There Was a Farmer Had a Dog…

Bet ya didn’t think you could play bingo in the car. Well, think again! All ya need are some sheets of paper, pens and some coins. Fill out the sheets of paper like bingo cards, but use common roadside items instead of numbers. (For a challenge, try making stuff like “gas station” more specific by adding a particular name.) Then when ya pass by something that’s on your card, cover it with a coin (or, even easier, cross it off). First player with five in a row wins.

Brain Buster

This one will definitely keep your brain occupied. It’s called “Common Thread,” and the goal is to find how items are linked – by size, where they’re found, the first letter of their names, etc. One person starts by saying, “I’m going to the moon, and I’m taking [fill in your item].” Then the next player asks, “Can I bring [whatever item they think shares a characteristic with the original one]?” The first person then says either “Yes, you can” or “No, you can’t,” depending on whether the items share the characteristic that they had in mind. The catch is that even if the items share the intended characteristic, players have to continue taking turns and guessing more items until someone pinpoints what exactly the commonality is.

Licensed to Laugh

Of course you always keep an eye out for vanity plates because it’s fun to guess what the owner of the car was trying to say. But have you ever thought that maybe every license plate says something? In this game, the goal is to come up with the funniest phrase based on the letters on license plates. Taking turns, each player picks a license plate, and looking only at the letters on it, they have to come up with words that start with each letter and that make the most hilarious phrase possible. For example, CP35L3D could turn into “Crazy Penguins Love Disco.”

Radio Roulette

Dad wants a country station, Mom hearts ‘80s rock, you’re searchin’ for a pop channel and your big bro is dying to hear some heavy metal. So what do you do? Make the radio a game instead of a fight by playing some rounds of “Name That Tune.” Press the “seek” button, and then when someone recognizes a song and yells out the name, press the button again to stay on that channel. Just listen to the rest of that song, no matter how much is left, and afterwards press “seek” to start the process over. Set a time limit for the game, and whoever names the most songs by the end of that time is the winner.

Geography Challenge

Pick a geography theme – countries, states, capitals or even lakes if you’re feelin’ adventurous. Then, the first player says the name of a place that falls under that category. The next person has to come up with another place that starts with the last letter of the first one, and the game continues with each person picking a new place that starts with the last letter of the previous one. Winner is the person who never runs out of places to name within your theme.

by Carrie Ruppert | 2/1/2016