I think word games work for several reasons. Firstly, it keeps the kid's minds active so they don't get bored. Secondly, it's harder for kids to fight when they are busy. Remember I said harder to fight not impossible. Thirdly, the kids have their parent's fairly undivided attention so they have no need to act out to get your attention. Fourthly, there are no pieces to lose or things you have to buy. All you need is a little creativity and imagination.
Here are a few of my kid's favorites:
I Spy is a classic game. One person chooses a colour, an object, a letter, a word, a sign, a shape, a number, an animal, or anything practically anything else. Then everyone else in the car has to guess what the first person chose. Make sure everyone gets a turn at being the chooser for fewer arguments.
I find that the games evolve over time and become more complex as the kids age. Therefore, the I Spy game might start off as simple as finding a single colour. Later on, however, the game might evolve into thinking of something (an object or even an idea) that promotes gender discrimination or bias. Discussions will no doubt follow. Yes, this particular game evolution did actually happen on a long trip with my teenagers last year.
Another good game is the I'm going to _____ and I'm going to bring a _____ game. The first blank represents a place. This can be an abstract place like a farm or a factory, a town, a city, or a country. The second blank represents an object or thing. This can be a belonging, toy, animal, food, plant, tree, or anything else you can think of. More evolved versions of this game include specifying specific themes such as countries, towns in a certain country, species of wildflowers, baseball players, or whatever your child is interested in. You can also require that the places and objects continue alphabetically, either from A to Z or Z to A.
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