If you're traveling with kids it's safe to say that you're going to hear "are we there yet" a few times, but you can minimize the boredom during the car ride with these fun games!
Family Road Trips: how to Keep the Kids Entertained

Road trips, who doesn't love them? Oh yeah, kids! If you and the family are planning to take a long road trip to grandma's house for the holiday season, it's important to remember to plan activities for the kids to do while in the car. If you forget to do so you'll likely hear, "Are we there yet? How much longer?" the whole way, and that is not only irritating, but is a big distraction to the driver.

When you're packing the car you've likely already double and triple checked that you have the following:

  • Luggage
  • Snacks and Drinks
  • Emergency Car Kit
  • Map/GPS

Take a second to gather various games that the kids can do and play while you're on the road. If your children are easily bored and you don't know what to grab to keep them happy for several hours, Auto Credit Express can help you. We've compiled a list of car-friendly games for kids who are still in a booster seat up to those cell-phone crazed teenagers that won't cause you any headache.

Go for a Treasure Hunt

What little kid doesn't love the thought of acting as a pirate and looking for buried treasure? This is a game you make at home without even going to the store. All you need is an empty 2-liter plastic bottle, preferably clear. Fill the bottle just over half way with either rice, sand, or bird seed. As you're pouring that in, start adding little household treasures, like:

  • Paper-clips
  • Marbles
  • Buttons
  • Little action figures
  • Bottle caps

As you are burying the treasure be sure to keep track of how many items you put into the bottle. Seal the cap on really tight, and give it to your kids. You can either make one for each child and when they finish you can reward them with their favorite candy or let each one pick the music for an hour. If you choose to let the kids share one, when one child finishes, they get a special treat and then they have to pass the game to the next child.

The Map! The Map!

Maps don't have to be just for finding your way when you're lost. Give each child a map and let them draw on it and help find the way to grandmas. For each landmark you pass or town you stop in, have them write something down or place stickers by it to help them remember the trip. While doing this, kids also learn map-reading skills and get a small geography lesson. This is a game your kids will love because they will feel as though they are an essential part to getting to your destination on time, and you get to mix learning with playing!

The License Plate Game

This is a game that we are all familiar with. This game has been played for decades, and not just by kids either. This is a fun game that both you and the kids can join in on and have fun playing. There are different ways you can play the game; for instance, before you leave home, you can make a list of all the states and provinces and each time you see a plate from one you can cross it off your list. You can also have each family member pick a number of how many different state license plates they believe they are going to see while driving. One family member should keep all of these guesses written down, and mark down each plate you see that is different. The person that guessed the closest number gets a special prize like picking out the next DVD or music for the hour.

Traditional Games

Don't worry! We didn't forget the old favorites like Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, and Clue. Many of these games now come magnetized so the pieces don't get lost in the car. Cool, right? Where were these things when we were kids and on road trips with the family? If your children love a good old-fashioned board game these are great things to have in the car for them if they can easily and safely play together.

Another oldie but goodie is the dry erase board. Most kids love to create cool pictures from their memory, but coloring books with a box of crayons can be a hassle in the car and make a big mess. Give each kid a few markers, an eraser, and a board and they can continuously create new pictures without a million pieces of paper being tossed all over the seats. If they can't think of anything to draw, have them copy some of the scenery you're passing, or have them envision what your destination is going to look like, and see who was the closest with their drawing when you get there.

Can't Go Wrong with Movies and Music

Get your children excited about their long trip by allowing them to pick out a few of their favorite movies and CDs. If you have a DVD player in your vehicle then make sure it's a movie every one of your kids like, or you can get portable DVD players and each kid can watch their own favorite movie. This should keep your kiddos quiet for about an hour or so. The down side to this? Most toddlers aren't going to be easily entertained with a movie for a long period of time, which is where the other games come in handy.

If you're traveling with teenagers it's safe to say they will be attached to their cell phones and IPods pretty much the whole time. Allow them to download a few extra songs that they've wanted to keep them occupied just a little longer. You could be thanking yourself when you arrive at your parent's house without as much as a peep from your riders.

Alphabet Billboards

You are going to pass thousands of billboards and road signs while on your trip, so you might as well put them to good use right? This is a game that your whole family can play together and it's bound to take some time. Starting with A – unless you want to make it more challenging and start with Z – you need to find a sign that has each letter of the alphabet in order, and you can only get one letter on each sign. For example, if you see a sign that says, "Get a Big Mac from McDonald's" you can call out "I see an A on that sign," and no one else can use that sign for the B in Big Mac. To make the game more interesting you can play boys against girls or kids against adults. Award prizes for the winners.

As We See It

Road trips can be some of the best memories you share with your family, or they can be some of the most stressful times, it all depends on how you handle the situation. The more activities you have for your kids, the more they will enjoy the experience and they will continue to be troopers through the drive. You can use these different ideas to help make your drive through the mountains, desert or city more peaceful for everyone.

If your family trip is planned for the next month or so, but you're worried your current car isn't going to make the trip, maybe it's time to start thinking about getting a new one. Auto Credit Express can help you find an affordable car loan from a nearby dealership that has the car of your dreams. Have bad credit or no credit? That's no problem!

We have been helping bad credit buyers get an auto loan approval for over twenty years. All you need to do is take three minutes to fill out our safe, secure, and easy car loan application, and you could be driving home in your new road trip worthy car in no time.