road trip i spy

I've had this idea kicking around in my head for years now, and this summer I finally was able to get it together in time for our road trip North.  It's an I Spy game for kids (and adults, too!) to help while away the hours in a car with no built in DVD player.  A few simple and inexpensive materials, and you can change the game from trip to trip to keep it interesting.

You'll need a small, inexpensive photo album, paper, glue stick, removable sticky dots, and clip art or pictures from magazines or whatever.  Almost everything can be found at the dollar store, and that's where I got my photo holder that fits 4x6 photos.  It has about 20 pages, and can easily be covered with fabric or decoupage if the tackiness of the printed design starts bugging me or the girls too much.

I quartered letter-sized sheets of paper, then glued cartoon pictures cut from my daughter's old workbook, images found on the computer, and an alphabet die cut from my Sizzix machine to make an ABC I Spy book.  Once you slip the individual pages into the album, you use the office dots to mark off the objects that are seen as the trip progresses.  I made two different books so that the kids could help each other and switch off, but if your kids have different dispositions than mine (encouraging competitiveness with these two wouldn't be a good thing, trust me), you could make identical books and see who finishes faster.

Of course I had to combine a few letters on one page, since there were only 20 pages.  I had at least one image for each letter, some had two or three.  Depending on where you're going, you can tailor the images to your specific trip (more urban, include more logos, or if you're going to the beach, more seaside things).  Here are the ideas I came up with, I'm sure you'll have plenty! 

A airplane, AAA logo

B Burger King, balloon

C cow, cheeseburger

D dog, deer crossing sign

E exit sign, engine trouble

F fence, freeway entrance sign

G gasoline pump, grocery cart

H horse, helicopter

I Icee, ice cream

J Jack In the Box logo

K Burger King

L lamppost, ladder

M mailbox, motorcycle

N Nevada license plate, no smoking sign

O Oregon license plate, orange tree

P police car, pig (I don't know what I was thinking.  I think the image from my daughter's workbook was so cute, I had to include it... my kids are still scratching their heads at that one)

Q Dairy Queen

R radio tower

S sailboat, sand

T train, tractor

U U-turn sign

V Volkswagen beetle, van

W wagon

X railroad crossing sign (there's a big X in the middle)

Y yield sign

Z sleeping passenger

The whole family got in on the action, it really was a fun and inexpensive way to be entertained.  Made everyone more observant and reminded us that there is an awful lot to look at out there instead of just asphalt and the rear ends of cars passing you by.  I love road trips!

Comments

[Nancy]

When our kids were old enough to know their alphabet, we played "the alphabet game". The goal was to spot the letters of the alphabet on road signs IN ORDER... No cheating. They were very competitive and loved this game.

[Pokey]

I like it!

[Ali]

Cool! We have 6 hours cooped up in the car ahead of us on Saturday. Wonder if I have time to make a couple....

[regina]

This is wonderful! I bet the girls just love it.

[Heather - Dollar Store Crafts]

How fun! Thanks for sending me the link!

[Heather - Dollar Store Crafts]

I'll post about this next Sunday on DSC.

[Katie Talbott]

Love this idea! Thanks for sharing it.

[Claudia]

I just discovered your blog today, and love it! I couldn't help but chuckle about your "dilemma" with the pig. But here is a tradition my MIL started with her kids when they were young and on road trips playing that kind of game. And my DH taught it to our children. Anytime there were mixed animals such as horses and cattle in the same field, they were counted as a "pig." I hope this is helpful.

[Christian Louboutin Platforms]

When our kids were old enough to know their alphabet, we played "the alphabet game". The goal was to spot the letters of the alphabet on road signs IN ORDER... No cheating.