Car Games For Road Trips: 25+ No-Prep Screen-Free Activities

Are you ready to REALLY enjoy a family road trip without listing to kids whining about being bored? Well, with these car games for road trips, you can! Try these must-play road trip car games to keep the kids entertained so the entire family can enjoy hitting the road.

It’s part of the American dream, right? Hitting the road on a family road trip is all about the adventure and making memories together.

Whether the entire family piles into an RV or the car, you get to enjoy the excitement of seeing different parts of the country together up close and personal.

These are the kinds of trips that kids talk about for years.

But one major downside for parents on those trips can be bored kids.

Use Car Games For Road Trips To Avoid Boredom

Have you ever tried getting out on the road hoping for all those laughs and warm fuzzy feelings that it seems like families have on road trips – only to be deeply disappointed when the kids get bored after 15 minutes?

Because once that happens you’ll be subjected to a constant stream of questions and whining. “When will we get there? Are we there yet? I’m hungry! I’m bored!” etc

Once that happens, no fun will be had by anyone in that car!

But I’ve discovered a way to prevent that!

We have taken several long road trips now, so we have some experience in keeping kids happy, and entertained, and building those happy memories.

It’s all about playing car games for road trips. 😁

The right road trip car games are the key to keeping everyone smiling and laughing as the miles whiz by! What kind of games? Well, good ol’ fashioned games that don’t require a screen, of course!

Are you ready?

Best Road Trip Games For The Entire Family

Whether you’re hitting the road to go see grandma or just out exploring the country, prepare yourself with this list of car games for road trips. Then, when anyone gets bored, you have some games “up your sleeve.”

Need other activity ideas so the kids can keep themselves entertained and you can enjoy the open road? Don’t forget to grab this Road Trip Activity Set for more ideas!

1. Twenty Questions

This was one of the main games we played when I was a kid, and we played it A LOT because my parents LOVED road trips!

My husband and I play it with our kids – it gives the kids a GREAT outlet for asking a bazillion questions at the appropriate time!

How To Play This Road Trip Car Game:

One person is “it” and thinks of a noun. Then other players take turns asking yes-or-no questions. The questions aren’t random – they should target the information needed to guess what the item is that the chosen person is thinking of.

Twenty Questions Car Games For Road Trips Tips:

• After a player asks a question and receives an answer, they have an opportunity to take a guess at what the mystery item is. Get it right? They win! Guess wrong? It’s the next player’s turn.
• If no one has guessed the mystery item after 10 questions, the “it” person can give the guessers a clue about the item (optional). We didn’t do this at first, but then we got tired of the kids picking totally obscure items that no one could guess!
• If no one guesses the mystery item after 20 questions, they lose.

2. The License Plate Game

Here’s an old reliable road trip game! I definitely played this when I was a kid on road trips with my family. 

Note: most of the time your kids probably won’t find all the states. However, if you hit a popular national park like Yosemite or The Grand Canyon, you can probably find all the states plus some cool bonuses (think: Canadian provinces, Mexico, or Native American Nations)!

How To Play This Road Trip Car Game

Have the kids mark down all the different states from which they see license plates on your travels.

They can just write a list (and then practice alphabetizing them) or grab my Road Trip Activity Packet and color in each state they spot a license plate for on the map.

3. Would You Rather?

My son is the king of this game. He loves to play it even when we aren’t on a road trip, so it’s a perfect fit for our annual 13-hour road trip drives!

The questions become pretty outlandish, so you’re pretty much guaranteed a few laughs with this game!

How To Play This Road Trip Car Game

Each person takes a turn asking far-fetched questions with two different options to the family. Examples might include, “would you rather be able to fly or be able to swim without needing to come up for air?” or “would you rather bike for 50 miles or run 20 miles?”

4. Name That Tune

Pull this one out for music lovers! I love games that can be adapted for different ages and played in different ways so that it never gets boring – and this game fits the bill.

How To Play This Road Trip car Game

Players take turns singing song lyrics or humming a tune. The other players try to guess the name of the song. Another option is to guess the singer. If anyone guesses both the song and singer, they get bonus points!

Adapting this game for kids of different ages is simple. When you play with younger kids, use familiar kid songs. When playing with older kids, go for popular radio songs.

