Are we there yet?

You’re in the car with the kids, you’re three hours into the trip, and everyone in the vehicle is bored. What’s a parent to do? Think back to your childhood and play a couple of the games you remember. Or, consider a couple of new ones. Here are a few suggestions. Most of them require no equipment other than your brain. Game suggestions are from a variety of sources.

A family favorite, Hinky Pinky

The object of the game is to guess answers to rhyming riddles created by others. Here’s how to play: Someone says “Hinky Pinky,” and the game begins. The clue is a rhyming phrase made up of two two-syllable words. For example: It’s a war among cows. (A cattle battle.) If the clue-giver says “Hink Pink,” the answer is two single-syllable words. For example: It’s a ball of noise. (A round sound.) If the clue-giver says “Hinkety Pinkety,” the answer is two three-syllable words. For example: It’s an energy source that’s full of praise. (A flattery battery.) Whoever gives the answer correctly gets to give the next clue.

The license-plate game

It’s an oldie but a goody. As you’re traveling, try to find car license plates from all 50 states. Extra points for finding a plate from another country. It’s probably best to have a notebook and pen nearby to keep track of which states you’ve seen and which you haven’t.

Grandmother’s house

The object of the game is to memorize a string of alphabetically ordered words that gets longer each time a player takes a turn. It works this way: the first player starts with an item that could be found in a picnic basket. For example, “I went to grandmother’s house, and in my picnic basket I brought an apple.” The next player could say banana or bread or a bagel. The next, candy, carrots or caviar. Each player must remember the items mentioned before his or her turn, reciting the entire list. The last remaining player is the winner.

The Theme Song Game

This is just silly and fun. One person hums the tune to a favorite TV show. For example: “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Cyberchase” or “Survivor.” The person who guesses correctly sings the next song.

Incognito

One player thinks of a famous person or a “mystery” person. She gives the other players a two-word description of the person, and the two words must start with the person’s initials. For example: “fabulous singer” (Frank Sinatra). Players must think of a person with the initials F.S. If each player has guessed once and the identity is not revealed, then each player can ask a yes-no question about the person. The first player to guess correctly picks the next person.

Tillie McWilliams

Tillie likes all things with double letters. She likes letters (“letters” has two Ts) but she doesn’t like words (no double letters.) She likes lettuce but not salad. She likes school and classes but not teachers. She likes Minnesota, Illinois and Hawaii but is especially fond of Tennessee. Get it? The whole family plays this one, adding onto the lists of things that Tillie likes and doesn’t like. It can be addictive, which Tillie likes.

I spy

This is for little kids. Mom says, “I spy something pink.” (It could be a sign up ahead, a ribbon in someone’s hair, a car.) All the kids guess. Whoever guesses right gets to be the next one who I-spies.

Playing favorites

This is for little children, but it can be really illuminating. You go around the car naming a favorite thing. Mom or Dad is the caller. “My favorite vegetable is…” Everyone, in turn, gives a favorite. The trick is going wild with the original category. Favorite song, favorite lyric, favorite purple thing, favorite artist, favorite state, favorite thing we did yesterday, favorite Harry Potter spell, favorite teacher. (Sometimes it’s good if it’s long trip to ask family members why someone was their favorite teacher or whatever.)

Story by us

A parent starts the story with a paragraph full of details about something but ending on a cliffhanger, of sorts. “A girl in a red petticoat was walking in the park with her golden retriever, Fred. They came upon a river and Fred fell in, but…”

The next parent picks up the story, “but Fred could swim and the little girl knew that, so she jumped in and they found a log to climb on to. The sun was hot so they made an umbrella of her petticoat. Pretty soon they were wet and in the deep woods, and she gasped because she saw…”

A child picks up the story from there. This can be endless, unless someone forgets Fred’s name or you get where you’re going and a parent just wraps up the story with a happy ending.