Will you be traveling for Thanksgiving? Hopping in a car or van with several other people to spend hours together in a confined space? If so, are you anticipating some conflict?
I am.
The Problem
My husband and I will drive to Tennessee with our four lovely, yet noisy and independent minded, children. My new Honda minivan has all of the swanky upgrades – the sunroof, the Bluetooth, and the cool box. But it’s missing the most important feature: a sound proof glass barrier between the driver’s area and the rest of the van. You know, like the ones you find in limousines?
We could keep the kids quiet by letting them play on electronic gadgets the entire trip. Right now, they love a game called Mine Craft. In it, they search for resources, build homes, and fight off monsters. They can play across devices, so at least they are interacting with each other, but still, can’t we find something more thought-provoking?
The Solution
When you have reached that point, when you can’t tolerate the tension/arguing/boredom any longer, grab your smart phone and surf to the website www.sporcle.com. There, you will find “mentally stimulating diversions” in several categories, like geography, entertainment, movies, and, most importantly to word nerds, literature.
Choose a trivia quiz that appeals to you and your road trip companions. Some options from 
the literature section include:
- Lord of the Rings or IKEA– Determine if a name is from LOTR or the Scandinavian store (hilarious)
- Harry Potter: Last Words– Name the characters who spoke the listed quote (sniffle)
- Literary Lovers– Name a literary figure’s famous lover. (This one is tough; it includes easy ones like Juliet as well more obscure characters like Lady Rowena, Marius Pontmercy, and Bathsheba Everdene.)
- Children’s Book Characters– name the character shown (great for younger players)
- Hunger Games Name Game– determine if the name listed is actually a character from the trilogy (there are a ton of names!)
And guess what? All of the quizzes are timed. No pressure.
I can’t wait to play the LOTR/IKEA one, as I am a Tolkien fanatic, enthusiastically looking forward to The Hobbit’s release next month. My husband isn’t good with names, so I actually have a chance of beating him at something. But, my twelve-year-old son just read through all the Tolkien books again… GAME ON!
Happy travels, if applicable, and have a wonderful holiday.
Do you have a favorite road trip survival technique that you’d like to share?
Ah yes, the soundproof glass panel… I’d trade my butt-warmer for one of those 😉 We each ask questions and discuss everyone’s answers. You make it age-appropriate, which keeps things fresh!
On our last trip, I asked
“If you could have dinner with any famous person
from any historical era
at any time in their lives,
who would that be, and why?”
Mine was Robert E. Lee the night before he surrendered. I forgot Steve’s and Sarah’s answers, but Scott’s floored all of us: Adolph Hitler. (WHAT??) But his reasons were sound and more insightful than we gave him credit for!
Hope you enjoy your time with family, and have a happy Thanksgiving, Julia!
I love this idea and will use it on our trip. With 6-12 year olds, I’m sure we won’t be discussion such important historical figures as Robert E Lee. My guess is my daughter will choose Michael Phelps!
Just a correction–it’s sporcle.com (I know because I am totally addicted and have been for years! lol). My family first discovered the site a few Thanksgivings ago and ended up around the living room yelling answers to the quizzes to each other. Good luck road trippin’!
Thanks Kelly! Will edit that now! Such an awesome site. I’m sorry I didn’t find it sooner. Thanks!
My husband and I are currently on our Thanksgiving road trip and we LOVE sporkle. We played it in the car today! We especially like the geography games.
Geography is what brought me to Sporcle. My daughter needed to review her state capitals- it was a beneficial game for both of us!! Have a great trip!
ps. aaahh, forgot to say that I love the new look on your site! Very nice, 🙂
Julia,
You are hilarious! My van is missing the sound proof barrier too! 😉 hhmmm,
I love your ideas about road trips and I was not familiar with that website – we will have to totally check it out. 😉
And, (I know you would like to know this), I am ordering tickets next week for the Hobbit – I’m going to surpise my 13yr. old son and take him to the 12:01am showing!! (but he won’t know it until I wake him up at 11:30pm. 😉
Have a fun Thanksgiving,
Love, Hester 😉
Cool Hester, I do like your plan. Good luck staying up late- I’m sure your son will be so excited! Have you seen the other movies? Thanks for the compliment on the new site. I’m enjoying it.