Fall break road trip guide
there yet? Next 7 hours
there yet? 22 times on a
7-hour drive
Twenty-two.
That’s how many times American parents expect to hear “Are we there yet?” on a seven-hour drive, according to a 2025 Talker Research survey of 2,000 parents of kids under 13. Add 18 sibling fights and 14 tantrums, and something in the back seat needs a referee roughly every eight minutes.
fights
needed every8 min
On one seven-hour drive. Source: Talker Research for good2grow, 2025 — 2,000 U.S. parents of kids under 13.
Parents’ top two defenses are snacks (53 percent) and movies loaded onto a screen (52 percent). The second one is aimed at the wrong kids. The CDC says susceptibility to motion sickness peaks between ages 7 and 12, and the Mayo Clinic’s advice for preventing car sickness is to get kids’ eyes off books, games and screens and onto the world outside the window.
Share of parents who say it helps. Talker Research for good2grow, 2025.
That plan gets tested again this month. Where districts have a fall break — across much of Tennessee and Indiana, in parts of Texas, Colorado and Louisiana — it falls in early to mid-October. Then comes Thanksgiving: last year AAA expected at least 73 million Americans to travel by car for the holiday.
The best road trip games for kids for all those miles have one thing in common. They keep eyes up.
Why the tablet backfires
Motion sickness, the Mayo Clinic explains, happens when the brain gets conflicting information from the inner ears, eyes, and nerves in the joints and muscles.
In a car, a child’s inner ear feels every curve and every tap of the brakes, while eyes fixed on a screen report that nothing is moving. The brain can’t reconcile the two, and the stomach pays for it.
Mayo calls kids ages 2 to 12 especially prone to car sickness.
It recommends having them look at things outside the car rather than focusing on books, games or screens,
and keeping them busy talking, listening to music or singing songs. Screen time is its own conversation; this one is only about where the eyes go.
Under 2: don’t usually (CDC)
Ages 2–12: especially prone (Mayo Clinic)
Ages 7–12: the peak (CDC)
The trick: the cards ride in the front seat
The old car games already worked this way. I Spy, the license plate game and Twenty Questions are all played with eyes up and voices on. Their only weakness is that they run out of material.
Card games fix that, as long as one rule holds. The adult in the passenger seat — never the driver — holds the deck, reads each card aloud and keeps score. The back seat answers out loud, eyes on the window. Everyone keeps looking out, and the front seat gets something better to do than turn around every eight minutes to referee.
Something in the back seat needs a referee roughly every eight minutes.
- 1The host reads each card out loud from the passenger seat, never the driver.
- 2The back seat answers out loud. Nobody in the back touches a card.
- 3Eyes stay on the window, where the inner ear and the eyes agree.
- 4The driver watches the road, and sings when it’s time.
Five games for the front seat (and one for the motel)
Mixed ages:Exit 1Higher or Lower
Ordinary trivia rewards whoever is oldest. Higher or Lower asks for a direction instead of a number. Every question comes down to one call, higher or lower, so a second grader with good instincts can beat a teenager. More than 500 questions, two to eight players, ages 8 and up, in a box that fits the glove compartment.
Road rule
The host reads out the real figures after every answer. Half the fun is the groan.
The teenager in earbuds:Exit 2Who Knows Hits Better?
Music is on both the Mayo Clinic’s and the CDC’s lists of things that help with motion sickness, so make it the game. Who Knows Hits Better? has more than 500 music questions and challenges — Name the Artist, True or False, Sing It or Lose It and more. The songs mix the ’90s, the 2000s and recent hits, so parents and teens each get rounds where they’re the expert. Made for teens and adults.
The Sing-Along State
Who Knows Hits Better?
- Teens & adults
- 500+ questions & challenges
- ’90s to now
Road rule
Sing It or Lose It rounds are mandatory for the driver.
Stuck in traffic:Exit 3What Would You Choose? Getaways
What Would You Choose? Getaways has 95 cards with more than 500 funny travel and vacation situations, each asking what you’d do. There’s no right answer, so there’s no age advantage. And in a jam, a card about a trip going worse than yours is surprisingly comforting. Two or more players.
The Traffic-Jam State
What Would You Choose? Getaways
- 95 cards
- 500+ travel situations
- 2+ players
Road rule
Pull it out the moment the brake lights start.
Crossing state lines:Exit 4Who Guess It Better: USA States
Who Guess It Better: USA States has 50 illustrated cards, one for every state, with clues and quick facts. The host reads the clues one at a time, and the back seat races to name the state. When someone spots a new license plate, pull that state’s card.
The Fifty-State State
Who Guess It Better: USA States
- 50 state cards
- Clues + quick facts
- Compact box
Road rule
Three points for a guess on the first clue, two on the second, one after that.
The car seat:Exit 5Fishing & Memory Travel Game
A three-year-old can’t play trivia. The Fishing & Memory Travel Game gives small hands a 7.7 x 7.7-inch magnetic board, 30 magnetic pieces and two magnetic fishing rods, for ages 3 and up, and nothing slides under the seat. It’s a look-down game, so keep it to short bursts. If your preschooler gets queasy, save it for the stops.
The Car-Seat State
Fishing & Memory Travel Game
- Ages 3+
- 2 players or 2 teams
- Magnetic board
The motel:Exit 6Fast-Paced Football Card Game
By evening, after a day of sitting still, kids want speed. The Fast-Paced Football Card Game is a table game for the motel room or wherever you’re staying: match cards from 1 to 8, be first to empty your draw pile, and everyone plays at once. It takes three minutes to learn and about twenty to play, for two to eight players, ages 8 and up. It also comes in baseball, soccer, hockey and basketball editions.
The view is part of the trip
You won’t get the “Are we there yet?” count down to zero. But a kid busy working out which state that plate came from isn’t asking it. And a kid who spent the drive guessing, singing and arguing remembers the drive.
trip counter
The goal isn’t zero. It’s fewer.
Pack the tablet if you want. Just don’t make it the plan.
Put the deck in the front seat and the kids’ eyes on the window.
Questions parents ask
What are the best road trip games for kids?+
How do I keep my kids from getting carsick on a road trip?+
At what age do kids get carsick the most?+
What’s the hardest age for a road trip with kids?+
What car games can you play with no supplies?+
Next exit: the fun part
Travel games that ride up front.
Card games for the passenger seat, the back seat and the motel at the end of the day.
Browse travel games →
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