Easy Car Games
Quit texting, facebooking, and surfing the net in the car. Put away those video games and tablets!
The world is rolling by, in all its glory.
And the beautiful scenery around the country can take your breath away, no matter how many times you see it. You might even stumble upon the home of a famous racehorse like Seabiscuit, like we did!
So, kids of all ages, why not have some fun with it?
It’s time for some good old-fashioned car games!
“I Spy”
What could be better than “I Spy”? The faster the car is moving, the higher the skill level!
As an indoor game you start off with “I spy with my little eye” — but who has time to spit that out in a moving car, when the object will be quickly gone from view?
This guessing game was based on an 18th century British game called Hy Spy–a twist on Hide and Seek.
The “History and antiquities of the town and county of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1789” stated: I spye is the usual exclamation at a childish game called, ‘Hie, spy, hie.’
So hie, spy or I spy…it’s all easy.
One player is the spy. The spy sees something out the window (or in the car, during long stretches) and says, “I spy something….” and gives an adjective. The others try to guess.
You’d better make it easy if the object will be behind you in a few seconds.
That’s it. Either the eventual winner becomes the next spy–or if you have little kids playing, you’d better give them a turn, or they’ll mope.
“Alphabet and Numbers”
You can play this with road signs, bumper stickers, license plates, anything.
Just start with “one” and “A.” Go in order.
It’s up to you if you feel like starting over with “one” after hitting “nine”– or whether you want to venture into the teens and beyond.
“Q” and “Z” are usually pretty hard — unless you’re in Quartzsite, Arizona, that is!
“License Plates”
Work it however you want. Identify states, specialty plates, vanity plates, numbers, you name it.
Make up funny names using the letters!
It’s a great adding game, too.
Hey, old timers….remember getting brand new license plates every year? Instead of those little sticky tabs?
“Counting”
Yup, that’s all there is to it. Come up with something to count, and a goal.
“Count twenty sheep.” “Count forty alpacas.” “Count five barns.”
Cows are always fun to count! Sometimes they seem just as interested in you.
You can keep counting once you reach your campground! It’s a fun thing for kids to do while their parents get set up at their site.
We counted ducks at Lake Havasu State Park! They had lots of buddies with them.
Car Songs –
This requires taking off headphones and coordinating with others. But well worth it!
“Ninety-nine bottles” – in case you don’t know it (or somehow forgot), here it is in the video below.
You just start at ninety-nine bottles and count backwards.
This group had worked their way down to the teens! That’s some commitment:
Or how about this rousing number in the video below! “The Ants Go Marching” — lyrics are below the video.
The Ants Go Marching – lyrics –
The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching one by one
The little one stops to suck his thumb
And they all go marching,
All around, down to the ground
Through the drain to get out of the rain
The ants go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching two by two
The little one stops to tie his shoe
And they all go marching
All around, down to the ground
Through the drain to get out of the rain
The ants go marching three by three, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching three by three, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching three by three
The little one stops to climb a tree
And they all go marching
All around, down to the ground
Through the drain to get out of the rain
The ants go marching four by four, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching four by four, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching four by four
The little one stops to shut the door
And they all go marching
All around, down to the ground
Through the drain to get out of the rain
The ants go marching five by five, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching five by five, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching five by five
The little one stops to take a dive
And they all go marching
All around, down to the ground
Through the drain to get out of the rain
The ants go marching six by six, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching six by six, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching six by six
The little one stops to pick up sticks
And they all go marching
All around, down to the ground
Through the drain to get out of the rain
The ants go marching seven by seven, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching seven by seven, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching seven by seven
The little one stops to pray to heaven
And they all go marching
All around, down to the ground
Through the drain to get out of the rain
The ants go marching eight by eight, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching eight by eight, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching eight by eight
The little one stops to shut the gate
And they all go marching
All around, down to the ground
Through the drain to get out of the rain
The ants go marching nine by nine, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching nine by nine, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching nine by nine
The little one stops to get out the line
And they all go marching
All around, down to the ground
Through the drain to get out of the rain
The ants go marching ten by ten, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching ten by ten, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching ten by ten
The little one stops to say, THE END!!
So keep on rolling along, and have some old fashioned fun!
Feature image by Quintin Gellar
I’m Melissa Genson CPA/CIA, investigative journalist and publisher of Quartzsite Star. I’m a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Internal Auditor, and I specialize in fraud and money laundering investigations. My husband Steve and I are also full-time RV nomads since 2018, traveling the U.S. with our little dog Oliver. Ride along with us!
