Portable Games
: Diversions and Distractions for Back Seat Passengers

Diversions and distractions for your backseat passengers, from diapers to college tuition

HIGH-TECH

Nintendo DS

Yeah, it’s a portable video game system.  But if you ever take long car trips with kids, you know these can be a godsend.  At the risk of over-generalization, Nintendo game titles tend to be a little more family-friendly – less blood, more cartoony – and the DS does more than just play games.  They’re not unlike little palm pilots; each model comes with a stylus which kids can use to write, spell, or draw to their heart’s content.

Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP)

Sony’s series of handheld video game systems is more “traditional,” if you like, than the DS.  Sony’s market is geared more toward gamers than is Nintendo, and if your kids are more interested in the latest, hottest titles they see advertised, the PSP might be a smarter choice.  Gaming’s not just for boys anymore, Check out the Limited Edition Hannah Montana PSPEntertainment Pack.  Aspiring divas can book, plan, and perform in concerts around the world.

iPod Games

Chances are either you or your kids have one.  If you don’t feel like shelling out for a(nother) video game console, there’s an ever-growing library of downloadable games for your iPod.  Some are multi-player family games, like Monopoly and Uno, and some are standard issue Italian plumbers jumping on mushrooms.  Most cost $5.99 to download.

OLD SCHOOL

Scrabble: game folio edition

Come on, who doesn’t love Scrabble?  It’s fun, but it’s also a great lesson in spelling, vocabulary, and thinking on the fly.  Due to the dozens of small woodblock letter pieces, Scrabble’s never been a travel-friendly game.  The game folio edition has snap in place tiles – which stay in place even if you have to fold up and take a break midgame.

Carcassonne: travel version

Forget Risk, this is the ultimate in strategy games – yet it even toddlers can enjoy it, with some direction from you.  Essentially, Carcassonne is an intricate tile-laying game, which requires strategic and forward thinking.  Carcassonne, a walled city in the south of France, is famous for its beautiful and striking fortifications. The players develop the area around Carcassonne and deploy their followers on the roads, in the cities, in the cloisters, and in the fields.

Yahtzee: game folio edition

Yahtzee is another board game classic (well, dice game classic) that never really leant itself to travelling.  The game folio edition changes that – it’s easy to play and incredibly fast to set up and put away again.

Othello: travel edition

Also called Reversi and Reverso, Othello is a simple, classic game.  Two sides: white and black.  The object: finish with more pieces than your opponent.  It’s basic, yes, but that just makes it all the more absorbing.

Portable Jigsaw Puzzle

Here’s another game you thought you’d never play – or relax as your kids play – while travelling.  Jigsaw puzzles are the very definition of Not Portable.  The pieces are small, easily lost, and once one is gone, the whole thing is ruined, or diminished at the very least.  The Portable Jigsaw is poster-sized, yet fully vacation-friendly. A collapsible felt roll-up serves as both piece storage and a table to solve the puzzle on.  Puzzles are perhaps the best way to acquire a few hours’ worth of uninterrupted silence from the back seat.

ON THE CHEAP

Printable travel games

From drawing games like connect the dots to tic-tac-toe, down to “group” games like license plates, 20 Questions, and word games, there are dozens of free game “sheets” and ideas to print and hand out when the time is right.  Punch buggy, no returns!

100 things for little children to do on a journey by Usbourne Publishing

More a collection of activity cards than a book, there’s far more than 100 things to do in here.  Specifically intended for toddlers, these games, puzzles and quizzes will delight and distract for hours.

Miles of Smiles: 101 Great Car Games and Activities by Carole Terwilliger Meyers

If you don’t want to print out sheets, spend a few bucks and get a bound book absolutely full of them.  There are dozens of books like Miles of Smiles out there, and there’s something to suit even the pickiest six-year old backseat driver.