We love to travel, and we try to keep things as simple as we can when we do. Sure, we pack electronics, and books, and books on our electronics, but some of our favorite games to play aren't ones you can plug in. Here are four word games you can play on the go!
1. Alphabet of Friends
Starting at A, go through the alphabet by calling out friends' names.
One of my kids thought this one up and it's been a huge hit. They compete to see who can name our most obvious friends when their letter comes up and fight over the one person we know whose name starts with X.
2. Rhyming Food
I want to eat ______ with a / some ______. It's as simple as finding rhyming food pairs, but that in itself is not as easy as you'd think! For example:
I want to eat ham with some spam.
I want to eat grapes with some crepes.
I want to eat meat with a beet.
This is great for when you are hungry and all you can think about is food. It's hard too, so it takes up a good amount of time when you are waiting for a meal at a busy restaurant. You can decide what counts as food as the rhymes get awesomely silly!
3. Syllables 1-6
This is another challenging word game, but if your kids are anything like mine challenging is what they want. Players are trying to find words that have 1-6 syllables. If both players reach 6 successfully, they start again until someone is unable to complete their turn. No dictionaries are allowed.
This is a great one for adults, too -- and trust me it can get heated! I suggest having a third person available to be a ref.
4. 20 Questions, Word-Game Style
You probably know how to play 20 questions. One person chooses a person, place, or thing, and the other players ask yes or no questions to figure out what or who that person is thinking of. There is a limit of 20 questions allowed. In the word-game style version, the person thinks of a word and the players try to guess it with questions like:
"Are you a verb?"
"Do you have two syllables?"
"Are you a word we commonly use?"
We usually don't limit it to 20 questions, but for older kids I'd stick to that rule.
Do you have a word game that you and your family play while you travel? Tell us about it on the Scholastic Parents Facebook page and join the conversation!