AGES:  Prereaders, beginning readers, older readers

MATERIALS:  Paper and pencil

Before you head out, make up a long list of various things your children are likely to see from the car (or bus or train) window.  For example:  a license plate beginning with the letter C, an old tire, a tow truck, an overpass, a city that is named after a woman, a McDonalds restaurant, a silo, and so on.

Give the children the long list to work on together or divide up the list so that each child is looking for different items.  Or let them make up lists for each other.

For children who can't yet read, make a picture list by cutting out magazine pictures of signs and other common roadside attractions, like cows and pay telephones.  Glue the cutouts on a piece of paper.

The children cross items of their lists or circle the pictured objects as they find them.  If they wish, they can call out when they see something so the other players can corroborate.  Let the winner of the backseat scavenger hunt be the first one out of the car when you stop to stretch your legs, or the one who gets to ride in the front seat for a while.