Free Scavenger Hunt For Road Trips
A road trip is what you make it! A long road trip can be stressful and overwhelming, but it can also be fun.
I remember taking so many road trips growing up and playing I Spy, Punch Buggy, or just searching for different license plates.
It made passing the time so much easier, especially in the days before phones and screens!
A scavenger hunt for road trips with young children is a great way to pass the time in the car.
Even better, the whole family can play! These scavenger hunt ideas can easily be customized for any age group, from toddlers to teens!
From the license plate game for older kids (or even adults!) to the alphabet game for younger kids, there are plenty of fun car games for kids of all ages.
Use these road trip games on your next family road trip! Not only will they keep kids occupied and entertained, but they’re also a great way to have some quality family time and even offer some education along the way.
Scavenger Hunt For Road Trips
Here are some fun ideas for what you can do on your next trip.
Classic Scavenger Hunt Checklist
Use our free printable road trip scavenger hunt list for a classic version to play.
Have your child mark off items on the list as they find (see) them. If you’re traveling with younger kids that don’t know as many words, have everyone work together to find the items!
Some other ideas to add in addition to this list of items may include road signs, a gas station, a cow, traffic lights, and so on.
Anything that’s fairly common to see on a long car ride is a great addition to your scavenger hunt!
We recommend laminating this checklist to protect it and keep it for repeated use!
Road Trip Bingo
Like the classic scavenger hunt, road trip bingo is just in a bingo format. Again, depending on your kids’ ages, you can do it with or without pictures.
Photos are more fun, but if you also want your kids to work on word recognition, using the text version may be a fun way to make it educational.
The first person to see the item is who gets to mark it off on their board. The first person to get bingo (five in a row) wins!
Road Trip I Spy
Family games like an I Spy scavenger hunt for your long car trip are a boredom buster! Have a friendly competition with family.
To play, you say, “I spy with my little eye something that begins with A.” The best part is that you don’t need a printable checklist, but you can make your own too!
Then everyone looks outside the car and guesses the thing they can spot that starts with the letter A.
Do the entire alphabet and then tally up how many each person got. Or don’t keep the score at all! It’s entirely up to what works best for you and your family.
You also don’t have to play it as an alphabet game. You can also use different colors (“I Spy with my little eye something red”) or other descriptors.
And if your kids enjoy I Spy games, check out our I Spy Ocean printables.
License Plate Scavenger Hunt
You can play the license plate game with or without a printable list.
The goal is to find as many different license plates from different states as possible. This may be more exciting for teenagers or adults.
Or, to make it more accessible for younger kids, play this fun game as a family and look for the license plates together.
If you have a long drive, chances are you might be able to see all of them!
Vehicle Scavenger Hunt
In this travel scavenger hunt game, players have to spot different types of vehicles on the road.
This works for kids of all ages, and young kids may even learn some new words this way.
You can include all types of vehicles, even bicycles, airplanes, or tractors.
If you want to make it more difficult, you can have a list of cars by model.
Another variation would be to have kids hunt for different color vehicles.
Printable Scavenger Hunt For Road Trips
Get ready to have some much fun on your next road trip! Just print the pdf file and use a pen or a pencil to mark each specific item you see.
For another scavenger hunt idea, take a look at our backyard scavenger hunt.
Don’t forget to Pin it for later!
