We all know that part of a motorhome holiday is the driving to and from the various destinations that we choose to visit. As adults, I think that we enjoy this driving and think of it as a part of our holiday. We enjoy not only the places that we choose to stay at on campsites but also the scenery and places that we see along the way.
If your children are anything like mine, they don’t really appreciate what they can see out of the windows on the way. I think that to most children views and scenery and pretty or dramatic places are of little interest.
I cannot complain about how well my children travel. They have been used to it since they were tiny babies. It was normal for us, as they entered the car when it was hitched up to the caravan (back then in the days before a motorhome), when they asked when we would be there the answer would often be tomorrow! The children just accepted that they were in the car, or more recently the motorhome, until our destination was reached. In all our years holidaying they have never complained.
They have the usual ways to keep themselves entertained, ipad, dvd player, colouring, reading etc but just sometimes it’s good to have a few things up your sleeve to pass the time in other ways.
I know some friends whose children have had enough in the car by the time they reach the end of the road! Hopefully this may help. Therefore here are just a few of the top road trip games:
This first game is a favourite with parents.
Who can be the quietest?
Sometimes you just need a bit of peace and quiet so this is one to pull out of the bag when you’re at the end of your tether. From the moment you give the signal everyone has to be as quiet as possible. The winner is the one who keeps quietest for the longest time.
You are not allowed to hum, cough loudly, try to distract others or tickle somebody.
Observation Games
Car Cricket
This game works well when the road is quite busy. It can also help children with their basic maths.
How to play:
Firstly the batsman starts their innings and scores runs based on the type of vehicles you spot coming in the other direction.
Car = 1 run
Lorry = 4 runs
Motorbike = 6 runs
Bus or van = out
When a batsman is out, the player next to them starts their innings. You can keep going for as long as you like. The winner is the batsman who has the highest score at the end of the game.
Guessing Games
Who am I? What am I?
This is a variation of the old game ’20 Questions’. A player chooses an object, an animal or a person and the others try to guess what it is. The player may only answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
Action Games
Waving
This game is good for little children. It’s fun to wave at people and even more fun to get a wave back. In short, the object of the game is to wave at cars and people as you travel and to count the number of waves you get back.
Noises
In this game, someone will say a noise and the player has to name an object or animal that makes that particular noise. See suggestions as shown below:
Click ding gurgle toot crash
Moo glug honk slurp rattle
Roar tweet slam neigh oink
Ooze plop clank tick creak
Name That Tune
This game can be played in various ways but the idea is that each player has to hum or beat out the rhythm of a song and the rest of the group have to guess what it is.
Silent Counting
This game works well when you have to calm everyone down. Ask someone to count out one minute silently in their head. (This can be done by repeating a phrase like 1 elephant, 2 elephant). Another person has a watch or timer to measure the exact minute. The player guessing will shout out ‘NOW’ when they think one minute has passed. In summary, the player who gets closest to one minute is the winner.
Imagination Games
The Neverending Sentence
This is a game where one player starts a story and they set the scene but never quite finish the sentence. As soon as they stop, another player has to pick up from where they left off.
For example:
Player 1: On the way to school I saw a….
Player 2: Giant Gorilla that escaped from the zoo, being chased by…
etc
As shown above this game can be as long as you like, depending on how well each story holds the participants interest.
When I went on holiday……
This is a memory and imagination game.
The first person chooses an object to take on holiday with them. For example, ‘when I went on holiday I packed my pyjamas’. The next player has to repeat that item and then add one of their own e.g. ‘when I went on my holiday I packed my pyjamas and a picnic blanket’.
The game continues until someone forgets an item. This game is a great test of memory.
