It’s that time again when, once the schools break up, workplaces close and the holidays begin – we’ll all be out on the road visiting friends and family over Christmas and New Year.
Long car journeys can be a strain on family harmony! When you know you’re going to be sat in the car for several hours with children who will get bored and restless, it’s pretty daunting.
Help is at hand!
We’ve asked JCB staff to tell us about fun car games they played when they were young or with their children – but with no technology involved!
Here are the top 10 long car journey games they came up with:
1. I’m Going On A Picnic – each passenger takes it in turns to add another picnic item to the list. You must add a new item, whilst remembering and verbally listing everyone else’s items. In alphabetical order is easier. For example, “the first person says, “I’m going on a picnic and I’m taking some APPLES”. The next person says, “I’m going on a picnic and I’m taking some APPLES and a BLANKET”…. and so on. Great for memory training!
2. Road Trip Bingo – requires a little bit of preparation and paper and pens. Make a list of 10 things that are commonly seen on a road trip. Note them down for everyone and see if you can spot them going along. For example, a pub named 'The King’s Head', a Volkswagen car dealership, a horse in a field, a yellow lorry…..
3. Number Plate Word Games – work through the alphabet noting any words that can be seen within vehicle registration plates. For example, GK19ACE = Ace; GL09BUN = Bun; GJ56CAT = Cat. Try to get a 3-letter word for every letter of the alphabet.
4. Spot The Vehicle Badge – either make a list of vehicle brands or go by every letter of the alphabet to see how many you can spot on your trip. For example, Audi, Bentley, Citroën or start with the JCB Group’s range of vehicle marques! Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Citroën, Honda, Kia, Mitsubishi, SEAT, ŠKODA,SsangYong, FIAT (and soon to be Renault and Dacia!).
5. I-Spy – now everybody mentioned this one! So easy to play. One person chooses something they can see and gives just one clue to the rest of the passengers, for example, they say, “I spy with my little eye, something beginning with W” – everyone then has to guess what it is. (In this case, a windmill). It’s a little difficult on a motorway with things speeding by and out of view, so you could adapt it to “something red” or “something blue” – then the first person to spot something that matches that description wins!
6. Sing The Word – someone chooses a word at random. Everyone has to think of a song with that word in, then sing it together. For example, “yellow” – and everyone sings “We All Live In A Yellow Submarine”. If you are all tone deaf – just wind the windows up!
7. The Alphabet Game – everyone takes turns in working their way through the alphabet naming a profession, pet, name and adjective. The more hilarious the combination the better! For example, “The ARTIST’S APE, ALGERNON, is AWESOME”.
8. Colour Cars – Someone picks a car colour – say, yellow – and the passenger who spots the most number of yellow cars wins. Nice and simple!
9. Tail-light Teaser – this one is not for the faint hearted! If you’re driving after dark, can you guess the brand of the vehicle in front, just based on the tail-lights? Thanks Nicky for this one – it’s difficult, but not impossible.
10. 20 Questions – this is an old favourite. Someone chooses an object or a person and the rest of the passengers have just 20 questions to guess the answer. The answers can only be ‘yes’ or ‘no’. For example, a person might be “Ariana Grande” – So relevant questions might be “Is this person female?”,“Are they a dancer?”, “Do they live in the USA”?
We hope you have lots of fun on your family car journeys over the festive period. These gadget-free games are simple and fun and can include the whole family, young and old.
Please drive safely this Christmas and New Year. To help you set out on your journey with confidence, why not book in beforehand for a winter health check at any one of our Service Centres in Kent and Sussex? Book Now for peace of mind.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone at The JCB Group!
