Inside: Top car scavenger hunt printables to help you pass the time during your road trip.
I recently had an unexpected girls’ trip with my mom and two sisters. We traveled about 7 hours away to a fun larger city and spent the weekend connecting and having some much-needed girl time. The drive was long, and more than once, my little sisters got very antsy in the car.
I felt like I was in a classic family road trip movie, where the kids are in the back seat asking, “Are we there yet?” over and over again until the parents freak out and yell, “NO!” I was trying to think up different ways to keep them occupied until we finally made it to our destination, so I grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and started creating a scavenger hunt!
I know what you may be thinking, but how much could you find if you are just sitting in a car? I get that. But there are truly so many things that you can find if you know where to look, aka out of the windows! I wrote down as many things as I could think of and passed the paper back to them. They were content all the way there.
So I want to share this helpful trick with those of you out there about to go on a road trip. When I got home, I looked into premade car scavenger hunts, too, and there were quite a few awesome ones to choose from. So keep reading; I cover everything you need to know below!
Table of Contents
How do you play road trip scavenger hunt?
I would never have thought that knowing how to do a scavenger hunt in a car could be such useful knowledge, so I want to pass that along to you. There are many different ways that you can play a road trip scavenger hunt, but the simplest of which is printing one out online, bringing it on the trip, and keeping an eye out for the things that are on your list.
Once you see something, you can cross it off. The first person to get it all gets to pick out a gas station treat! If you don’t want to take the time to print them out, then you can always just write them out yourself. It takes a little bit more time, but hey, you have plenty of it just sitting in that car. There are plenty of printable travel gamesout there too, so it’s up to you.
Take stock of what the conditions are around you. You don’t want to put “Find a waterfall” if you are in the middle of the desert. The options should be a mix of obtainable and a little far-fetched. For example, I put a Baseball hat on my little sister’s list, and then one mile later, we passed one that was on the side of the road!
Once you think your list is complete, hand it back to them and begin playing. If you have run out of ideas, check out the list below, it’s full of scavenger hunt ideas!
Things To Look For
It can be so hard to come up with enough items on your list to keep your fellow car mates busy until you reach your destination. My little sisters kept handing the paper back up to me every time they ran out of things to spot. So I came up with plenty of ideas. I love creating hunts like this; the last one I made was my mall scavenger hunt. Look down below for inspiration.
1. A Specific Colored Car – You could add multiple throughout the list. I added classics like red, white, and green. But then I also added some crazier ones like pink and purple as well. Shake things up!
2. A Specific Color of Flower – Depending on where you are, you are probably driving by a lot of flowers. Pick out some ideas to have them look for. I put a California poppy on mine because we were driving through Cali!
3. A Red Barn –This is a good one because it’s not as easy to find, but it’s also not impossible ever. If you put something like A Lion, then the players will get discouraged and not want to play. Make it easy and hard at the same time, but never impossible
4. Baby Animals –I loved putting this down because it is such a cute thing to look for! That means that they not only get to cross something off their list, but they get to see a baby animal as well. It’s a double win.
5. Specific Road Signs –I think these are always a good idea because there are many different types of signs to choose from. Add as many as you like or as many as you can.
6. Specific Car Brands –Another example of something that is easy and hard at the same time. Make sure to add some luxury cars to your list.
7. Specific Licence Plates –There are so many different options here, and they all can be seen from the road you are driving on. Make sure to add license plates to your car scavenger hunt list. Get specific, obviously! Otherwise, they will cross is off as soon as you hand it to them.
8. Airplanes –Airplanes are great options because they are rare but will be exciting to cross off.
9. Fast Food Places –I like to add some easy ones just so they can feel accomplished in between looking for the harder ones.
10. Rest Area –Lastly, this idea is great because it will make them aware of if they need to use the bathroom or not, which is helpful during long car rides.
Best Car Scavenger Hunt Printables
Here is the section for those of you who want to keep things simple. You already have so much planning to do with your trip and packing, so why add another thing to your list when you can just print it out and have it prepared? Below are some of my all-time favorite printable options. Check them out.
10.Spot The Car
All in all, my girl’s road trip was so much fun. You really never know how badly you need some girl’s time until your mom calls and says, “Pack your bags; we are hitting the road.” It may have been unexpected, but it was just what the doctor ordered.
I don’t think I could have made it without creating this car scavenger hunt to pacify my younger siblings. They truly loved every second of this game, so I know that your road trip buddies will too.
There are so many different ways that you can take this. You can create a theme, and make it state-specific, the sky is the limit. So make it your own if you want, or you can always stick with the classics as I shared with you today. If you loved these, you need to check out our printable road trip games tips!