5. Alphabet Memory Game 

Here’s a way to practice those letter skills – with an added bonus. This A-Z alphabet game challenges players’ memories in addition to their alphabet skills!

How To Play This Road Trip Car Game

Decide who plays in what order then follow this method. The first player starts with “A is for…” and completes the statement. The second player repeats the process with the next letter, saying “B is for” but must repeat what the player says for “A” first. So they should say, “A is for…B is for…”

Repeat this same process through the complete alphabet. It will get harder as you get further through the alphabet! If anyone gets all of the items for all the letters right by the time you get to “Z,” they win!

NOTE: When playing with young kids, keep in mind that both their alphabet skills and memory skills may not be up to the task of doing the entire alphabet.

A good way to play with younger kids is to choose a letter to stop. Depending on how old your kids are, they may be able to do 4 or 5 letters, or they may be able to get to “L” or “M”.

6. The Alphabet Race

How about turning sibling rivalry into a friendly competition with a positive purpose? Grab a piece of paper and work on letter and spelling skills.

How To Play This Road Trip Car Game

One person looks at the left side of the road while someone else looks at the right side of the road. Each player looks at trucks, signs, license plates, anything to find the letters of the alphabet.

Whoever finds every letter of the alphabet is the winner! There’s just one small catch: the letters have to be found in alphabetical order.

7. Story Telling

Here’s a game to boost creativity! You can do this activity in a couple of different ways, which reduces the fatigue factor and makes the time pass faster.

How To Play This Road Trip Car Game

Choose a storyteller. The chosen storyteller comes up with a story on the spot. The type of story doesn’t matter – it can be any completely fictional story.

This activity can be highly entertaining and even funny – and it works on building storytelling skills at the same time. Help your kids build good storytelling skills by asking for any missing elements you would expect in a good story: beginning, problem, how to solve the problem/climax, and resolution.

This activity will likely be short and sweet with younger kids, while older children will be more likely to weave creative tales that will hold your attention.

Grab my Road Trip Activity Packet and continue the fun as you travel miles down the road without one single complaint!

8. Mad Libs-Style Story Telling

If you’ve been through a few rounds of storytelling and want to change things up, add a twist by turning the stories into Mad Libs stories.

How To Play This Road Trip Car Game

Instead of having one person tell a story from beginning to end, this will be more round-robin style.

One person begins the story by saying “Once upon a time…” and introduces the main character. Each person takes a turn adding the next sentence of the story.

Keep going through the family until the story naturally comes to an end. If you have a family member who can drag things out until it’s just not enjoyable anymore, create an ending point. This might be a set number of sentences each person can add or a time limit.

9. Road Trip Bingo

I’ve never been around kids playing Bingo who were bored! Doubt me? Just download and watch kids playing my:

• Halloween Bingo
• Christmas Bingo
• Valentine’s Day Bingo

There’s no doubt bout it – Bingo is tons of fun and will keep kids occupied for quite a while as you head down the road. But to play it, you’ll need these free Bingo boards, which are part of my comprehensive Road Trip Activity Packet.

How To Play This Road Trip Car Game

Give a Bingo card to each player. Then every player watches for items on the card as you drive. As players spot items, they mark out the corresponding picture on the cards.

The first player to find all the items in a row wins! The row can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal wins!

Turn those whines into gales of laughter with this free car-friendly Road Trip Bingo game!

10. Cloud Shapes

I love this game for kids who get motion sickness because they won’t get sick when looking at the clouds. It’s also GREAT for encouraging kids to use their imaginations as they try to find common shapes in clouds. Prepare yourself for lots of laughs as everyone tries to see the same shapes!

How To Play This Road Trip Car Game

Each player looks at the clouds in the sky from their own window, trying to find and identify everyday shapes like objects or animals.

Once a player finds a shape, point it out to the other players and give them a chance to see if they can identify the same object that you see in the clouds.

11. I Spy Car Games For Road Trips

This is one of those games that works well with kids of a variety of ages. If your family has a mix of kids that can and can’t read, try playing I Spy!

How To Play This Road Trip Car Game

With older kids, you can spot things inside and outside the car. However, with younger kids, you may want to choose items that are inside the car and easier for kids in car seats to see.

Choose an “it” person who spots the item. That person picks an item and says “I spy with my little eye…” and fills in the end of the sentence. Examples could be “I spy with my little eye something blue” or “I spy with my little eye something small and gray.”

