The license plate game

We all play it when we travel, right?  Surely we're not the only ones.  Chris is obsessed with the license plate game when we're on the highway.  Obsessed.  Although, in the past he's just yelled out every license plate he's seen.  It gets old.  Fast.  And who knows how many states we actually see. 

So, for a Christmas present to the family this year, we bought this game.

It. Is. Awesome.  On our recent trip to Colorado we got it out.  Whenever someone - mostly Chris - saw a new license plate, we would flip the plate on the game board.  At the end of the trip, we were only missing 9 states.  Pretty impressive.  It helps that we went to a ski town during winter break.  The kids loved it!  On the flip side, the state capitols were listed.  And, if you wanted, it could be competitive.  One side was red, and another blue, so I could have flipped it to blue every time Chris spotted the plate.  But to be fair, he would have dominated.  Though, the kids really got into it and could have at least been competitive! 

If you travel a lot, or just need a lot of tricks in your bag to make the trip more bearable, this would be a great idea.  Yes, I'm a nerd for writing about a game, but as a mom of four, I will do just about anything to make a trip easier on all of us. And the idea that the kids are actually looking outside the van and noticing what's around them instead of just staring at a tiny movie screen - we'll that's just awesome enough to write about!