By Lauren Langdon

Thanksgiving break starts Nov. 23, and many students’ families are choosing to drive instead of fly to their destination. Long car rides can be painful, especially with younger siblings. So, bellow are 15 car ride games to help pass the time.

1.) Counting dead things: According to sophomore Emma Connelly counting roadkill and squashed bugs on the windshield is one of the best ways to pass time. (STA is not responsible for any car sickness caused by seeing a squished raccoon.)

2.) Coloring pages: This classic activity becomes even more fun when you color everything the wrong color. Such as, coloring a person’s skin red and hair blue. Try to see who can make the most ridiculous drawing.

3.) Virtual hide and seek: Think of a place that everyone in your car knows i.e. STA or your house. Then think of a place to hide in that place, and have one person guess where you are hiding. (Are you in the kitchen? Yes. Are you in the cabinets? No. Are you sitting in the sink? You found me!)

4.) Blind drawing: Have one person close their eyes and try to draw an animal. Everyone else has to try and guess what animal it is. (For added fun pick different categories: shapes, people, and objects.)

5.) Song guessing: Turn on the radio and see who can name the song the fastest. If no one knows the song try to sing along and guess the words.

6.) Puppet Show: Make your puppets out of socks and decorate with lots of glitter. Parents love glitter in the car. Then put on a puppet show. (For added fun try to act out the Potter Puppet Pals plays.)

7.) Mad libs: This basic game provides lots of fun and laughter. (For added fun pick interesting words like “maul” and “baboon.”)

8.) Animal/human drawing: Pull out a notebook and draw a human or animal body part (i.e. tail or foot), then pass it to the next person. Keep doing this until you decide the animal is done (For added fun use colored pencils.)

9.) Scattergories: Make a list of categories such as foods, names, cities, songs, etc. Then, have one person pick a letter and everyone will come up with a word that starts with the chosen letter for each of the categories. After three minutes compare your answers and see how many original answers everyone has.

10.) Food catching: Make eating fun by seeing how many times in a row a person can catch food in their mouth. (For added fun make your eyes crossed when attempting to catch food.)

11.) Memory game: Have everyone in the car (except the driver of course) close their eyes. Then the driver picks a topic such as shoes, hair style, shirt, etc. The people who have their eyes closed have to try and remember what the other passengers look like.

12.) Drawing on the window: Windows seem to plain and boring? Spice it up with Expo marker design!

13.) Celebrity name game: This classic is always fun. Start by saying the name of a celebrity whose first name starts with an “a” like Ashley Olsen. Then, name a celebrity whose first name starts with the same letter of the previous person’s last name like Oprah Winfrey. (For added fun change the category to food, animal, or names and use the last letter of the previous word like aardvark, kangaroo, orca….)

14.) Sharpie tattoos: Always wanted a tattoo? See if you can cover yourself head to toe with sharpie designs. Not suggested if you are heading to a wedding. (For added fun draw mustaches on sleeping family members.)

15.) Acting: Finished watching all the movies you brought for the trip? Reenact your favorite scene from a movie. (For added fun make boys have the female roles, and vice versa.)

*Keep track of the amount of games each person loses. The person who loses the most games has to talk in an accent (chosen by other members of the car) at the next rest stop or gas station.