> When I was a child, and with my own daughter, we played a
> number of "road games."  One involved accumulating totals of
> license plates from various states.  When one saw a license
> plate from a state one simply claimed it by so announcing.
> Periodically, trivial prizes were awarded by an adult.
> Another game was "zip," which involved sighting white horses.
>  Upon seeing one, a child said "zip."  First child to a
> previously decided total won a trivial prize.  Kept kids eyes peeled.
> More educational games are also possible, too of course.
> Lots of ways to keep 'em busy and reasonably quiet.  But
> breaks and exercise are essential.

I used road trips to teach my daughter how to read. We would play the
alphabet game, where you had to find a word on road signs or trucks that
started with each letter of the alphabet (in order from A to Z).  At a very
young age she only had to identify the letter and point to the sign it was
on. If she didn't see the letter on a road sign or truck after a few
minutes, she could instead name 5 words that started with that letter, and
then we'd move on to the next letter. As she got older, the rules got
harder. She had to point to the sign AND read the word out loud - and if she
couldn't find the letter, she had to both name AND correctly spell 5 words
that started with that letter.  As she got older still, the "5 words" rule
got harder still. "Dog" was no longer acceptable for D. She had to dazzle me
with a long or obscure word, spell it correctly, and perhaps define it.

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  www.busdepot.com
  (215)  234-VWVW

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