Stupid Car Games for the Long Ride...

[M.D. Holloway]

We have been driving up to Iowa from Texas now for over a dozen years. I can honestly say we have exhausted all car games that 11 hours will bring. Mind you, we do the drive at least 4 times a year.

I spy becam passe when Max was 5, Emma has invented more alphabet games then we care to imagine. Now, how many candy bars can you name starting with the letter A and working to Z? Oh ya? Well try soft drinks, cartoon characters, animals, fish, insects, movies, actors, singers, music groups, food, fruit, veggies, names, places...lets face it. We are burn't out.

So on this last trip our Son and I came up with a new one. In retrospect it doesn;t seem as funny as it did at the time of development. It started when we drove by a sign for the Iowa School for the Deaf and I said "Iowa School for the Deaf - what? speak up I can't hear ya!" he started laughing and said "Iowa School for the Psycics - I knew you were gonna say that!" So it started...

I said, "Iowa School of Driving - Left, Right just pick a lane!" (my jab at the political landscape!)

He said "Iowa School for Homosexuals - Don't Turn Your Back On Us!" (that got me roaring!)

I said "Iowa School for the Blind - Chalk Boards have Always been Obsolete! (even mommy thought that was a little funny)

So after he stopped laughing he said "Iowa School for the Stupid -....pause...Huh?" (his face made the joke)

and on it went...for over an hour or so. Mommy soon lost her patients with us nd demand we cease ther nonsense when we started getting down right nasty. We were laughing like morons at the dumbest of jokes though.

We have to get better road games...

[slodave]

Punch Bug!

[tevake]

Thats funny Lubie!!

[Heel n Toe]

27 Free Games to Keep Your Kids Entertained on a Road Trip | Travelhacker

[PorscheGAL]

We listen to audiobooks. Chasing Lincoln's Killer was great for a long trip.

[jcommin]

I would ask my boys to count Waffle Houses.

[GH85Carrera]

The only car game my parents let us play was who can keep quiet the longest.

[dyusem]

When my kids were young we would count the Porsches (911s and all others...my little one liked to also count Bugs...that was cool with me as my first car was a brand new '73 VW!!!)

Kept them busy until we hit the Sierra Nevada...and then it was alphabet games.

[Laneco]

We play alot of games with license plates.

1. How many from each state
2. Figure out custom plates
3. Make up word/saying/sentence based on the letters of the plate e.g.:
Oregon Plate 123 XYZ (examiner your zipper). Depending on the age of
your traveling companion these can get pretty dang funny.

What's on the Truck? Pretty easy on flats and lowboys, but the vans are another story. Got to figure out if it is a "dry" van or a "refrigerated" van, where did it possibly come from based on where we are or where the base plate is, etc.

The "If I was going to Africa" game. It's a memory game using the letters of the alphabet. First person brings, say an "apple" second person brings and "apple" and a Bagwan, etc. By the end, you are reciting 26 things.

Then there's the "find some music that doesn't annoy the **** out of Mom game"...

angela

[Seahawk]

DVD and headphones.

A long car trip on an oft-traveled route is on the circles of hell escalator, headed towards the fire.

Seriously, throw them into a DVD coma. You will all arrive refreshed.

[rouxroux]

Make a word that uses the letters found in the license plate and as few other leters as possible.

[sammyg2]

it's called slug bug, and i play it a couple times a week on the way home from work when I carpool. it sux in the wintertime tho cause it's too dark to spot most of em.

Slug Bug: The Official Rules (Oh Yes, They’re Official)
June 8, 2009
46
by Rocks In My Dryer
WHEREAS it has been affirmed that we don’t generally condone violence in this family, and

WHEREAS it has also been acknowledged that in excess of 66% of this family is male, and that’s a lot of testosterone in the backseat, and

WHEREAS your mother knows a thing or two about picking her battles, and

WHEREAS your mother has duly observed her children’s insistence on the playing of this game and has duly worn herself out with the refereeing,

It is herein set forth, on this eighth day of June, Two Thousand and Nine, the official rules of the backseat game of Slug Bug, which shall be fully and legally binding until further notice; in other words, I’m the mom and I said so.

Let it be known that Slug Bug, for the uninitiated, is the game of riding in the car and noticing a Volkswagen Beetle, then calling out “SLUG BUG!” and slugging your neighbor in the upper arm. This bizarre recreational activity shall only be undertaken with the following regulations in place:

1. The first person to see the Slug Bug gets to call it and deliver the ensuing slug.

2. If one calls out a Slug Bug that was previously called out by a fellow backseat passenger, one must humbly submit oneself to two slugs from said passenger, as penance.

