What can kids play in the car without a screen?

The constraints are unusual

A child in a car seat can move their hands and their voice and almost nothing else. There is no table. Anything dropped is gone until the next service station. And the one adult who could run a game is driving.

That rules out most board games, most card games and every game that needs a referee. What is left is talking, listening, and looking out of the window.

Games that hold up

I spy, still. Twenty questions, which lasts longer than you expect with a six-year-old. Add-a-line stories. Counting games tied to what is outside. And guessing games, where the thing being guessed is held by something other than the driver.

What they have in common is that a round is short, the rules fit in one sentence, and a child can join halfway through.

Handing the job over

Storyball's car games are built for this: the ball sits in a lap, it asks the questions, it keeps the score and it does not need anyone in the front to adjudicate. It has a car tag on the games that are safe to play strapped in — the ones that do not involve throwing anything.

The sound comes out of the ball rather than the car speakers, which also means one child can play without the whole car having to listen.