Paper and Pencil Games for the Car

If you’re like me, you and your kids are in the car a lot. This summer, you might be traveling by car on vacation. Whether on a road trip, in a restaurant, or inside on a rainy day. . . here are a few fun ideas your kids can do with a pencil and piece of paper.

Hangman

Two or more players. One player thinks of a word and writes a line for each letter, then draws a gallows. Not a bad idea to give some adult help on this step. The other players try to guess the letters in the word. Each incorrect letter means the first player draws a body part on the gallows. The object is to guess the word before you get “hung” – which is a full body picture on the gallows.

And, if you play with a six-year old, you get the most interesting spelling . . . as you can see from the above “perfect”-ly phonetic spelling! 🙂

Tic-Tac-Toe

Two players. No explanation needed, right?

Boxes (printable)

Draw rows of dots. Take turns drawing a line between two dots. The object is to make a box with your lines and the most boxes wins. Players write their initials in the boxes they draw.

Morse Code Writing

Print out the code and have your kids make secret messages in Morse Code.

Pencil Rubbings

Put coins, keys, or a comb under the paper and rub with the side of the pencil – you might need some wet wipes handy.

Story Add-On

Get a piece of paper. The first person writes down a beginning to a story – it can be one sentence – then folds the paper to cover what he wrote. The second person continues the story without looking and adds a detail or action. That person folds the paper over her part. And so forth, until someone ends the story. Open, read, and laugh!

Monster Add-On

Fold a plain piece of paper into four horizontal sections. The first person draws the monster head, folds over the paper so it is covered. The second perons draws the neck, shoulders, and arms then folds over. The third person draws the body then folds it over. The fourth person finishes with the legs and feet. Open and check out your masterpiece!