Maths made fun! It must be 'Car Cricket'

As part of our 15 games to entertain kids on long car journeys series to help you survive an upcoming trip in one piece, try this game of car cricket which will lead to a few fits of laughter amongst the family.

In a nutshell...

A game of cricket, but played in the car. Different coloured cars equate to different numbers of runs, but watch out for a red car as you'll be out!

This will stop you getting asked "are we nearly there yet?" for...

About 30 minutes.

LOL factor:

Medium.

Required Mensa levels:

A bit of counting skill is needed, but pretty easy. Anyone aged 9 - 99 will be able to enjoy Car Cricket!

Instructions:

The aim of this game is to see which player can score the most runs. Passengers play as individuals, and each player in the car takes a turn to ‘bat’.

How many runs the batter scores whilst ‘in’ is determined by the colour of the cars that pass by on the opposite side of the road, or if you're on a motorway, the cars that are overtaken or overtake you. Suggested scores and colours are:

A white car = One run

A blue car = Two runs

A green car = Four runs

A yellow car = Six runs

A red car = Out!

There is no limit to how long a batter can be 'in' - they continue to score runs as cars pass them until a red car is passed. When that happens, the batter is 'out', their score for that innings is added to their total, and then the next player is ‘in’.

The person with the highest score after a set number of innings (depending on how long the trip is) is the winner.

Some rules to avoid arguments:

• The cars that are passed must be moving.
• Cars must be cars and not vans or trucks.
• The umpire’s decision is final!

Some tips and variants:

• Feel free to change the colours and scores.
• Instead of cars, you could use vans, lorries, caravans and buses. Just make sure to let players know which vehicle types count at the beginning of the game.
• Be careful to keep track of who’s in and out when passing a stream of red cars!

Looking for more car games?

You can see our full list of games to entertain kids on long car journeys here, providing you with plenty of ways to keep the kids occupied no matter their age or the length of your journey.