"Are we there yet?"
We've all been there as the kids are getting bored in the back of the car! You don't want to pull out iPads and would much rather use the time to talk and connect as a family.
These 22 car talking games are perfect for that. Each is fun, needs no materials and is secretly developmental (sshhh don't tell the kids!).
It's kind of our superpower at KidCoach. Helping families like yours build skills in their kids simply through conversation. We work with thousands of parents who use our app (called KidCoachApp and has hundreds of quick, fun and thought-provoking questions for kids). They tell us that the car is the perfect time to have these sorts of meaningful chats.
And these fun games will help too! Enjoy!
1. SPIN A STORY GAME 🧚
How to play:
Ask everyone in the car to spot something they see. This could be a driver sitting next to you in traffic or a girl crossing the road. What could the name of that man be? How old is that girl? Go around in the car taking turns suggesting fun stories about each thing you see.
Example:
"I spot a dog in the front seat of that red car. The dog's name is Maggie and the woman who owns him is a head teacher in a school that teaches magic but today is her day off. I think they are going to the beach!"
Fancy a challenge?
Make up a story about what they would say about you. What do they see when they look at us? What story would they make up about us?
2. YES AND... 🪁
How to play:
Take turns building a story together. Each of you must contribute a sentence, starting with “Yes, and…”
Example:
"Once upon a time there was a magical island…"
"Yes, and it was invisible so nobody could find it…"
"Yes, and one day a family got shipwrecked and accidentally found it…"
"Yes, and when they climbed up the beach they saw to their amazement there was a…"
Fancy a challenge?
Give each person a word they must use each time, e.g. rainbow, monkey, book, flower etc.
3. RHYMING GAME 👂
How to play:
One person starts by saying a word of choice and the next person has to say a word that rhymes.
Example:
"Car", "Jar," "Far".
Fancy a challenge?
Try introducing half-rhymes like "worm" and "swarm".
4. ALPHABET GAME 🔤
How to play:
Decide on a category together. One person starts by naming a word that fits into the category AND starts with A, the next person does the same but the word must start with B and so on and so on. Keep playing until you reach Z.
Example:
Say the category decided is Animals. You could start with "Ant" then the next person might say "Bee", then "Cat" etc.
Fancy a challenge?
Start your word with the last letter of the last word, e.g. "Ant" then "Tortoise" then "Elephant" etc.
5. JUMBLE GAME 🙊
How to play:
Nominate someone to start. They must take a word and mix it up, spelling out the letters. The rest need to figure out what the original word is.
Example:
R-E-W-L-O-F would be F-L-O-W-E-R jumbled up.
Fancy a challenge?
Try using longer words to make it harder for your opponents. If you really feel mischievous try saying the whole sentence jumbled up or say the words backwards.
6. SPOT THE UM! 😳
How to play:
One person must speak for at least a minute about any topic they want without using fillers like "erm", "um", dragging out words like "anddddd", or leaving longer than 5 second gaps between words.
Example:
"Today I am going to speak about Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. This is my favourite book for three reasons. First...." - for a minute at least!
Fancy a challenge?
Don't let the speaker choose the topic. Give it to them instead and make it a hard one!
7. TONGUE TWISTERS 🔥
How to play:
Try getting your kids to say popular tongue twisters as fast as they can, with no mess-ups.
Example:
"Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry."
"She Sells Sea Shells On The Sea Shore."
Fancy a challenge?
Try this one:
"Peter Piper picked a pack of pickled peppers,
a pack of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked,
If Peter Piper picked a pack of pickled peppers,
Where’s the pack of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?"
8. TELEPHONE GAME 📞
How to play:
One person starts by whispering something in the other person's ear. Continue this around the car until you get back to the start (as long as it is safe to do so)! See how the word has changed!
Example:
You might have started with "For breakfast today I ate toast and marmalade" and who knows what it could end up like?!
Fancy a challenge?
Add some fantastical elements into the sentences such as "Yesterday our cat turned into a lizard". This will make it a lot harder for the others to use their common sense to fill in the gaps of what they might have heard incorrectly.
9. NAME THE SONG 🎶
How to play:
One person starts by humming a tune or song. The other people have to guess what it is.
Example:
"Let it go" from Frozen? "Roar" by Katy Perry? Or or a classic like "Happy Birthday?"
Fancy a challenge?
Try clapping the rhythm alone. Without the melody it becomes really hard to guess!
10. BANANA-RAMA 🍌
How to play:
Simply be the first to spot the most yellow vehicles on the road. Keep your wits about you here as they will go by fast!
Example: One, Two, Three....how many will you get?
Fancy a challenge?
To make it harder and more interesting, award different points for different colours. For example 5 points for spotting a yellow vehicle, 3 points for a red and 1 point for a white one.
11. LISTEN UP 👂🏼
How to play:
Someone should close their eyes (not the driver!) and describe what they can hear. It's a good practice to notice your surroundings more like this and so this can even be done as a solo exercise.
Example:
"I hear the sound of small rocks and pebbles bouncing up from the ground and hitting the tyres around us. There are some birds and aeroplanes up in the sky."
Fancy a challenge?
Try out your other senses. Try describing in detail to the others what you smell, taste or feel.
12. GRATEFULNESS GAME 🤗
How to play:
Go through the alphabet and state what things you are grateful or thankful for.
