Yes, we live in an age of hand-held videogames, games on cell-phones, and DVDs in the minivan; yet for travel games on long car trips, kids can still have fun with old-fashioned favorites such as Connect the Dots, Tic Tac Toe, and simple word puzzles.
Below are six links for printable travel games, courtesy of guest contributor Nancy Bates.
These travel games suit kids age five and up.
Tip: If your child tends to get carsick, encourage him/her to look out the window: play License Plates or a word game s/he can play while focusing outside the car. Focusing the eyes on a hand-held game or a book makes carsickness worse. (Read more about motion sickness in the car.)
Travel Games - to play in cars or planes
- Connect the Dots
- Tic Tac Toe
- Simple Word Games to play out loud: The Sound Game, The Alliteration Game, Straight Face (good for laughs.)
- Animals A to Z
- Rhyme Game
- Word Scramble
- The License Plate Game - two versions to play.
More printable travel games on the Web:
- Mom's Minivan: print out car bingo games, then check out other ideas: make a cootie-catcher, string figures, lots more.
- games based on Dr. Seuss books (needs Adobe Acrobat)
- printable travel games at Family Education.com
- for preschoolers: car travel games at the Nick Jr. website.

