If flying to foreign sights isn’t in your budget this Spring Break, road trips can be a great alternative. You save money on planes, get quality time with your loved ones, and get to see the sights along the way. If you’re traveling with kids, keeping them entertained for hours on end can be a little challenging. So to help you out, we have 5 playful games, a pack-along checklist, and even a Spring Break-inspired playlist to keep your little ones happily entertained while you navigate your way to Spring Break bliss.

I Spy: We’re bringing back a tried and true favorite here: I Spy. Kids love trying to come up with crazy questions to ask in hopes of guessing your object almost as much as they love choosing the most obscure thing they can in the hopes of fooling you. For an update on this old fav, try making categories that the item must satisfy. For example, ‘things found in nature’ or ‘things that don’t move on their own.’ The possibilities are endless, well, as far as the eye can see (or spy).

Plate the States: Traveling across different states? Try to find license plates from as many different states as you can, keeping track along the way. The first one to find a license plate from a state you haven’t seen one from yet gets a point. The person who has the most points when you get to your destination wins. This game is great because it spans the entire trip, which makes for hours of window-watching entertainment. You can even play this one while playing one of the other games listed here– now that’s fancy!

City and State Debate: This one will test your knowledge of geography. You start with one person naming either a city or state. The next person must then name a city or state that starts with the last letter of that city and state, and continues with the next person naming a city or state that begins with the last letter of the place that was just mentioned. The game continues until you reach a point where the person can no longer name a city or state that starts with the last letter of the previously mentioned place without repeating something that has already been said. If your passengers are not the best at geography, you can expand the game to include countries and continents too so there are more options. Your kid’s geography teacher will thank you when they come back from Spring Break with new knowledge of every country in Europe.

Ghost: Vocab wizards out there, this one’s for you. The game starts with one person naming a letter, to which the next person adds a letter, and so on. The letter you add cannot form a word longer than three letters, or you lose. But with each letter you add, you must have a word in mind that starts with those letters. If you don’t, and the other person challenges you, you lose. The person who completes a word earns a letter (like you would in Horse) until the word “Ghost” is completed. This game is a great way to help your kids learn to spell bigger words than they are used to using, and also teach them words that they may not know.

I’m Going on a Picnic…: If your kids are at the age where they are still learning the alphabet, this one is great– and it’ll keep your memory sharp. You start with the letter A and work your way through the alphabet naming things you would bring on a picnic using the phrase “I’m going on a picnic, and I’m bringing…”. The catch is, with each successive person that names what they’d bring, you must also name the things that were chosen before that as well. So by the time you get to H, you’re bringing apples, bananas, coconuts, Doritos, elbow macaroni, french fries, GoGo squeeZ, and hummus. You can even get a little creative and pick a theme for what you’re bringing. The example above was all food, but maybe you want to play a game of all non-food items, or all fruits. You could also change the game to mimic things you packed for your trip. So if you’re going to Florida, you’d change the game to “I’m going to Florida, and I’m bringing…”

Want to take all these fun games with you? We’ve compiled everything into a Spring Break Activity Book for you to print and bring along (there’s even a few added bonuses in there!)

Car Trip Checklist: Before you head out on the open road, be sure to pack an ample amount of entertainment to occupy your kids and ensure a peaceful ride for yourself. If you’re struggling with what to bring, we’ve created a Car Fun Checklist for you to print and inspire your packing.

CAR TRIP CHECKLIST:

Snacks:

Activities:

DVD’s (if you have the means to play them)

A CD of our awesome Spring Break Playlist

Coloring books

Road Trip Bingo

Handheld games/electronics

Extras:

Pillow/blanket

Spring Break Playlist: And, of course, no car ride is complete without the proper music to power you through. So, to help you out, we’ve created the ultimate Spring Break Playlist for your listening pleasure:

What do you do to keep your kids occupied on long car rides? Share with us in the comment section below.