Excerpt: Lonely Planet's Travel with Children

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Games that take attention outside the car often prevent car sickness as well as making the trip go faster. Games with activity can stop kids from squirming in the back seat. At night, substitute talking games or use night landmarks like neon signs or tail lights for spotting games.

SINGING IN ECHOES This is a noisy one, so avoid it if you feel a headache coming on or if you've still got a long journey ahead. Take it in turns to make up a line of a song (nonsense words work best) with the rest of the family repeating it as a chorus. Another player sings the previous line and adds one on. Keep adding until your memories fail.

PASSING CARS A nice easy creative game. Get the kids to make up stories about the people in other cars that pass you based on the quick look they get as they pass. Ask questions to get them thinking—What are their names? Where are they going? Is one of them a superhero travelling in disguise?

BUZZ WORDS Gets kids listening to the radio and keeping quiet. Choose a word (start with easy ones like 'song' 'listening' or 'news') and listen out for it on the radio in songs or DJs' announcements. Shout out 'Buzz' when the word comes up. Readers can look for buzz words on road signs and advertising.

LICENCE PLATE GAMES Make a phrase out of the letters in a licence plate with the first one to make sense winning. Have kids spot their initials in passing plates (first to get all their initials wins). Choose a word and spell it out using license plate letters (use familiar things like pets or school friends to ground kids in unfamiliar territory). Use the numbers to play car 21—get the kids to add up all the numbers on a number plate in passing cars. GMZ 421, for example, would add up to 7, while 969 would break the bank with 24. Players can ask for another card (the first number of the next car), but if they go over 21 they break the bank. Take it in turns with the closest to 21 (but still under) winning. Or for an easier game, see how many different countries or states you can collect on licence plates.