If you prepare a backseat scavenger hunt for a long car ride, your children may be too busy looking out the window to notice how long you've been on the road.

Before you head out, make 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 McDonald's restaurant, a silo, and so on. 

Give the children the list to work on together or divide it among them, so that each child is looking for different items. Alternatively, you can let them create 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 onto a piece of paper. Have children cross off items from 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.