Group GamesRoad Bingo
Each player has a card with nine or sixteen things that can be seen from a window. The first to spot a full line of them wins. It turns a long drive or train ride into a hunt, and children stop asking how far it is.
Make the cards at home before the trip. Every card should have the same things in a different order, so that the game is fair and no two players finish together by accident.
- Players
- 2 or more
- Time
- 30 minutes or the whole journey
- You need
- A card and a pencil for each player
- Ages
- 6 and above
- Type
- Travel and family games
Who it suits and when to play
Road Bingo suits children from six upward on a car, bus or train journey of an hour or more, and adults often play their own card. It turns looking out of the window into a hunt. Make the cards before leaving home. For children who cannot read, draw the things instead of writing them.
How to play
- Draw a grid of three by three squares on a card for each player. For older children, use four by four.
- Write or draw one thing in each square, choosing from the list below. Mix easy things with one or two rare ones.
- On the journey, a player who sees a thing calls it out and crosses that square.
- Only the first player to call a particular sighting may cross it. The others wait for the next one.
- The first player to cross three squares in a line, across, down or corner to corner, shouts "Bingo" and wins the round.
- Swap cards and play again, or play on for the full card.
Things to spot on a road journey
- A tractor
- A petrol pump
- A bridge over a river
- A milestone with a number on it
- A dhaba with cots outside
- A yellow number plate
- A cow or buffalo
- A temple, mosque, gurdwara or church
- A truck with a painted back
- A bus with luggage on the roof
- A bicycle carrying two people
- A field with a scarecrow
- A railway crossing
- A water tank on a tower
- A person selling fruit
- A windmill or a line of electricity towers
- A school bus
- A hill or a mountain
- A flag
- A dog sleeping in the shade
Tips and variations
- For a train journey, change the list: a station name board, a level crossing, a tunnel, a river bridge, a tea seller, a signal.
- Team version for a full car: the left side of the car plays against the right side, each watching its own window.
- Quiet version: players cross squares silently and show the card to the judge when they have a line.
Common problems and how to fix them
- Two players spot the same thing. The first to call it out marks it. The other must find another one.
- One square is never found. Agree that a card needs any one full line, not every square.
- The driver is asked to look. The driver is the judge of disputes, by voice only, and never looks for things.
More travel and family games
- I Spy 10 minutes
- A to Z Game 10 to 15 minutes
- Atlas 10 to 20 minutes
- The Counting Game 10 to 20 minutes
Need fair teams or someone to go first? Use the team maker. See all 45 games.