Keep yourself busy on your journey with these games
The holidays are well on the way which will bring a lot of time on road trips
POLOKWANE – The holidays are well on the way which will bring a lot of time on road trips.
Long hours on the road may be quite tough for the whole family to fully enjoy, but here are a couple of games for the family to play and enjoy during road trips.
• Rock, Paper, Scissors is a classic game that can keep people of all ages entertained while on the road. To play this, each player makes a fist and says out loud, “Rock, Paper, Scissors,” swinging down his or her fist on each beat. After the third beat, each player makes one of three hand gestures: a closed fist representing “rock,” an open hand representing “paper” or a V representing “scissors.” The winning player makes the gestures of the object that will defeat the opponent’s object. In other words, since a rock can destroy a pair of scissors, rock beats scissors. Scissors cut paper, so scissors beat paper. Since paper can cover a rock, paper beats rock. If opponents use the same gesture, the game is tied.
A good way to keep everyone in the car entertained and engaged is to play a memory game such as The Grocery Game. To begin, the first player names an object available at a grocery store that starts with the letter A. The next player has to repeat what the first player said and then add another grocery item that starts with a B. For example, if player one says “apples,” player two would repeat “apples” and then might add “bananas.” If you forget a grocery item, you’re out, and the game continues until the player with the best memory wins. If groceries aren’t your thing, you can play variations of this game with anything from animals to sport to people’s names.
• A spelling bee held in your car can offer parents the best of both worlds: your child will be having fun and learning at the same time. One at a time, each person in the car takes turns spelling a word. If they spell the word correctly, they remain in the game. If they spell the word incorrectly, they’re eliminated from the competition. Keep spelling words until you determine which one of your road warriors is the champion speller. When selecting words, especially for the younger members of your group, make sure you choose words that are age appropriate. You don’t want to leave anyone feeling frustrated, disappointed or inclined to throw a road-trip tantrum.
• To play I Spy, a classic travel game, one person in the car will choose an object around them. He or she then gives the other people in the car a clue by saying: “I spy with my little eye, something….” He or she then will state the object’s color, give the first letter of the name of the object or offer another clue. Be sure players don’t choose an object that the car will whiz by too fast. Instead, go for something that is inside the car or that will be in everyone’s line of vision for a few minutes. The person who guesses the object correctly is the next person to spy a new item.
