When you decided to drive and create a cross-country road trip around your long-distance move, you didn’t realize you may get bored. Listening to the radio, watching the same DVDs on an endless loop, and observing your family ignoring each other by focusing on their phones and other electronic devices gets old and doesn’t lead to bonding. Instead of continuing on this monotonous route, shake things up with our list of games to play on the road while long-distance moving.
Check Your License Plates
While you’re en route to your new home, you’ll be seeing many cars and trucks pass by. With that, you’ll be seeing many license plates, too. Keep a tally of the different states/provinces/countries you see as well as the variety of plates for each state and what designs, slogans, fruits and animals they display. You can also spell words from the letters listed on the plates or add, subtract, multiply and divide whatever numbers come up.
Story Time
Depending on your passengers’ likes and dislikes as well as ages and abilities, you can create a story together with one person starting with a word or phrase and following with the next person and so forth. There are no limits to how outrageous and crazy the story can be! Also, this is the time to share stories from childhood and ask your kids their favorite stories. On a more serious note, you can ask them how they feel about moving and what their questions and concerns are.
I Spy Game
Even if you’re an adult, this game can provide a respite from the usual car activities and long and winding road home. One person finds an object out their window, using its size, shape, color, or another identifying characteristic to describe it. Then the other passengers try to identify it. Whoever gets the right answer goes next. Who knows? You could even spy a FlatRate Moving truck during the game!
Alphabet Games
This very easy game works for all ages using the alphabet. The first person looks out the window for an “A” on signs and items in and around the road. Then the next person proceeds with “B” and so forth until you reach the end of the alphabet.
Another game to play is one where the first person starts at “A”, and then recites, for instance, “A my name is Anna, my husband’s name is Alan, we come from Alabama, and bring back apples.” The next person uses the letter “B” to recite a similar sequence and so forth. You can use any names, towns/states/countries, or items as long as it begins with the correct letter.
Counting Cars
Sounds a bit dull, but there’s more to this game than just simply counting cars that pass by. Make it more of a challenge by only counting green cars or trucks with a boat trailing behind them or other items you see on the road like certain fast-food restaurants or even animals out in a field you drive past. Bonus points if you see a FlatRate moving van on the way!