3. If you complain that you didn’t hear the Slug Bug so you couldn’t possibly have known it was already claimed, be advised that your mother will tell you to do a better job of cleaning out your ears.

4. In the event you call a Slug Bug, you must deliver the ensuing slug within five seconds, or you have entirely, fully forfeited all rights to claiming the Slug Bug. Your fellow passenger has full rights to attempt to evade your slug, and if he manages to do so, you are forthwith duly obligated to acknowledge your defeat and forfeit your slug; in your own fine words, too bad, so sad.

5. Be advised that slugs may not be delivered with excessive force. “Excessive force” is defined as a deliberate attempt to cause significant bodily discomfort. Excessive force will likely result in being barred from the game for an as-yet-undetermined amount of time. Your mother is the sole judge of what shall qualify as excessive force, and be assured that she knows it when she sees it. Her ruling on this (and all other things too, while we’re at it) is entirely, irrevocably, utterly final.

6. Slugs may be delivered only to the upper arm, period. See rule #5.

7. In the event that a Slug Bug is called on the interstate, but then your family stops at a rest stop, and then passes the same Slug Bug again 30 minutes later, the Slug Bug may be called again. This is due to the fact that putting the car in park cancels out all previously called Slug Bugs. If, however, your family goes to the drive-through window and does not put the car in park, all previously-called Slug Bugs shall stand, so pay attention.

8. Be advised that considering your preoccupation with this game, your mother makes every attempt to avoid driving past Volkswagen dealerships. But as it is sometimes unavoidable, be advised that a Volkswagen dealership counts as only one Slug Bug and is, in no way, an excuse for a backseat bloodbath. It is duly acknowledged, with a note of affectionate exasperation, that your father views this rule quite differently and seems to seek out Volkswagen dealerships with adolescent glee, perhaps even slowing down in front of them. If he conducts the Dealership Clause of this game with different rules, at a time when your mother is not in the car, then so be it.

9. It should be noted that your four-year-old little sister is not yet of legal age to fully understand the rules of the game of Slug Bug. It is further noted that she will sometimes call out “SLUG BUG!” when she sees a Toyota, a cow, or a fire hydrant. As allowances were once made for you when you were four, you must likewise make allowances for your sister (who is, in fact, merely attempting to imitate her big brothers). If you insist on playing the game in front of her, you must not excessively complain when she innocently and mistakenly slugs you.

10. Mom is exempt from being slugged, at all times, period. All guests riding in our backseat are similarly exempt, unless they have previously acknowledged their own family’s participation in the game of Slug Bug, with a full understanding of the rules.

11. Don’t make me pull this mini-van over. It just seemed like the right time to say that.

These rules are set forth with great affection by your mother, with the greatest of concern for your own physical well-being, and the greatest of consideration for her own mental health.

Signed, June 8, 2009,
Mom

[12own911]

Love the official rules... except when we pass a dealership let the slugfest begin...

[Zeke]

Get a CB and give the mic to the kids.

[M.D. Holloway]

an add on to the Slug BUg Game:

1) When a Smart Car goes bye you get a hit in the head and an ear full of "SMART CAR"

2) When a yellow car goes bye you get a tap on the back of the head and en ear full of "BANANA"

3) When a Porsche goes bye, in a quite voice everyone says "PORSCHE"

4) When a Ford goes bye its "FOUND ON THE ROAD DEAD"

5) When a Fiat goes bye it "FIX IT AGAIN TONY!"

and when we get to farm country, any tractor or implement must be met with the proper series number and manufacturer or the incorrect yapper will get made fun of for being 'city folk'!

[sammyg2]

There are actually more slug bug rules we use:

1) When you see a Beetle of a particular color, you must be the first to slug whoever you're with on the shoulder and say "Slug Bug" and the color of the car, e.g. "Slug Bug Red!"

2) You must have correctly identified the car as a Beetle. If it's not, the other person may slug you back twice.

3) You must have correctly identified the color. If you say the wrong color (e.g. Slug Bug Blue when the car is actually black), the other person may slug you back twice.

4) If the car is black, you must use the phrase, "Slug Bug Black, no slugs back." If you fail to say "no slugs back" for a black Beetle, the other person may slug you back twice.

5) You may never slug someone when you see a white Beetle. If you do, even if you say "Slug Bug White," the other person may slug you back twice.

[steveo12345]

We played the "road kill" game with our kids when they were younger (two boys). The rules were simple. Who ever called out "road kill" first got points if the object in question was, in fact, a road kill. If it was a chunk of tire or other roadside trash points were deducted. Extra points were rewarded for bloated carcasses and bloody entrails. If you have girls this game may not work as well.