It’s hard to finance a long vacation given the current state of our economy, so many families are trying out the “staycation” idea.  One fun thing you can do that doesn’t cost very much is to take a one-day road trip someplace near where you live that you haven’t yet explored and play a staycation game along the way.  Turn off the mini-van TVs and ipods, and try out this fun staycation game for the road:

Road Trip BINGO

Make a 5×5 square inch grid…easy to do on the computer or even just with a ruler and copy paper.  Put one letter of the word B-I-N-G-O above each column.   Fill each square with things you see on the trip.  You can just write the words or if you have little ones, find some free clipart and cut/paste pictures of things you see while you drive.  You’ll need 24. Here is a sample list, but feel free to add to it/change:  In the middle square put “free”.  On the remaining squares put: stop sign, stop light, bridge, yield sign, 65 mph sign, McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s (or your other favorites), gas station, crosswalk, exit sign, semi truck, police car, rest area, animal  tractor-trailer ( with horses, chickens, cows, etc.), bus, red sports car, white mini-van, hotel, shopping mall, HOV lane, fire station, office building, billboard, gray truck.

You can also play License-Plate BINGO.  Just mark the squares (except the “free” space) with the names of different states.

As passengers see the various things on the BINGO card, they can put a sticker or stamp on that square.  The person who fills a row, column or diagonal calls out “BINGO” and is the winner!  Have a fun prize for the winner, or something special they get to do when you arrive back at home.  Make multiple copies of the game board and have lots of stickers if you want to play either game more than once.  Have fun and drive safely!