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Parenting

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Ideas to keep 6 and 9 year olds amused on a road trip

10 replies

GailTheSnail · 21/05/2026 08:55

We are about to go away for half term on a bit of a road trip and would love suggestions for ways to keep kids amused in the car. I cant play anymore I spy on the motorway! Happy to let them watch someone thing on kindles for some of the journey we're in the car a lot and dont want them on screens too much. Suggestions for audio books we can all listen to would be good. Or any games that are easy to play. We already play the guess the animal game (when someone thinks of an animal and we ask questions to guess) quite a lot but something similar could be good.
The kids are 6 and 9.

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PeatandDieselfan · 21/05/2026 09:05

Our youngest 2 were that age when we drove across Europe last autumn. We don't do screens on journeys, always more of a car games /music/small toys/good snacks kind of a family... But last year, because the 2 older kids had got phones with Spotify playlists downloaded for the journey, I bought 2 tiny MP3 players (and bribed an 18 year old to help me load them up with music) and headphones for the 6 and 9 year olds. It was a huge success, I feel like the whole holiday was easier because there was virtually no fighting in the car. We still chatted and played car games, but any time one of them needed a break, they could just chill and listen to their own choice of music.

CurlewKate · 21/05/2026 09:07

Stephen Fry reading Harry Potter is a sanity saver!

BertieBotts · 21/05/2026 09:18

There's a good game like the guessing one where you think of any item, and the other people make guesses and then rather than only saying yes or no, it becomes a clue.

E.g. if my item is cheese.

You guess Plane. I say no, a plane can fly. My thing can't fly.

They guess sheep. I say no, but like a sheep, it's something a farmer might sell.

You guess grain, I say no, but like grain, we can eat it.

Etc etc. in the adult version you only use the similarity version "No, but like a .... It's... " however sometimes younger children find it hard to make comparisons between two completely different things (I'd probably say something mad like a plane and cheese are both sort of triangular, or that they both travel a long way) so we adapted it to allow the opposite type clue as well.

I like the similarity rule because children can make such bizarre comparisons and you can end up on a tangent for ages arguing about whether cheese does indeed travel far or whether a plane is a triangle or not.

Another game is finding things outside the car starting with each letter of the alphabet sequentially.

Get an audio book downloaded and put it on the speakers for everyone. Or podcasts. There are some good ones for children that adults can also enjoy. (Smologies, I'm sure you'll get other suggestions)

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mushroomfairy · 21/05/2026 09:22

The ickabog by jk Rowling is brilliant on audiobook. It's about 7.5 hours I think.

Oneearringlost · 21/05/2026 09:33

Can you print off all the road signs you'd ever come across...then cut them up into individual "cards"...They each get to choose 8 ( i made little scrabble-type holders, with velcro)...A la Scrabble, they then identify and swap signs as necessary ( each road sign holds a score, again, like Scrabble). So, for example, a sign of car going off a cliff holds 10 points...a "road narrowing ahead" one holds 1 or 2....Everyone can play, and it keeps them looking out of the window, at the world around them, but adds a frisson of competition?
It worked for our 3 very well.

SabrinaThwaite · 21/05/2026 09:48

You can still get I-spy books:

collins.co.uk/collections/i-spy

SpringHasSprungTheGrassIsRiz · 21/05/2026 10:22

Lots of 'Would you Rather'

"Would you rather be an orange or a pineapple" etc.

GailTheSnail · 21/05/2026 16:28

Thanks all, these are all great ideas! X

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FASDE1517 · 21/05/2026 16:31

We play a numbers game. You have to look out for a number 1, then 2. Easy for two minutes up to 9 but gets much harder looking for a two digit number! Traffic jams are good for this when you can read tiny phone numbers on lorries!

AgnesMcDoo · 21/05/2026 16:35

Road trips are boring. It’s what screens were made for and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with extra
screen time on a long journey.

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