Take Advantage of The Mundane (Car Rides)

Early in my young single dad days with three little ones, car rides were often exhausting. The darn kids would argue about the dumbest things. It got to be exhausting just to take a ride to school. They would even argue as we were getting loaded in the car. Of course it didn’t happen every single time but it happened enough that I finally decided I had to do something other than offering some dumb prize to all for a “car ride without arguments”. We tried the quiet game but they caught on to that one pretty quick and it was no longer fun. I tried consequences but that just put us all in bad moods. Treats were helpful at times but I grew tired of incentivizing my kiddos and it worked at times but it just felt wrong as a normal order of parenting. One day when I was near my wits end, I came up with an idea that was so stinking simple that I knew it couldn’t possibly work. Boy was I wrong. My three were probably 5, 7 and 9 when I started this and it’s still a favorite to this day. In fact, my three like it so much that we have played it at the dinner table, in restaurants and even when they have friends over and we are just sitting around doing nothing. Do you wanna know my secret? Like I said, it’s stupidly simple. I call it “The Question Game”. 😛 I have shared my little secret with many frustrated parents over the years and many of them have the same comment/question. “How do you come up with questions when you are trying to drive?” Maybe I’m weird but it’s insanely easy for me. I just look around and let my environment feed my brain goofy questions that would fit most age groups. Don‘t tell anyone but as I write this I am driving my truck.

(Believe it or not, I can type without looking at my phone. 🤷‍♂️🤦‍♂️)

I’m gonna type 20 questions that come to mind as I drive and think. Here we go.…

Question Game Questions

1. How many colors are in the Wal-Mart sign?

2. What are they?

3. What is another name for an 18 Wheeler?

4. What is the 16th letter in the alphabet?

5. Who are the mascots for Rice Krispies?

6. What was President Reagan’s first name?

7. Who founded Apple?

8. What do cows drink?

9. According to Folgers, what is the best part of waking up?

10. Who is the Mayor of our Town/City?

11. What commercial transportation item is made by the Boeing company?

12. What does UPS stand for?

13. According to Mr Owl on Bambi, what would you be if you were twitterpated?

14. What is the slogan for McDonalds?

15. What company has a doughboy as its mascot?

16. Name 2 fruits that are red on the inside

17. Name 4 types of beans

18. What was the first name of the prince in The Little Mermaid?

19. Name three animals that are only black & white in color.

20. What car company manufactures the Corvette?
    

See how easy those are? Those questions take no degree in science or math or even an academic background. They’re just simple common sense questions that anyone can think through. Oh and in case you are wondering, we don’t raise hands to answer. That could be dangerous for the driver. I simply assigned each of them a letter of the alphabet that they yell out when they want to answer. You can also use their first names but if one kid has a one syllable name and one has a three syllable name, it’s an opportunity for a disagreement so we just go with a letter. Needless to say, nobody chooses “W” 😛. First one to say their letter gets to answer. If they blurt out the answer without being called on they lose a point. We always played to 10 points. Believe me, it takes a while but keeps their attention. Try it sometime. It’s a great way to turn boring or exacerbating car rides into fun engaging times with the family.

Let us know when you play. And feel free to share your creative questions. Happy playing. 😊