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52 Fun Things to Do in the Car is one of a selection of card decks you have probably seen on the counter of a toy, gift or bookstore as you take out your wallet to finalize a purchase. Fortunately, this may be the one impulse buy that will actually be put to good use. This edition is a deck of fifty-two playing cards, each of which has the rules for a simple game (a term I use very loosely here) to entertain your children as they travel. Although the title implies the games are for use during a car ride, most can be readily adaptable to any mode of transportation or situation where you are looking for something to keep your children occupied while having them remain seated or relatively still.
I would imagine that if you suggested to your children that they make faces to make one another laugh, they would reject the idea and suggest you try a bit harder to entertain them. However, if those same children flipped through their very own deck of cards and saw these same instructions on a glossy and brightly-colored card with a clever name, they just might decide to play. The same holds true for the suggestion to find each letter of the alphabet on a sign as you pass by, or to draw an animal in the condensation that collects on a backseat window.
In the event you want to participate in a game with your child, there are certainly ideas that will enable you to do so. For example, you can have a conversation using words that correspond to each letter you see on a passing license plate. As an alternative, you could draw a grid with things you will likely pass on your trip (such as a police car, bicycle, or ambulance) and count the number of times you see each during your travels. Some of the games can even be played for the duration of your trip. For example, you can pick five “hot” words that you try to compel the others in your car to say during the ride while you try to avoid using them yourself.
Some ideas will likely be familiar to you, such as twenty questions or charades, and others may seem like a random thought that popped into the creator’s head. However, while it is true that each game does not represent a spectacular showing of creativity or talent, it will likely provide some degree of entertainment—and its small size makes it incredibly easy to take it with you regardless of where you might be headed. Most important is the fact that if you are sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic at your wits end, pulling this deck of cards from your glove compartment may be just what you need to enjoy your ride.
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52 Fun Things to Do in the Car