• Playing family car games can help a road trip go smoothly.highway image by Ekaterina Sidorenko from Fotolia.com
  
  The thought of a long family car trip can seem overwhelming at times. Families can feel claustrophobic during road trips, and may even start to get on the nerves of one another. To help prevent this from happening, there are many different family car games you can play together. Playing these games may even bring you closer together as a family.
  
  

Twenty Questions

• Twenty Questions is a classic road trip game that even children can participate in. To start the game, one player thinks of an item. After the item is selected in the first player's mind, the second player asks, "Animal, vegetable or mineral?" The first player then answers the question. The second player then asks a "yes" or "no" question, and the first player answers. The second player can then guess what the item might be, or ask another question. If the second player guesses correctly, that player then wins. If the second player has not correctly identified the item after asking 20 questions, the first player wins. This game can be played in themes as well, such as famous singers or colors.
  
  

Group Storytelling

• Group Storytelling is a game that the whole family can participate in at one time. To start, one person in the car makes up the first two or three sentences of a story, speaking them out loud. The person then chooses and points to another player to go next. This person then makes up the next two or three sentences of the story, and then points to the next player to continue. The story will likely be very entertaining with its many twists and turns.
  
  

State Geography

• This is a game that older children and adults will enjoy. To start, one player says the name of any state out loud. The person to go next will then need to think of a state that begins with the last letter of the first state. For example, if the first player says, "Missouri", the next player will need to say a state name that begins with the letter "I", such as "Iowa." This game can also be played using other topics, such as foods or names of family members.
  
  

State License Plates

• This game also helps teach geography. Before leaving for your road trip, print out a map of the United States. While you are on the road, challenge one another to look out for cars with license plates from certain states. When you spot a license plate from a state you are looking for, put a mark next to that state on your map. Try starting out by looking for cars from nearby states, since these will be more plentiful, then try to find cars from states farther away.