Car Games...

Car games are good for young children because driving in Australia can be a very tedious business, especially if you’re a passenger and you’re driving through “the bush”.

The distances between centres can be vast and driving can sometimes take a very long time.

This is especially true when you’re only six or seven or eight years old.

We’ve all experienced the “are we there yet” question, most of us have experienced it often…

Car games, while they don’t speed up the journey will sometimes make it a little more bearable for both parents and children alike.

Below I’ve outlined some of the car games we've played over the miles; some are suitable for very young children while some will give the older ones something to occupy their minds at least for a little while.

Take care while you drive, enjoy the scenery, make sure you stop every couple of hours to stretch your legs and, play some car games, they’ll help to pass the time.

The ABC Game.

Object is to complete the alphabet first.

As you see the letters on billboards & license plates you shout out your letter and point. Once a letter has been claimed other players cannot use the same letter. Make it harder by limiting to only license plates or billboard signs.

The Theme Song Game.

Just silly & fun.

One person hums the tune to a favorite TV show and the one who guesses does the next song.

Guess what I am.

One person states they are either a person, place or thing and the others then ask questions (are you blue, can you speak, do you bark, can you be eaten, etc) until they guess what the person is, then they are next.

Alphabet Signs.

One person chose the right side of the road and the other person had the left. The object of the game was to cite all of the letters of the alphabet, in order, from A to Z. You could only use a sign for one letter. The person on the right side sometimes has to sit sideways and read signs as they receded. The first person to Z wins.

Animals/Cities/Geography:

We also played a game where we took turns naming animals (for example). Each person would have to name another animal (no repeating) that started with the last letter of the last animal named. This car game could be played with cities (with older children) or geographical regions (older again). We even have an 'expert' version where all the geographical regions must start and end with an 'a'. (AsiA, Aegean SeA, AmericA, AtlantA, etc.)

The Cow Game

This is a car game called "The Cow Game". We are a family of four, so 2 of us take the right side of the road and 2 the left. You keep a count of all the cows you pass throughout the day. But every time you pass a cemetery on your side of the road, you lose all your points. The winner at the end of the day's drive gets a treat! (It used to be a nickel, but times have changed.)

The Animal Car Game.

We usually played on long car trips through the country, because animals are in more abundance there. Everyone in the car plays and looks for certain animals alongside the road. The animals looked for are ONLY the domesticated kind, because birds would be almost impossible and the game would be over too fast and would be too boring. As one person spots an animal, they say the sound the animal makes and gets a certain amount of points for that animal. ex: cow--moo!, horse-neigh, cat-meow.... etc.

The points are given on the difficulty of the animal that was spotted: cow-1 horse-1 dog-1 sheep-2 llama-3 cat-3 donkey-3 pig-4 (rarely seen, except on REALLY long trips) anything else spotted everyone must agree on the amount of points given. The game is usually played until a player gets to a certain amount. We usually played 10 points and that lasts about a half-hour in the countryside... have fun!

My father owns a grocery store.

One player begins the round by stating, "My father owns a grocery store, and in it he sells (something that begins with the letter A; e.g., apples)." The next player states, "My father owns a grocery store, and in it he sells apples and (something that begins with the letter B; e.g., bananas)." It goes around and around with each player having to recite the entire list and then adding a new entry for the next letter of the alphabet.

If someone misses an item or gets completely stumped, they're supposed to be "out." But I have to say, we'd give them clues to keep things moving along. It's not a game which one needs to win; everyone wins by participating and making the drive more fun. You can change this game to "My father owns a music store..." in which we'd have to name bands, song titles, album titles, or whatever or anything else you can think of.

I Spy with my Little Eye.

The first person picks out an object which everyone can see. They then give the others a clue by saying, "I spy with my little eye something beginning with ‘A’, ‘B’ etc.. The other players ask questions about what you see and you only answer with "yes" or "no". The first player who guesses right becomes the new spy.

What did I bring on my trip?

Start this game out by saying, "I'm going on a trip and I'm bringing...”. The first player should name an item that starts with the letter "A". When that item is guessed the next player will say the same thing but with the letter "B", and so on. To make this more difficult, as each letter is guessed the “guesser” must list all of the previous items on the list.

Whatever games you play on your journeys around Australia have fun and most of all……..take care.

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