12. What Color Is It?

Car games for road trips don’t get simpler than this! Let an adult list a series of things that are the same color until the kids can guess what the color is. The first kiddo to guess correctly wins that round!

For example, you might say “grass, leaves, moss, Jake’s room” and the kids guess “Green!”

13. Basic ABC Categories

Here’s a great game that can break up other games. We also tend to play it when waiting in lines!

How To Play This Road Trip Car Game

This car game for road trips starts by choosing a category (desserts, animals, famous people). Then you go through the family with each family member naming something in that category that starts with the next letter in order.

Keep going until you reach the end of the alphabet or someone gets stumped.

For the category “desserts:”

Apple pie
Blueberry cobbler
Créme brulé
Dark chocolate silk pie

Turn those whines into gales of laughter with this free car-friendly Road Trip Bingo game!

14. Category ABCs (First Last Version)

Here’s a variation we like to play on Category ABCs to change things up.

How To Play This Road Trip Car Game

As with the “normal” version, someone chooses a category. In this version, there’s no need to go in alphabetical order. Instead, they can start with any letter they want.

Strategy comes into play when the next person has their turn because they name something in the same category. The catch? The item every subsequent item named must start with the last letter of the previous word.

For example, if the category is “games,” the first player might say “catch.” Then next person to go must name a game that begins with the last letter in “catch”, which would be “h.” In this example, the next player might choose to say “hide and seek.” And so on from there until someone gets stuck.

15. In My Suitcase

Here’s a fun memory car game for road trips that makes great memories as a family! It follows a similar A – Z process that the ABC Categories game does.

How To Play This Road Trip Car Game

The first person starts by saying, “I’m going on a vacation, and I packed…” Then they finish the sentence with an item that starts with the letter “A.”

The next person takes their turn and first repeats what the previous player is bringing. They then add an item that starts with the letter “B.”

Follow the format as you work your way from A to Z. The round is over once someone forgets an item!

Example:

“I’m going on vacation, and I packed an avocado.”
“I’m going on vacation, and I packed an avocado and a ball.”
“I’m going on vacation, and I packed an avocado, a ball, and a cracker.”

16. Car Trip Scavenger Hunt

Grab my Road Trip Activity Packet and use the printable scavenger hunt card included inside!

17. Name The Most

Ok, this car game for road trips is a bit like ABC Categories. But this road trip car game is for the competitive family (although you can play it like ABC Categories for a less competitive version)!

How To Play This Road Trip Car Game

Someone names a category. The other players bet on how many items in the category they can name. Once a player thinks they can’t do better than the other, they issue a challenge to “Name them!”

The opponent now has their turn. I suggest setting a time limit of no more than 10 seconds, but that’s optional. If the second player is successful, they receive 1 point for each response they gave. If they fail to reach their goal, nobody receives any points!

Here are a few great places to start:

• US Presidents
• European countries
• All the books in a book series
• Characters from a certain movie or show (like Star Wars or Disney)
• Names of constellations

Grab my Road Trip Activity Packet and continue the fun as you travel miles down the road without one single complaint!

18. What am I Counting?

I’ve only played this guessing game a couple of times, but it’s quickly becoming a family favorite!

How To Play This Road Trip Car Game

One person starts verbally counting something as they spot it. The catch is that they don’t tell anyone what they are counting.

The other players guess what the first person is counting, but there’s a strategy to it. Are they counting signs that whiz by on the highway? Is the counting quick or spread out?

19. 20 Math Questions

Here’s a numbers-based 20 Questions car game for road trips.

How To Play This Road Trip Car Game

Let an adult think of a number between 1 and 100. Then the kids ask yes-or-no questions that are math-related.

Examples could include “Is your number even? Is it greater than 25?” and so on. The goal is to have the answers to the questions help you figure out the number.

It’s ok to keep track with pen and paper – but calculators are against the rules!

20. Six Degrees – Movie Edition

It’s the idea of Six Degrees of Separation – that everything is connected with six degrees of each other. Warning: this game can go on for a while!

How To Play This Road Trip Car Game

Have one player name an actor/actress. The next player names a movie that the actor appeared in. Then the fun begins… the next person names someone else in the same movie that hasn’t already been named.

