Car Trip Scavenger Hunts

Lady in the backseat of the car witha young boy reading a book.

Long car trips with kids can be a challenge. Finding something to amuse them can be an even bigger challenge. The continual ‘are we there yet?’ can put a real dampener on any holiday before it has even begun.

Solutions are often of the electronic variety, which is not always the best option. To combat this, we have designed a scavenger hunt to encourage children to play together and take in their surroundings. Hopefully they have fun searching for objects as you move towards your destination – sanity intact!

All our scavenger hunts are printable

Car Trip Scavenger Hunts for all ages

Family road trips often involve children of different ages and varying reading abilities. With this in mind, we have developed two versions of the same scavenger hunt. A picture version and a reading version. Because the lists include the exact same objects to find, children can work alongside one another, while still being able to understand what is on the paper in front of them.

Preparation

Before you set off on your road trip there are a few things you should prepare to allow for a successful Scavenger Hunt.

Download and print the Scavenger Hunt, making sure you choose the version suitable for each child.
If you plan to reuse the scavenger hunt lists, we recommend laminating them or at least putting them in a plastic sleeve.
Pack something to check off found items e.g. Pencils, markers or stickers. Seriously think about whether you can trust your child/children with permanent markers in the back seat of the car. If you can’t, then small stickers work well and can be peeled off laminated lists for reuse.
Consider prizes. Perhaps you could have a prize for the winner and a smaller prize for the runners-up. Of course, prizes are not mandatory, but they can be a good incentive for youngsters to keep going until the end.