It’s not too late for one last road trip before the cold months kick in. In fact, there are lots of places around the country that’ll continue to be fairly mild throughout the winter. So there are still opportunities to take your family to their favorite travel destination. And once you get there, we know you’re going to have lots of fun activities planned. But along the way, you’ll need to find more inventive ways to keep everyone entertained, since in your vehicle, you probably won’t have a lot of space to work with. That’s where fun road trip games come in handy.
Airstream of Montana has provided some of our favorites to help get things started, but if you want some game ideas from our staff, stop by our RV dealership in Missoula, Montana, near Bozeman and Kalispell.
I, Spy
We’ll start with a classic. I, Spy is an easy game to play in short bursts when people get sick of music, podcasts, and napping. The basic game is that one person “spies” something around them, preferably something that’s still going to be spottable for several minutes. Then that person says, “I spy, with my little eye, something…” and then gives a hint as to what they’re looking at. For example, if the person is looking at a red barn, they might say, “I spy, with my little eye, something red.” Then, everyone else has to guess what they’re spying. Remember to keep the age of you guessers in mind. Younger kids will need more obvious hints.
20 Questions
This is also a guessing game, but there’s no spying. One person thinks of something and the other travelers have 20 questions to guess what it is. They can only be yes or no questions and if they can’t do it, then they lose. However, if someone guesses the thing before the end of the game, then it’s their turn to think of something. As a helpful tip, it usually helps to narrow down the possibilities by starting with big questions, like if it’s a movie, animal, or person.
Slug Bug, Punch Buggy
Many families and friend groups like to play this game, even when they’re not road tripping. Traditionally, the game is played so every time you see a Volkswagen Beetle, you shout, “Slug Bug!” or “Punch Buggy!” and “slug” every other traveler. To keep things from getting out of hand, you’ll want to set some ground rules, such as “slugs” can only happen on the upper arm and must be gentle (especially with the driver).
The Alphabet Game
Depending on where you are, this game can kill a lot of time. You’ll be looking for every letter of the alphabet, in order, on road signs and other forms of media you pass. Sound easy? Wait until you hit letters like “Q” and “Z.” You can make it more difficult by creating restrictions, like only the first letter of every word counts or excluding easy passes, like license plates and vehicle decals.
The License Plate Game
This game is great to play over the course of the entire trip, particularly if it’s a long one. Keep track of all the different state license plates you see, either by writing them down in a list, or making lists ahead of time and checking off states as you see them. If you make it a competition, try checking out semi-truck plates, since truckers tend to travel long distances more often. Or do a sweep of the parking lots you stop by, especially the nationally popular stops, like state parks.
Hopefully this gets you started, but you’ll know what’s going to keep your RVing party entertained better than we will. Come let us know what some of your favorite road trip games are by stopping by Airstream of Montana. Or, come check out our available RVs if you’re still looking for the perfect camping vehicle. We proudly serve Missoula, Bozeman, and Kalispell, MT.
