Road Trip Games Under 8 Years Old
Below are great road trip games to play with your children who are 8 years old or younger. These games practice fantastic language skills and are fun at the same time! Use your time in the car wisely!!
Below are my top 5 road trip games under 8 years of age.
Road Trip Games: Under 8 Years Old
1. 20 Questions
How To Play: This is a classic game. One person thinks of a person, place, or thing. Others in the car ask yes/no questions in order to guess the mystery word. Whoever guesses the word first, gets to think of the next mystery word.
Tip: Review the concept of categories and how certain categories should be ruled out first. For example, asking for the first question, “is it an orange?” doesn't rule out any objects besides oranges. A better first question would be “is it a food?”
What It Works On: Deductive reasoning (figuring out what something is by what it is not), vocabulary, formulating questions, memory, categories, creativity
2. Talk
How To Play: Life is so full of activities, technology, play groups, classes, homework, etc… Sometimes, just plain conversation gets left behind. Ask your child about his or her day. Listen and comment.
What It Works On: Confidence, trust, conversational skills, loving relationship
3. Going On A Ship
How To Play: Someone starts the game by saying, I’m going on a ship and I’m going to bring a____” Depending on the named item, the next person has to say something that starts with the same letter.
For example, “I’m going on a ship and I’m going to bring a rug.” The next person says, “I’m going on a ship and I’m going to bring a racket.” If someone forgets an item, he/she loses. The winner gets to start the next round.
My twist: Use attributes… ”I’m going on a ship and I’m going to bring a pillow because it’s soft.” The next person has to say something soft. “I’m going on a ship and I’m going to bring a cotton ball.”
What It Works On: Word retrieval, spelling, phonemic awareness, categorization
4. Alphabet Game
How To Play: Someone starts the game by saying, “I’m going to the store and I’m going to buy (something with the letter A).” The next person says, “I’m going to the store and I’m going to buy (something with a B)” and so on. To make it harder, during each turn, you must remember the previously mentioned objects.
What It Works On: Memory, phonological awareness, spelling
5. Who's In That Car?
I saved the best for last!
How To Play: This is a game of creativity and fun. Your child or yourself chooses a car and decides who is in it. The next person, decides where they are going. Have fun creating stories and tales of this mystery car.
What It Works On: Using context clues to create a story, character development, story telling, story grammar, answering questions and using “wh” questions (i.e., who, what, where, when, why)
More Free Games
The games listed above are great for preschool and early elementary aged-students.
If you want to explore more car ride games, check out the following pages:
- Games For children Under 3 Old
- Games for Children Under 6 Years Old
- Car Ride Cars For ALL ages - technology free ideas!
One year of FREE MATERIALS
I have one YEAR of FREE materials for speech and language development just for you. After completing the form below, I will send you ONE FREE material per week for an entire YEAR!
These no-prep, evidence-based materials and simple and easy to use.
Enjoy!