And the players continue to follow the process as they go back and forth until someone can’t answer.

Example:

Julia Roberts –> Wonder –> Owen Wilson –> Night At The Museum –> Ben Stiller…etc.

21. Sing-Along String-Along

Here’s a fun road trip car game for music lovers (that’s us!)!

How To Play This Road Trip Car Game

To begin, one person SINGS a line of a song (just ONE line), then the next person picks up where the first left off and connects that song with a lyric from another song using the final word from the line before.

Play stops when someone messes up or gets stuck.

Example:

“Show me how big your brave is…”
“Is there life out there…”
“There once was a ship that put to sea…”

22. (Un)fortunate Storytelling

Get ready for some laughs as you enjoy a new original wacky story!

How To Play This Road Trip Car Game

One person begins by telling a simple opening sentence. The next person continues the story by saying something fortunate that happened, “Fortunately…”

Then Person 3 jumps in to add an unfortunate event to the situation. Continue person-to-person, adding alternating fortunate and unfortunate situations.

Example:

I learned how to wakeboard!
Fortunately, we had a fast boat.
Unfortunately, the boat started going too fast.
Fortunately, the boat pulled me out of the water easily so I could wakeboard.
Unfortunately, it was going so fast that I started flying through the air instead of riding on top of the water.
Fortunately….

23. Miles of Smiles

Inspired by a road trip games book with the same name, Miles of Smiles, this game is easy breezy to play.

How To Play This Road Trip Car Game

Everyone in the car smiles his or her biggest grin at passing drivers. Waving is ok, but silly faces are not.

Keep count of how many people smile back – maybe make a goal of getting to 20 people before the game ends or something similar.

24. Get ‘Em To Honk

This game is similar to Miles of Smiles, but you’re trying to get drivers of 18-wheelers to sound their horns.

How To Play This Road Trip Car Game

When you pass an 18-wheeler, get in the window of your car and hold up your hand like you’re pulling down a handle from the roof. Pull it down a couple of times and see if the driver pulls down their horn to sound it off!

25. A-Z License Plate Game

The license plate game is always a fun one, but you can try some variations to KEEP it fun.

Try working as a team or as teams opposing one another to search for the letters A-Z in order on license plates. Once you find that, then try finding numbers 0-9 in order. 

Turn those whines into gales of laughter with this free car-friendly Road Trip Bingo game!

26. Sudoku

This idea is online because, let’s face it, Mama needs a break from time to time (and at least it’s an educational, thinking game)! Sudoku is a logic-based number puzzle game that typically consists of a 9×9 grid divided into nine 3×3 sub-grids.

While often that seems like a math problem, Sudoku is actually an entertaining puzzle. The objective of the game is to fill in the grid with numbers from 1 to 9, ensuring that each row, column, and sub-grid contains all the numbers from 1 to 9 without any repetitions.

The game typically starts with some numbers already filled in as clues, and the player must use logical deduction to fill in the remaining numbers. Sudoku is a popular game that can be played on paper or online, and it is known for its ability to exercise the mind and improve logical thinking skills.

How To Get The Most Out Of Car Games For Road Trips

My husband and I like taking road trips, and we’ve taken several with our kids. Through the school of hard knocks, we’ve learned a few helpful tips:

• Have lots of car games for road trips ready to go. The last thing you want to do is try to come up with an idea when the kids are squabbling with each other.
• Plan for each game to take about 30 minutes. We tend to get tired of any game after that long.
• We find it helpful to alternate between playing an individual road tip car game, a family car game, and take a break for a podcast or a quick snack.

More Screen-Free Road Trip Games And Fun

Phones and video games are a huge draw for kids. -and will keep them quiet. But if you’re seeking activities that will keep them QUIET AND OFF DEVICES, try these ideas!

• The 28 Best Podcasts For Kids That Parents Will Love Too
• 17 Laugh-Out-Loud Mom Podcast Options That Every Mom Needs
• 20 Best Family Games To Play On A Road Trip

I hope this list of ideas for fun car game for road trips helps your family enjoy hitting the road on an adventure! The key to success with family road trips is to bring along some variety. My Road Trip Activity Packet is an EASY way to help you get ready.

Happy Travels!

Grab my Road Trip Activity Packet and continue the fun as you travel miles down the road without one single complaint!