Crazy Road Trip Stuff You Should Totally Do

Time with teenagers is valuable. Why not maximize every part of it, including your road trip! Whether it’s a few hours or a few days, make the most of it. Try some of these fun activities on the way to your mission trip this summer, and get an early start on the adventure, team building and laughter.

Road Tripper’s Got Talent

Your students have some great talents. Why not give them the opportunity to show them off during the van ride? Put on a talent show where everyone must perform from their seat. Duos and trios are welcome. Be sure to give them at least three hours to plan and build anticipation for the talent show. When it’s time for the show make sure you have an emcee (just probably not the driver!).

 

AND if you want to take it up a notch on the musical front, buy the instrumental versions of songs from iTunes. If you have an auxiliary cord you can easily connect your iPod to the speaker system. People in the van can sing as solo acts or belt songs out as a group.

Van Call Serenade

It can work with two vans but the ideal number is three. Call another van in your group and put the call on speakerphone. Once connected, serenade them as a van. Once your song is complete, challenge them to sing a song of your choosing. They then need to call you back and perform that song, or if there are more than two vans, the next call would be to the third van.

Ultimate Fire Drill

Everyone loves a good fire drill while road tripping, but why not spice up your fire drill? Instead of running around the vehicle, have your teenagers perform some other crazy action before piling back in, like building the world’s fastest human pyramid then switching what vehicle they’re riding in. Of course, make sure you are putting safety first and doing the fire drill in a low traffic area.

$5 Pit Stop

This will require a special pit stop where you only let one student get out of the van. Give this student $5 and send them into a convenient store with the instructions that they need to buy a snack for everyone with that $5. Give them only have 2 minutes to do so. Let them know that you are timing them and that you will leave without them if they aren’t back in time (wink, wink).

Van Video… Vandeo!

Bring something to capture video along with you on your trip (maybe simply a phone). Bring a script along and assign parts – if you are feeling creative you can write your own script or just find something online. If you pass a thrift store on your trip this could be a great place to stop for props and costumes. You never know, an Oscar may be in your future!

VAN-triloquist

Pick one person in your van to call a person in another van without telling you who they are calling. Once the person in the other van is on the phone the person in your van repeats everything that person is saying to the people in your van. Everyone in the van gets one guess who is on the other end. The person who guesses correctly is the winner and gets to call a person in the next round of Van-triloquist.

Mini Treasure Hunt

Send your students on a treasure hunt adventure while they are buckled in their seats. Before you take off, hide tiny slips of paper with clues all over the van. Just make sure they are in easy to reach places from their seats. Think of fun and unique hiding spots like a wallet, a shoe, a seatback, etc. At the end of the treasure hunt have a bag of candy hidden in the van for them to find and enjoy.

 

Have your own crazy road trip ideas? Share them below. Happy driving!

 

 

In high school Kryn was a student on many different YouthWorks trips and served as summer staff starting in 2008, when she spent her first summer in Booneville. Kryn has been working in the YouthWorks office since 2011, and currently helps manage YouthWorks’ social media and marketing campaigns. When she isn’t at the office you can usually find her at a coffee shop with a friend or at home with her cat Cupcake.