What is the first word that pops into your mind when you hear the words “road trip?” Fun, memories, music, family, adventure? Or is it long, hot, annoying, fighting, uncomfortable? For most of us it is probably a little bit of both. Lets try to change that.
This being memorial day weekend I think of road trips because most of us are headed out to do something fun with our day off. But more significantly to me I think of my dad and the memories we shared together. He was a very very hard working and busy man. But when he was home he was 100% home and when he was with his kids he was 100% focused on them. I love that about my dad.
He took advantage of our car rides to spend quality time together. I even remember one time when he hung some kind of sheet up in a section of our van. He invited us into his “office” one by one as my mom drove. If I remember right he was creating a family game for us to play along the way. He asked all of us questions about our favorite this or that. Of course the basics were in there, like what is your favorite color, but he would also ask us our favorite scripture story or our favorite memory with mom. This brought more meaning to our game.
Here are a few other games we played with Dad in the car:
Guessing how many semi-trucks would pass us in the next 5 minutes.
We would all guess a number between (well I forget but it was in the 1000s) and then we would drive to Winco on our way out of town. We would each get a scoop out of the barrel of whatever number we chose. Sometimes we would get a scoop full of oats where other times we would get a scoop of salt water taffy. It was so thrilling! I would always try to memorize the number of the candy that I wanted but by the time the next road trip came around I had forgotten.
Get to know the prophets flash cards.
When we were off of the freeway we would guess if the next stop light we came to would be red or green. Dad would always let you guess first and then guess the opposite of what you said. It took me years to figure out how he always won when I was the one who guessed. If I guessed red he would speed up and hurry through the light while it was green. When I guessed green he would go really really slow and wait for the light to turn red. Tricky tricky.
Spell your name out of the letters on the road signs. If you want to make it more competitive you add the rule that you can only take one letter per sign.
Singing “There is a deer drinking all the beer in the corner master store” or other songs with rounds.
Siblings any other road trip games you can remember that we played?
More ideas:
The favorite game shared by Brittany
I am going on a road trip and I am taking with me a hat and an ipod. ( You know…then the next person has to say ” I am going on a road trip and I am taking with me a hat, and ipod, and toe nail clippers. “ You keep going in a circle and see who can remember everything in order the longest. You mess up and you are out!)
Loaded questions the board game
In high school we would sing to our music at the top of our lungs and try to entertain everyone else on the road by doing a puppet show(of sorts) in the back window or writing notes on a notepad and holding it up to the window to try to have a conversation with the car next to us.
Now I just love to talk about the philosophies of life with my husband.
A must for the future are those DVD players you can strap to the back of the driver seat head cushion.
Here are 27 more games to play with your kids in the car…
What games does your family play in the car?
If you are interested her is a road trip check list!
Happy Family Travels!
Sarah and Brittany have been friends since the beginning of college. They studied Recreational Therapy together at Brigham Young University. They have always had a few things in common: fun, family, friends and faith. Click on our names to learn more about 
Love these ideas! Your dad sounds like he was amazing at playing and at being an amazing dad!
Fun Memories and Ideas.
We have played a variety of games including the ABC game where you find the alphabet in order on signs.
We have taken little trinket gifts to open every few hours on long road trips.
We have made sandwiches and lunches in the car.
We have sang and watched movies. Recently on a road trip in the BIG van the DVD players didn’t give enough sound to be heard in the back seat so they strapped the player around a head of someone in the next to back seat. It was pretty funny.
Small cars and vans create better family bonding than Big vans.
Card games and travel games and family quizzes.
Love your FUN ideas. Sarah is one SUPER FUN Person!
I remember dad having us guess how many minutes it would take us to get home. We would all make a guess. If he was close, he would speed a little and if he had time to spare he would drive slow and stop at all the yellow lights. It was a pretty intense game. I’m sure he got a kick out it knowing that he was the one in control. Dad could make a game out of so many regular day to day things. He made up so many games that were so exciting to us, like rolling a ball towards the couch to see how close we could get without actually touching it. He even made road trips exciting. We would often get snacks before long road trips, or stop at a fast food place. Each person could only get two things at a fast food place. I remember it being pretty exciting as a little girl to see what everyone got, and always envious of the fries (Sarah loves fries) or hamburger that I wish I would have gotten. Another rule was that we could not eat until we got on the freeway.