One thing that goes hand in hand with traveling is waiting. Waiting to get on an airplane, driving in the car, standing in line for rides, or sitting at a dinner table waiting for food. While there are some situations where we let our kids have their iPads or our phones, there are many times we are conserving batteries, don’t have electronics, or the dreaded moment when batteries are dead. We also usually travel with a deck of cards and the card game “Spot It” which is great for dinner situations or waiting for a plane, but not for on-the-go situations.

I remember going on trips with my grandma growing up, and due to her many years of being a teacher, she had so many games up her sleeve. My mom was also a teacher so she continued these games plus added additional ones. I have lovingly taught these games to my kids as well as made up a couple new ones.

Here are some of our favorite ways to pass the time without electronics or physical games:

• Yes/No Guessing Game: This is the one my kids play the most, mainly because you can easily change the theme for something that is interesting for your kids or relevant in the moment. First I pick a theme, and then I think of one thing that is part of the theme and the kids have to guess using yes or no questions. For example, when we were waiting at the airport after our cruise I chose the theme of “something on the cruise.” It could be an activity, a show, a food, etc. The kids would say “does it have to do with water?”, “was it something we did?”, “was it for kids only?” etc. Some easy themes are movies, characters, rides, animals, etc. This one is really easy for all ages (it may take younger kids awhile to understand how to ask yes/no questions) and it doesn’t get very competitive because they are guessing as a group.
• Would you rather…: This is another favorite, because the kids can get really goofy with it and they like thinking about their answer. Each question has two options and you have to pick one of the options. For example, would you rather have pizza or spaghetti for the rest of your life? We take turns coming up with the question. 
• I Spy: An oldie but still a goodie. One person finds an item around them and states the color “I spy something blue….”. The rest of the group takes turns trying to guess what it is. We all take turns being the person that picks an item. 
• ABC Game: This one is mainly done in a car, but it could be adapted for other situations. You have to look around and find letters in the same order as the ABCs. You can make it broad and look at everything around you (license, billboards, road signs, etc) or just use license plates for car rides. Once someone finds A, you move on to trying to find B. This isn’t competitive and can be played with the entire group. It does require that kids know their letters. 
• Secret Handshakes: While waiting in a long line at Disney with Stella, we randomly decided to make up a secret handshake. Not only was it fun in the moment, but we continue to do the secret handshake and it is something special between us. This can be done with parents, siblings, friends, etc. and it is highly entertaining trying to think up fun options!
• “La La La”: My mother and grandmother would do this game with me growing up. One person picks a song and sings it using only the sounds “la” to make the rhythm.  The other people need to guess the song. Whoever guesses the song right gets to go, or you can just take turns to make it less competitive. You can pick easy ones like “happy birthday” or nursery rhymes for younger kids. 
• Drawing on backs: Another one from my mom, you draw a shape or a letter on the other persons back, and they have to try to figure out what you drew. Shapes work best for little kids. This is also a great game if you are trying to calm down a toddler because they have to keep still and focus. It can also be soothing since you are rubbing their back in a sense.
• Head, Shoulders, Knees,  Toes, GRAB!: We learned this from the manager of one of the lodges we stayed at in Tanzania. You have two people stand face to face, and you put something in the middle of them on the ground. Then a third person starts naming off body parts for them to touch. So if the person said touch your toes, each individual would touch their toes. When the third person says grab, they have to quickly try to grab the item in between them on the floor and whoever gets it wins! This one can definitely get competitive, so plan accordingly!
• Sticks: This is a game my daughter actually taught us where you use your hand and fingers. It is a little complicated to explain…so hopefully I do it justice. You have two players (maybe you can play with more, but we have only done two) and you have both your hands out, but only one finger pointed out on each hand. You take turns back and forth, and you tap one of the other persons hands. When you tap their hand, however many fingers you had on your hand they have to add to their hand. So if they had one finger out, and you tapped them with your hand that had two fingers, they have to add two more fingers to their hand. Once a hand has all five fingers pointed, that hand is out. You can also use “transfer” where if you have four fingers out on one of your hands and only one finger on the other, you can transfer fingers to the other hand. If you transfer, that is your turns so you skip your option to tap your opponent. If you had a hand that is out, you can still transfer fingers to that hand so that you have two hands again. Once someone has both hands out they lose.