Fun game for drive to trailhead: Road Bingo

Keep kids in a vehicle from being bored by playing Road Bingo.
Photo courtesy of Photoree.

Once you’ve got your children excited about the hike, you next have to get them to the trailhead, probably in a motor vehicle. Sometimes those drives to a national forest, nature preserve or state park can be long. You can keep kids’ spirits up by playing games on the drive there.

One tried and true children’s game is Road Bingo.

If you have three or more kids in vehicle, this is a great way to pass the time. Have the kids make bingo cards with numbers anywhere from 1 to 100 (four squares down and four squares across should be good); alternatively, photocopy bingo cards if you have them on hand. Make sure everyone has a pen for the drive. As you spot numbers along the way to the trailhead – highway names, street names, mileage markers, speed limit signs, etc. – call out the number as if in a bingo game.

Materials: Bingo card, pens

Ages: 5 and up

Learn about more than a hundred other hiking diversions for kids in Hikes with Tykes: Games and Activities.