Long Car Journey Games Abroad: By Age, For Drives Over Four Hours

A four-hour drive is a car game. A fourteen-hour drive to the south of France is a logistics operation, and the games have to be different: longer, quieter, and workable when nobody can see a UK number plate.

Split by age, because what saves a six year old will make a fifteen year old put their headphones back on.

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Shop cards Family reunion games Christening and naming day games Family barbecue games

Cards for the family occasions

Thank you cards, new baby cards and cards for every family occasion - blank inside, drawn and printed by us in the UK, with kraft envelopes.

Illustration of two large pints of stout next to a tiny baby stout with text "Two's a couple, three's a family". Two's A Couple, Three's A Family (Guinness Congrats On The New Baby Card) £3.87 Only The Best Dads Get Promoted To Grandad (Friends Themed Cards) Only The Best Dads Get Promoted To Grandad (Friends Themed Cards) £3.87 A square pregnancy announcement greeting card for a brother featuring a baby scan photo illustration and uncle text. Only The Best Brothers Get Promoted To Uncle (Pregnancy Announcement Card) £3.87 A square white greeting card reading 'Only the best sisters get promoted to aunty' with a cute illustration of a baby scan. Only The Best Sisters Get Promoted To Aunty (Pregnancy Announcement Card) £3.87 Only The Best Mums Get Promoted To Nanny pregnancy announcement card featuring a baby scan illustration. Only The Best Mums Get Promoted To Nanny (Pregnancy Announcement Card) £3.87 Only The Best Mums Get Promoted To Nanny (Friends Themed Cards) Only The Best Mums Get Promoted To Nanny (Friends Themed Cards) £3.87

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Toddlers and preschoolers (2-4)

  • I spy with colours instead of letters.
  • Spot the animal - cow, horse, sheep, dog. One point each, shouted.
  • Singing, on repeat, for as long as you can bear it.
  • The sticker book that only comes out in the car.
  • Peekaboo with a blanket, and 'what can you hear'.

Primary age (5-10)

  • I spy properly, and the alphabet game with signs.
  • Number plate games - foreign plates are a whole new version, spot the country codes.
  • Twenty questions, animal vegetable mineral.
  • Yellow car, or count the lorries on your side.
  • The story chain, one sentence each.
  • A journey bingo card made before you leave: a windmill, a tunnel, a castle, a lorry from a country you've never seen.

Teenagers

  • Would you rather, with increasingly ridiculous options.
  • The music game: someone plays a song, everyone rates it out of ten, lowest score buys the next coffee.
  • Categories - name ten countries, ten crisps, ten films, ten seconds.
  • Fortunately, unfortunately.
  • Podcast or audiobook the whole car agrees on, which is the real win on a long drive.

Games for the grown-ups and the whole car

  • The name game, played out loud, no paper needed.
  • Twenty-one questions about where you're going: population, language, currency, what they eat.
  • The price game: guess the toll, guess the fuel, guess the ferry snack. Bitter and funny.
  • Best and worst of the year, as the miles pass.

Ferries, borders and long queues

  • Cards - the one place on the journey you have a table.
  • A walk round the deck as a scavenger hunt.
  • Learn ten words of the language, tested by the children.
  • Map reading: give a child the map and the job of announcing what's coming.
  • The stop schedule as a game - guess the arrival time at each stop, nearest wins the first ice cream.

Shop cards

Found your words? Now find the card

Shop cards Family reunion games Christening and naming day games Family barbecue games

How to write it so it lands

  • Make the bingo cards before you leave, not at the services.
  • One game per age group, rotated - don't run the same one for six hours.
  • The audiobook everyone agreed on is worth more than all the games.

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Frequently asked questions

What car games work on a long drive abroad?

Spotting foreign number plate country codes, a journey bingo card made before you leave, twenty questions and the alphabet game with signs. For teenagers, would you rather, categories and a shared playlist rating game.

What car games work for toddlers?

I spy with colours, spot the animal, singing on repeat and a sticker book kept only for the car. Keep each one to a few minutes - attention spans in a car seat are short.

How do you keep teenagers entertained on a long car journey?

A music rating game where everyone plays a song, would you rather, categories against a ten-second timer, and an audiobook or podcast the whole car has agreed on before you set off.

What can you do on a ferry or at a border queue?

Cards, because it's the only part of the journey with a table. Add a scavenger hunt round the deck, learning ten words of the language, and guessing the arrival time at the next stop.

Do you sell games or party supplies?

No - we make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK. Every game here runs with what's already in the house, and the only products on this page are our own cards.

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