family at Pass The Flu Bug Please.
Photo courtesy of http://www.euro-sign.com/images/replica_state_license_plate.gif
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