Summer days and the long school holidays are the perfect time to go on exciting car journeys full of discoveries. How can I shorten my time in the car? – Games are great for this. TV personality Cathy Schönberg and car rental and full-service leasing provider Avis have put together seven fun games that will make the time fly by for kids and adults alike.

Games for travelling with children

“If you want to travel with your children, it’s important to organise very short trips at first, gradually increasing the duration and getting them used to being in the car. Before any trip, it’s definitely worth thinking not only about water and snacks, but also about interesting activities,” advises Cathy Schönberg. “Our family often goes on road trips, the last one was to Tallinn, the capital of neighbouring Estonia. We covered the relatively long journey with the children playing games, talking and listening to music.”

Here are 7 fun, boredom-relieving and laughter-inducing games while driving.

1. Car colour game

Classic car games. If you want to compete more seriously, prepare in advance by drawing a table on a piece of paper with different colours at the top. Every time you see a car in one of the colours while you’re driving, make a note of it. The winner is the one who sees the most cars, and in different colours.

But you can play the game just as well without any preparation – agree on a colour (preferably something as interesting as possible and less common for cars, like yellow or green). The first one to spot a car in the chosen colour wins.

2. Alphabet games

These games are suitable for both car and other “waiting” situations. First, agree on the names you will use – animals, cities, people or food are great options. One participant counts out the alphabet, another says “stop” – now you have a letter to start with, which you take turns to name. The one who no longer knows any words with that letter becomes the next alphabet counter.

3. Unfortunately – fortunately

For a good laugh, this game is just the thing – be creative and come up with the most absurd statements possible. The first player comes up with a statement that starts with “unfortunately”, e.g. “unfortunately I didn’t bring any sweets”. The next player has to come up with a witty answer starting with “fortunately”, e.g. “fortunately I have an oven with me so we can make a cake”.

4. Which would you choose?

This game will both stimulate the imagination and allow travellers to get to know each other better. The first participant in the game thinks of two things, such as swimming and sunbathing, and asks the next participant: “Which would you choose, swimming or sunbathing?” Once the participant has answered, they have to think of the next pair and ask the next participant.

5. Don’t say that!

Games can not only entertain, but also train attention and concentration. To play “Don’t say it!”, agree at the start of the journey on five words that you are not allowed to say for a certain period of time, for example until the first stop. Whoever carelessly says one of the forbidden words gets a point. The one with the least points at the end of the game wins.

6. Guess the name!

Game rules: the first player thinks of a word and tells the others only the first and last letters of the word, e.g. the word starts with “t” and ends with “s”. The others have to guess what the word is. Once the word is guessed, the next player continues the game in the same way.

7. Riddles

A wonderful way to sharpen the mind and relieve boredom during longer journeys. You can easily find puzzles on the internet, but you can also make up your own. Whoever guessed the riddle, asks the next one. This way, a trip with children can turn into a real puzzle championship – and the champions definitely deserve a tasty prize at their destination.

“Not only games in the car, but also interesting stories and facts about your destination can help to dispel boredom. If the children are young, you can avoid the constant questions “When will we be there?” by using the song counting method. To give children a better idea of the length of the journey or a section of the journey, estimate it in ‘song counts’. For example, we have five more songs to go before the next stop,” advisesRobert Kovaļevskis, Head of Leasing at Avis.

About Avis

Avis is a full-service car rental and leasing company that has been operating in Latvia for more than 30 years. We are one of the largest players in the market and offer both short-term and long-term car rental, as well as various car leasing services. Choose the right rental car for your summer trip with the kids – and then all you have to do is play fun games in the car.