party · scavenger hunt · free printable
Free Printable Road Trip Scavenger Hunt
The back seat of a car is the one place a printed sheet beats a screen.
Made by the PaperCarnival team · Updated
24 things to find · a fresh sheet for every child · US Letter & A4
- Someone waving
- A church tower or a spire
- A bridge
- A speed limit sign
- A river or a lake
- A sign with a picture and no words
- A motorbike
- A caravan or a trailer
- A yellow vehicle
- A road with no lines on it
- Roadworks
- A windmill or a wind turbine
A car is the one place where a printed sheet genuinely beats a screen. No signal, no charge, no argument about whose turn it is on the tablet, and nobody feeling sick from looking down. This hunt gives each child twelve things to spot out of the window, drawn from a list of twenty four, so the two sides of the back seat are not competing for the same cow.
The items are chosen to be common enough that everyone finishes eventually and rare enough that the last few take real patience: a water tower, a road with no lines on it, a sign with a picture and no words, someone waving.
Print a stack the night before and put them in the car with a pencil each. Whoever finishes first picks the music, which costs nothing and is taken extremely seriously. If your route has something worth watching for, open the hunt in the generator and write it in before you go.
The things to find
Every item on the list, or edit the list in the generator
- A red car
- A bridge
- A cow or a horse
- A bird on a wire
- A caravan or a trailer
- A tunnel
- A water tower
- A tractor
- A speed limit sign
- A car with a roof box
- A river or a lake
- A windmill or a wind turbine
- A road with no lines on it
- Someone waving
- A hill with something on top
- A petrol station
- A yellow vehicle
- A field with rows in it
- A sign with a picture and no words
- A motorbike
- A flag
- A church tower or a spire
- A car towing something
- Roadworks
Ways to run it
No signal needed
Paper works in a tunnel, in the mountains, and on a flat battery. That is the whole argument for it.
First to finish picks the music
A prize that costs nothing and is taken extremely seriously.
Both windows
Give the two sides of the car different sheets and neither child can claim the other one had it easier.
Questions
Does every child get a different list?
Yes, a different twelve of the twenty four items, which is what stops the argument about who saw it first.
Does it need a phone or a signal?
No. A printed sheet and a pencil work in a tunnel, in the mountains, and with every device dead.
Will it work on any route?
Mostly. The items are common enough for motorway or country driving, and you can swap in what suits your route in the generator.
How long does it last?
Longer than you would think. Twelve items on a moving road usually covers an hour or two, and the last few take real patience.