Games: How to Play “Car”

When my sister and I were little, I made up a really good game called “Car”. We played it again the other day with her 3 year old son who is the perfect age for it. To play Car, the bigger person should lie face down on the floor or a bed. They’re the Car! The Car’s arms are her doors. So, to let the driver get in, stick out your arm. When we played this game in the mid to late 1970s, car doors were just starting to make a little electronic alarm sound when they were left open. Stick out your arm and say “ding ding ding” or “beep beep beep.” The driver should then get into the car by sitting on your butt, facing backwards. Remind your driver to close the door!

Your feet are the steering wheel. Tell the driver to start the car and hold the steering wheel. Now steer all over the place! Swerve! Basically, move your feet around wildly (or as steered) while making vroom noises.

The best part of this game is making the door pop open. Put down your feet and refuse to vroom. Make an annoying beeping noise until the driver closes the door. Then pop open the other door. This can go on for a while until you’re laughing really hard.

At some point you will need to crash the car, dumping out the kid. You might also get a flat tire. They can get out and fix your tires for a while.

So if you need a game where you get to just lie on the floor and make some funny noises, this is very amusing and if your driver doesn’t bounce too much, it can be a nice rest. It will hurt your back less if the driver sits more on your legs than on your mid-back. And don’t expect to gain any dignity points during this process.

It was hilarious watching our kids play Car last weekend. All the grownups who had physical stamina (not me, and not Oblomovka…) had a turn being the Car. When my sister and I played it, she was probably around 3 or 4, and I would have been 8 or 9. We played a lot of games like this, that didn’t need any special equipment or a lot of room and that must have been extremely funny for the grownups to watch. I might just blog all the made-up games I can remember!