So you're busy with your last-minute Thanksgiving preparations and you're packing up the car and you just have no time to run out and buy travel games to keep the family entertained during your holiday road trip this weekend? No problem! I've got some tips for you to play games together as you head towards your turkey destination, if you're keen of eye and brave of heart.

• The alphabet game: Outside of the car, find each letter of the alphabet, in order. You can decide whether or not license plates count. The person who racks up most hits wins. Good luck when you get to "Q"!
• License plate bingo: You don't really need to play bingo - you can just have whoever finds the most out-of-state license plates in 10 minutes be crowned winner.
• Chain reaction: Think of a category, like countries of the world, animals, brands of shoes, girls names, etc. The first person says something in the category: "Jane." The second person must respond with something in the category that starts with the last letter of the word: "Emliy." "Yolanda." "Abigail." "Lauren." "Naomi." "Inara." And so on! If you can't think of something, or you repeat a word, you're out. Last one standing wins.
• Twenty questions: This is a totally underrated guessing game and a great way to teach kids to whittle down their thinking processes and get to the heart of the matter before they lose their chances! Make sure to teach them the basics - "Animal, vegetable, or mineral?" "Bigger than a breadbox?" - and what they mean.
• Backwards spelling: Without using paper or pencil, are you able to spell "spaghetti" backwards? You sure about that? Ready to prove it to your kids? Now, make them spell "embarrassed" backwards.
• Tough questions: Ask your kids: Would you rather eat two worms or a handful of ants? Would you rather lose your sense of smell or go without ice cream for a year? Come up with ridiculous combinations and see what they would pick. Let them ask back. It's only fair! Sometimes their answers can really be interesting.

Here's hoping your time traveling together goes smoothly and that you grow closer as a family, that your holiday is warm and filled with blessings, and that your turkey, tofurkey, turducken, or whatever graces your table is delicious and makes lots of tasty sandwiches. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Posted by Dee | tagged: travel, Thanksgiving, games