Highway Time: A time to grow and learn with your family
by Nora Rhoades, Family and Youth Development Agent
Bouncing from one activity to the next finds families on the road traveling to ball games, camp, vacation, and more. Don’t let those highway miles become a bore. Road trips –short or long– can be a great opportunity to get back to the basics of learning while family memories are made. Here’s some gadget-free ideas that will help keep minds learning, loved ones communicating, and time passing with enjoyment.
Creative Questions – Come up with unique questions and brainstorm answers. Exploring different responses will help your child use their imagination and think about things from many perspectives. (i.e. What does autumn sound like? What does the letter “R” smell like? What do rocks think about? What shape is happiness? What sound does the color blue make?)
Spelling Bee – Bring along a dictionary and challenge each other to spell words correctly. You can mix things up by reading the definition and guessing the word that is being described.
Group Storytelling – Create a story together by having one person start by saying a few sentences. The next person continues the story where the first person stopped and so on. Keep it up until the story is fully told and everyone has had a turn.
Good Times – Select a topic and have each person describe their favorite moment (i.e. vacation, experience at school, holiday memory). Describe the best part or sight. What did it smell, feel, sound, taste, and look like?
Who is it? – Everyone writes something about themselves on a piece of paper that they think no one else knows. Put the papers into a hat. Pull and read the papers one at a time. Try to guess who the paper is about. Younger kids can have an adult help them write down their ideas.
The ABC Game – Search for letters on signs (road markers, restaurants, etc…) that are outside the vehicle. The letter can be anywhere on the sign, but you have to find letters in alphabetical order.
Five Finger Facts – Take turns sharing five facts about things you like about yourself. (i.e. something you do well physically, something you like about the way you look, something you like about your personality, things you like to eat, things you like to do, etc...) Use your fingers to keep track of how many have been shared.
The Name Game – Choose a category (example: “animals”). Start with saying an animal (“snake”). The next person has to share an animal that starts with the last letter of the previous one (“elephant”). Try not to repeat any animals and see how long you can play without getting stumped! Other fun categories are: names, states, countries, fruit, etc…
Counting Categories – Choose a category (i.e. type of vehicle, windmills, cemeteries) that your family will watch for outside the vehicle. Split into teams or play as individuals while you keep score of who can find the most along the way. A variation of this activity is to set a goal of finding 100. You can each choose a separate category (i.e. different color cars) and see who can find 100 the fastest.
Twenty Questions – Take turns thinking of an object (i.e. cat, tree, swimming pool). Other players will take turns asking questions that will only be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. The goal is to ask questions that will help narrow down ideas until a guess can be made. If they can guess correctly in 20 questions or less, the players win!
Survival Island – Create a scenario that leaves your group stranded on a deserted island. You only have five items to help everyone survive until the rescuers arrive. Discuss and decide what five items you would like to have. Remember, the whole group has to agree!
Paper Plate Weaving – Make cuts in a paper plate from the outside edge toward the center. Cut strips of yarn or ribbon. Tape one end to the back of the plate. Weave the strip over and under the cut sections of the plate. Can you make a shape or design?
