If you have a long road trip coming up (and let’s face it, even a two hour drive seems long with antsy kids), it’s helpful to have a few extra tricks up your sleeve to thwart any whining. These seven simple games to play in the car will help pass the time.

Road Bingo: Print out bingo cards (using the online source below) and your kids can keep busy searching for stop signs, motorcycles, and farms. If you have time, laminate the cards, attach them to a clipboard, and give the kids dry-erase markers to check off the sights. This way you can wipe the sheets clean and re-use them for the trip home.

The Alphabet Game: Take turns trying to find all the letters of the alphabet on road signs, billboards, and storefronts. This is a good car game to relieve pent-up energy, since it usually involves a lot of yelling and pointing.

The Classic Count Cows (or Horses) Game: This car game works well for two kids seated on opposite sides of the car, especially when driving through the country. Each child keeps a count of the cows (or horses) they see out of their window. The first to reach 100 cows wins the game. If you pass a cemetery on your side of the car, you lose all of your cows. You can also add variations: a church could double your points, for example.

“I’m going on a picnic”: Another classic. The first person starts with “I’m going on a picnic and I’m going to bring an apple” (or other item starting with the letter A). The second person repeats what the first person said, then adds a B item. “I’m going on a picnic and I’m going to bring an apple and a blueberry pie.” The game continues with the player who gets “Z” repeating everything that came before. If you want this game to be more competitive, anyone who flubs a line is out of the game.

Story Round: The first person begins with a story starter, such as “Deep in the woods on a stormy night, a wolf was howling.” The second person takes over and adds another sentence, “The wolf was hungry because he couldn’t find any trolls to eat”. The third person adds another sentence, “The trolls were all away at Mardi Gras.” The results of this game can get pretty hilarious, with everyone vying to turn the story back to their chosen version.

Who Can Stay Quiet the Longest: Great game to play when you need a few minutes of silence. Everyone tries to refrain from making any noises for as long as possible. Bring along a prize for the winner.

“I Spy”: This is a good game to play in the car with kids who can think fast. Choose an item out of the approaching scenery (perhaps a diner) and say, “I spy with my little eye, something with neon lights” (or whatever describes the object). Whoever yells out the answer first gets to be the new spy. Give younger kids clues to something inside the car so they can take their time figuring out the answer.