Car Games for Kids

(…that are travel-friendly but can be played anywhere!)

As we are preparing for a cross-country move, with a 2 week road trip between locations, we’ve been gathering travel-friendly items to keep the kids busy. I made up a kid-friendly adapted version of the popular “Guess Who” game that will work great as part of our collection of car games for kids. I’m guessing that the name of the game is trademarked, so I’m calling my version “Guess My Character.” 🙂

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If you’ve been to McDonald’s recently, you’ve probably noticed the game series in their kids’ meals – I’m honestly impressed with the quality of the “free toys” they’re providing at the moment! Our boys had a lot of fun with the miniature “Guess Who” game that came in one of their kid meals, but they quickly lost the little tiny pieces, so I set about creating a similar version that would be more travel-friendly. (Please note: I am not condoning eating at McDonalds; I’m just saying we happened to get some toys from the kids’ meals there. Also, we’re in the moving process so these things happen sometimes. 😉 )

This is a simple 2 page pdf printable version; all you need to do is print it out and cut the pieces along 3 sides (keeping one side attached).

Game Play Instructions:

Each player will get a game board and fold up all their character pieces. (These will need to be pre-cut; I’ve included a tip in the printed instructions to make this easier than it looks ;).) They will choose a character by either circling it from the list on the bottom or making a mental note of it. Then they begin taking turns asking each other yes/no questions.

Based on their partner’s answers, each player will fold down the characters that don’t match their criteria. They will take turns with this, eliminating possible characters until only one remains – and if they did everything right, that should be the character the other person chose!

A few ideas to get you started:

Older kids can enjoy the strategy element of figuring out which questions will yield the most helpful results. Basically, yes/no questions that apply to about half the characters still standing will usually help them win the game as fast as possible.

Younger kids may need some ideas of good questions to ask, so they don’t focus in one just one character at a time. Here’s some ideas to get them started.

• Is your character a gumdrop? (or cute monster)
• Is your character in the middle column? (Or 4th row, etc.)
• Is your character showing teeth?
• Is your character smiling with a half smile? (or full smile / open mouth smile)
• Is your character green? (pick any color)

This game can be easily stored in a plastic page protector – it’s flat, relatively small, and there are no small pieces to lose! 🙂

Learning Math while playing games 🙂

Although I intended this to be a “just for fun” game, as I played it through several times with Superman (almost 5 y.o.) I realized that this involved some pretty solid math skills.

• Categorizing: Kids will learn to group characters by different categories – color, shape, type of smile, etc.
• Position: Since both boards match, kids can ask if the other player’s character is in a certain row or column, introducing an intuitive concept of graphs and tables.
• Logic: As kids decide which questions to ask, they will practice decision-making skills that work to optimize their chances of winning. Also, I’ve been impressed with the amount of deductive logic that comes into play as they figure out which characters to eliminate based on the Yes or No answers. (You may have to play this once through to understand what I mean here … )

FREE PRINTABLE

If you are currently a subscriber, look for your free pdf version of this game in this week’s newsletter. If you are not yet a subscriber but would like to receive updates about new posts and access to free printables (as well as subscriber-only discounts on larger items), please join us by signing up using the form at the bottom of this post. I try to send out a new freebie every week!

DOLLAR DEAL

If you are not a subscriber but would like to purchase this game, I am selling it for $1 in my store. You can find it here: Guess My Character

Either way, I hope you and your kids enjoy playing this game and honing their logic skills! 🙂

If you’re looking for more math games for Pre-K – 3rd grade, check out these posts as well:

• 3-in-1 sequencing activities: Days of the Week (includes a free printable!)
• 10 Fun Learning Activities to Do in Your Own Backyard: Math & Art
• 8 Math Game Boards for Addition through Division
• Scavenger Hunt: Numbers and Letters in Real Life

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