Grade-Schoolers

You don't say... Make a list of words that no one's allowed to say, such as "car," "tree," and "Dad." When someone utters a forbidden word, she has to entertain everyone else with a silly song or story (or some other "punishment" of your family's devising).

Hue hunt Give all passengers paper and a pencil, then have each person pick a different color and print it at the top of his page. When you yell "Go!" everyone should look for passing cars and trucks in the color they chose. The first one to get ten wins. Pick new colors to start again.

From A to Z Find one object  -- inside the car or out the window  -- that starts with each letter of the alphabet. You can search as a team or individually.

Repeat after me Have the youngest child in the car start by saying, "I have something in my pocket, and it's a _________" (she should fill in whatever object she wants). Each subsequent player repeats that sentence and adds an item to the list. The trick: You have to name every object in the correct order or you're out.

Dig for digits Pick a number  -- as simple as 4 or as hard as 102  -- and see who can be the first to find it on a street sign, billboard, or license plate.

Rosemary Black is the food editor at The New York Daily News and author of the Kids' Holiday Baking Book.

Thanks to Penny Warner, author of Great Games for Kids on the Go; Stephanie Calmenson and Joanna Cole, coauthors of Fun on the Run: Travel Games and Songs; and Laurie Waldstein and Leslie Zinberg, coauthors of The Pink and Blue Baby Pages, for many of these game suggestions.

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