There are any number of ways to keep kids occupied in the car for a long drive. Video games and DVDs are probably the easiest choice. But kids can watch movies at home on the couch. It's far more fun to connect with the surroundings on a trip. You can see some amazing things if you just look out the window for a little while.
To that end, when some friends of ours were making a long drive for a family wedding, I created some car bingo games for their two young boys. The games were portable and reusable and easily tucked into the seat pocket, door pocket or next to a car seat even. The pen was attached, too, which is key for travel games. I'm looking forward to using these boards to play bingo with Phee when she's older and we travel!
Each board is different. I used different sets of free clip art to create each board. One has more squares so that it's more of a challenge for older kids. The other two have fewer items so that younger children can play along, too. And, one is just car colors which is fun for everyone, even the driver (as long as some one else runs their bingo board, of course!).
So, if you have long vacations planned, please feel free to click on each board to download them as photos and print them out for your kids. Or, here is a PDF that has each board in one file. Have a great trip!
Directions
- Print out the bingo boards (or create your own!)
- Stack the boards and hole punch in one corner so that the boards can be attached to each other
- Laminate the boards
- Repunch the hole in each board
- Hook the boards together with a metal ring
- Using a piece of string, ribbon or yarn to attach a dry erase marker to the metal ring (you can use hot glue or clear packing tape to make sure the ribbon stays on the marker)
- Be sure to pack some wet wipes or baby wipes to easily clean off the boards between games
- Start looking out the window!
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