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Excerpt: Lonely Planet's Travel with Children

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Most of these games use few props so they're very mobile and require little preparation. This is not a definitive list and we left off classics such as I-spy; rock, paper, scissors; charades and Simon says, in favour of games that will give you ideas for more games. Think of these games as suggestions and change the rules to suit your family.

The best games rely on imagination—a fantastically portable commodity found in most kids.

COPYCAT One player pulls a face or makes a movement (like a robot, a monkey or a ballerina, for example) and the next player must copy it. Play around by giving kids roles they're not used to and working in characters you've met on your travels. More advanced games can use noises.

TWO TRUTHS AND ONE LIE Each player takes it in turns to make three statements, two of which are true and one of which is a lie. The other players try to guess which statement is a lie, holding up one, two or three fingers to indicate the lie. You can keep a score over a couple of rounds or let whoever guessed correctly take the next turn as liar.

CLAPPING CATEGORIES Clapping hands, snapping fingers or slapping thighs, create a rhythm that all the players can keep up (younger players will be better at easier rhythms, such as simple 1-2-3-4 clapping). Now introduce a simple category (such as vegetables, films or colours) each player takes it in turns to say something in the category at a point in the rhythm (try clap-clap-clap-'apple' for starters). Harder than it sounds and it gets harder.

I WENT TO THE SHOP AND I BOUGHT… Each player chooses something they bought at the shop with the next player having to recite everything the previous players bought at the shop as well as adding something to the list. When a player forgets something they are out of the game and the remaining players battle it out. Longer things might be easier to remember, but try throwing in leftfield things like 'a stinky, hairy, man-eating piano' or 'a nice new suit and tie for my pet chimp, Gilbert.'

WORD ASSOCIATION Not just for psychiatrists, this is a quick game to play anywhere with two players. Say a word and the other player responds with the first word that comes into their head. Keep it quick to keep it fun.

SAME NAME One player chooses the full name of a famous person and the next player has to think of a famous person whose name begins with the first letter of the last person's name. For example, Player One might say Winston Churchill and the next player would have to follow with someone whose first name begins with C, say Charlie Brown, and so on.

RHYME TIME Think of a word (children's names can keep it interesting) and go around the group finding words that rhyme with it. Younger players might need hints. The player who thinks of the most rhymes gets to choose the word next round.

TALK TO THE ANIMAL One player chooses an animal character to be for the round and the other players talk to it until they guess what kind of an animal it is. First to correctly guess the animal gets to be the next animal. Throw in family pets, animals you've seen along the way and mythical monsters to keep it tricky.

ODDS AND EVENS A quick easy game for two players. One player chooses to play odds and the other plays evens. Both players shoot by saying '1-2-3-shoot' and sticking out a chosen number of fingers. Add up both hands to see if the total is odd or even, with whoever guessed correctly winning that round. It's such a simple game that it can be played with local children in playgrounds throughout the world.