Example:
"I'm grateful for this apple we have as a snack."
"I'm grateful for the bed that I sleep in."
"I'm grateful for this nice car we get to drive."
Fancy a challenge?
Try going around guessing what other people in the family could be grateful for.
13. SIMON SAYS - EMOTIONS ADDITION 🗣
How to play:
One person is chosen to be Simon. They then tell the others to act out certain emotions with their facial expressions.
Example:
If Simon says "anger" everyone else must pull their best angry face.
Fancy a challenge?
Add more subtle emotions into the mix, e.g. thankful, shocked, nervous.
14. TWENTY QUESTIONS ❓
How to play:
One person thinks of a famous person and the rest have to guess who it is. You can only ask twenty "yes-no" questions to figure it out.
Example:
Say you were thinking of Harry Potter. Questions could be – “Are they male?” (yes), “Are they famous?”(yes,) “Do they play a sport?” (no), “Were they in a film?” (yes) etc.
Fancy a challenge?
Only allow 10 questions to get the answer!
15. CONNECTING GAME 🔗
How to play:
Take turns saying a single word. Each word must somehow be connected to the word before. Go as fast as you can!
Example:
"tree", "leaf", "green", "paint", "wall", "clock", "hands".
Fancy a challenge?
To make it harder put in a rule where you have to cycle through letters in the alphabet e.g. "apple", "bowl", "cup", "drink", "eat" etc.
16. THE NAME DROPPING GAME 🙋🏽
How to play:
Decide on a category, e.g. fruit, cars, toys etc. Each person has to name an item from the category, quickly and without repetition!
Example:
Say you chose fruit as the category, then the words could be "grapes," "pears," strawberries" etc.
Fancy a challenge?
To make it harder put in a rule where you have to cycle through letters in the alphabet e.g. "apples", "bananas", "cherries" etc.
17. TRUE, TRUE ... FALSE 😇
How to play:
One person decides on two true statements and one false statement to tell the others. It's up to everyone else to work together to decide what is the lie.
Example:
"I'm the tallest in my class," "I won the race today," "I forgot my homework yesterday."
Which would be the lie?!
Fancy a challenge?
Have your child do things about their school only (also great way to find out about their day)!
18. MEMORY GAME 🤔
How to play:
Have your child walk through your home in their mind and describe each room.
Example:
How many pillows are there on the sofa? How many cupboards in the kitchen? What colour are the bathroom walls? How many windows in the whole house?
Fancy a challenge?
Do the same thing for someone else’s house that is less familiar.
19. GUESS THE NUMBER 💯
How to play:
Think of a number between 0-50 and have your child guess it. They are allowed to ask you five "yes-no" questions first to narrow their options.
Example:
Say you were thinking of the number 36. Good questions your child could ask you are – “Is it odd?” (no), “Is it more than 25?” (yes), “Is it a multiple of 3?” (yes), “Does it have the number 4 in it?”(no), “Do the digits add up to 9?” (yes).
Fancy a challenge?
To make it harder extend the range of numbers, say to 0-100, or reduce the number of narrowing questions you let them ask you first.
20. ORDER, ORDER! ⚖️
How to play:
One person names five objects. Everyone else has to order them in size from smallest to biggest.
Example:
"Car, tree, bike, cup, pencil" - what order should these go in?
Fancy a challenge?
Try adding different categories, like plants and animals to the mix. This will help test everyone's knowledge on the natural world.
21. BUZZ AND FUZZ 🐝
How to play:
Simple counting game but where every multiple of five is instead "BUZZ!"
Example:
1,2,3,4,BUZZ,6,7,8,9,BUZZ etc.
Fancy a challenge?
Try introducing "FUZZ" as well for multiples of 3!
For example: 1,2,FUZZ,4,BUZZ,FUZZ,7,8,FUZZ,BUZZ etc.
22. MANY QUESTIONS 🤨
How to play:
Spot any object around you, e.g. a tree, a shop, a sign. Ask your child to come up with as many different questions as they can about the object.
Example:
"What is it made of?", "What is it used for?", "Why is it that colour?", "Who invented it?", "What could we use instead?", "How much does it cost?" etc.
Fancy a challenge?
See if your child can come up with a really great question that you do not know the answer for, and then go and Google it together.
There it is - 22 fun car games - KidCoach style!
As busy parents we want to make the best use of time with our kids, shaping and developing them in small and memorable ways. Playing talking games like the ones above mean that quality time is met while also nurturing vital 21st century skills.
Win-Win!
We have a lot more ideas and questions in this style in the KidCoachApp. It's been featured by the BBC, has a 5 star rating in the Educational App store and is updated weekly with world events for discussion.
If you liked this article then we think you will really love what is inside the app! Check out this 30 second demo video.
For more ways to turn car time into quality time with your kids, try the KidCoachApp now!
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Kavin Wadhar is a parent of 2 kids and founder of www.KidCoach.app: guided conversations for parents to get their kids talking, thinking and feeling. Kavin left his corporate role in education publishing to pursue his passion to help parents develop in their kids the skills they need to thrive in tomorrow’s world. Working with a team of parents and education experts, Kavin has built an App for parents with hundreds of questions like those in this article, and with additional guidance / prompts to take conversations deeper. Check it out!
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