Something that has changed a lot over the years has been the go-to way of entertainment. Especially when going on long trips, it can be hard to keep the kiddos in the back seat entertained, so let’s explore some ways we were kept entertained as kids on those long trips over the years!
Boomer Generation (1946-1964)
In the late 50s, Mad Libs started publishing fill-in-the-blank books. From the more recently publications of these I’ve seen, I’m sure they helped at least a few kids remember what “adverbs”, “verbs”, and “nouns” were. Either that, or random words were inserted and those sentences really wouldn’t make a lick of sense at the end of it. At least it was fun!
Another thing that kept kids entertained in the backseat was Car BINGO. It kept kids looking out the window to spot particular models of cars in a time where automobiles were a little bit more unique. You actually had a chance at telling apart a GMC from a Ford, and there were companies that aren’t really around these days, like Studebaker or Oldsmobile! I think that Car BINGO these days would just be stuck on the “Difficult” setting.
Generation X (1965-1980)
For the next generation of kids, the games of BINGO evolved into actual board games. There were options, too, from games that you went on a set path around a board, the pieces attached to the board itself with string, or as a spinning dial on the board, or even magnetic games. You could play a game of checkers without fear of losing all the pieces, as they were all magnetized to the board!
Millenial Generation (1981-1996)
For the Millenials, electronic games took over in the 80s and early 90s! There were games that were only little black characters against a printed LCD screen, often popular as sports games. Or you had something like the Game Boy: all sorts of game options for one system. There were lots of solo games there to keep kids entertained. You might, if you were lucky, have had the Link Cable to play games with your sibling during the trip… as long as the batteries lasted, anyways.
Generation Z (1997-2012)
Generation Z was introduced to portable DVD players. This way your kids could watch their favourite movies on the go. Some of these portable systems even had little games built into them, for more fun. Now these screens are even integrated into the back seats of some newer vehicles! That’s absolutely wild!
Were any of these forms of entertainment that you had while growing up? I hope this was a fun trip down memory lane chatting about Entertainment Through the Generations!
- Tie-Dye Tam
