Road trips don’t have be dreadful! Plan a fun road trip with your kiddos this summer and keep everyone entertained (and practicing their communication skills) with these speech therapist approved games!
Road Trip Game: 20 Hints
This alternative to the classic “20 Questions” car game is friendly for even the youngest of talkers. Instead of having the guesser ask questions, give the guesser 20 hints to guess what you are thinking of! For example, we are thinking of “kangaroo”, we would start giving hints like “It is a living thing”, “It is an animal”, “It is a mammal”, “It is brown”, until the guesser gets the right answer! The possibilities are endless and will keep your kiddos occupied during your drive!
Road Trip Game: Car Sound Symphony
This game gets everyone involved, even kiddos that aren’t ready to create full words yet! Point out the different types of vehicles you see on your travels and make the noises for them that they make. Look out for different trucks, cars, fire trucks, airplanes, buses, trains, and others! Ask your kiddos to imitate those noises for you when they begin to see their favorite vehicles throughout the drive! They will have fun spying them and creating a symphony of new sounds that they learned!
Road Trip Game: Billboard Books
Let everyone in the car take a turn being a storyteller! Billboards can be a great source of inspiration. Have everyone keep an eye out for a billboard they like and make up a short story about the billboard!
Let’s say you pass a billboard for We Rock the Spectrum – Milwaukee, your story might be: “Once upon a time, a young girl named Tess would wish upon a star every night for a special gym she could go to with a zip line and trampoline inside! She would search far and wide for a place just like that every day. Finally, one day she came upon We Rock the Spectrum – Milwaukee and found she could do all that and more! Her dreams came true! The end.”
Set the rule to keep the story short so everyone gets a turn but let their imaginations run wild with the billboards they see on your trip!
Other Tips for a Successful Ride
- Keep healthy, non-messy snacks on deck!
- Keep a paper map in the back for the kiddos! If they start asking the dreaded, “Are we there yet?” see if they can find your location the map!
- Leave in the evening! If it’s going to be a long drive, help yourself out by having the kiddos sleep for a long part of the drive.
- Stick a parent in the back with the kids! This will help keep the driver focused and safe while getting kids more involved in activities!
- Stay off the screens! Pack crafts, books, and of course play lots of car games to avoid spending too much time on screens during the drive!
- Have fun! Road trips can be a fun bonding time during a vacation, stay positive for your own well-being and to keep the kiddos positive too!