If your kids do better with non-competitive games, especially when they are caught in close quarters on a long trip (He’s breathing on me!) here are a few for you to try.
Free Association
This is a fast, funny game that goes pretty much nowhere, but it’s amusing all the same, and the kids will play it until you beg them to stop.
One person starts with a word or phrase. It could be an object, an emotion, anything at all. The next person says the very first thing that comes to his mind–no stalling, no thinking, no analyzing. Just the first thing that pops into his brain.
The next person then adds the first thing that pops into her brain based on what the previous person said. Turns rotate through everyone with no stalling until a time-out is called. You may have to referee if the association digresses into potty humor. Not that your kids would ever do this. I’m just saying.
Stories
Choose one person to pick a theme for a story, say, “An Incredible Thing Happened on the Way to Grandma’s,” or “My Brother is an Alien.”
Another person starts the story with just one word. The next person gives the next word in the sentence and so on. The only rule is that the word chosen has to make sense in order to form a sentence, no matter how nonsensical. For example, if the sentence so far is “The car jumped over…” you couldn’t add the word “danced” because it doesn’t form a sentence.
Play until the story comes to a logical (illogical?) end.
I Say You Say
This game is going to sound stupid, but trust me, your kids will think this is hilarious, so go ahead and give it a try….I’ll wait…I told you so.
Have one kid pick a word with two syllables, for example, “stupid.” He says to a sibling, “I say ‘stu’ you say ‘pid’.” Then they have to say their parts immediately in order, and as fast as possible. Words with vowels you can draw out seem to work best, but even words from things you see out the car window like “Wal-Mart” or “farmer” are fun to pronounce this way.
I say “almost” you say “there”! Happy Trails.