Classic Games to Play in the Car

Traveling with kids is a hard task. From the constant question,” Are We There Yet?” to the statement, “I’m Bored.” As parents we try to make the car rides go as smoothly as possible. Therefore, we pack snacks, and grab the electronic devices to help keep our children occupied. But what do you do when the snacks run out and the electronics batteries are completely dead? Bring back the classics! That’s right, the games we used to play in the car when we were children.

From short trips to long travels these games are great for every car ride. They are also great for children and adults. There are several versions of each game. I will share with you the way my family has played. Hopefully it will be a trip down memory lane for you as well.

Slug Bug is a classic that I hope will never die. The way the game is played is when you see a Volkswagen Beetle you yell “Slug Bug” and the color of the vehicle, “Slug Bug Yellow.” We played that you slug the person sitting beside you as you yelled the phrase. Of coarse they were love taps and only slugging on the arm or leg. The driver could never play because it’s never safe to slug the driver. We kept this game friendly and I hope you will do the same.

Piditel is played at night. Every time you spot a car with a headlight burnt out, you tap the ceiling of the car and yell “Piditel.” The first player to tap the ceiling, yelling “Piditel” gets one point. If you spot a tractor trailer with a headlight burnt out then you get five points. The first player who gets 10 points wins the game.

Woody is spotting a car that has wood paneling on the sides of the car. This game may actually be slightly harder to play today because there are very few of these vehicles left. But somewhere someone still is driving a woody. Be on the lookout because they still exist.

A fun license plate game is where you look for custom license plates. Once you have spotted one, everyone in the car tries to figure out what the license plate means.

Another fun license plate game to play while in the car consists of writing down all the different states from license plates that you spot. If you’re going on a long car ride, see who can spot the most states from all 50.

20 questions is a fun car game. One person will think of something and the other players get 20 questions to try to guess what it is you’re thinking about.

My family used to play these games in the car everyday and especially on long car rides. I must admit that I still play them to this day. I can’t wait until my children are old enough so that I can share these games with them. I would rather encourage family interaction than my children staring at a computer screen any day. I hope your family enjoys these games as much as we do!