Years ago I purchased a travel Bingo card set, and we practically wore it out. Now that my kids are in their teens, we play word games. Our favorite is Ghost. This week's picks focus on car travel games for the younger set. Are we there yet?
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"Keep the games light," recommends Ann Zeise. "It isn't winning that matters here, it is laughing in order to make a long drive pass by quickly." There are dozens of excellent games here. Some require a bit of preparation (such as printing out the License Plate Check List,) so be sure to look her list over before you go.
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Woo hoo! A print-it-yourself activity book for turning miles into smiles. Paid members get a single PDF for easy printing. Non-members can print each HTML one page at a time. Although the book cover is geared toward early elementary kids ("On this trip, we are going to ___________"), other pages (such as the word searches and state searches) will also work for older kids.
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The printable road games at Family Education include several oldies but goodies, such as Hangman, Tic Tac Toe, and a version of Dots called Gridlock. My favorite is the printable U.S. map, which can be used to check off license plates as you view them. The states are labeled with two-letter postal abbreviations, so the kids will learn these as they play.
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Laurel Smith, a high-school teacher turned stay-at-home-mom, has created an entire site dedicated to traveling with kids. Best travel game clicks are Car Bingo Cards and Travel Scavenger Hunt. Her printable bingo cards come in two flavors: Roadside and Vehicle. The colorful Roadside cards include items such as stop signs, churches, and horses. The Vehicle game is black-and-white and features semis, VW bugs, dump trucks, and motorcycles. Travel Scavenger is lists of items you might find in cities, suburbs, and countryside, with a special list just for toddlers.
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Everyone loves Sesame Street, and I was thrilled to find these travel games. Click on by and you'll be rewarded with four printable Car Bingo Cards, seven car games, and a craft activity. My favorites are the three games listed in Muppet Car Games. "Bert's Collection: Pick a category, like animals or red things, and see how many objects in that category your can spot out the window."
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By Barbara J. Feldman. Originally written on Jul 27, 2005. Last Modified on Jan 07, 2008.
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Buy Travel Games Printable for $2.00 or try a FREE trial of the Printables Club
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Honorable Mentions
The following links are either new discoveries or sites that didn't make it into my newspaper column because of space constraints. Enjoy!
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