A few years ago, I bought my kids (now ages 5 and 8) a Melissa & Doug Flip to Win Travel License Plate Game for kids (pictured below). Since they didn’t show the same interest in license plates as I did, I tucked the wrapped board game into a secret drawer, hoping they would one day come around.
Every time we went on a road trip, I would gauge their interest by pointing out cars with different states’ license plates. It wasn’t until about six months ago, while on a road trip to San Diego, that my son, out of nowhere, said, “Look! There’s a Connecticut license plate!” I almost slammed on the brakes in excitement—not because he’d identified the license plate of my childhood state of CT, but because he’d actually spotted it and was interested.
When we returned home, I gave him the game. My wife took me aside and said, “You know, you can’t just give Jack a game and not one to Olivia.” So, I went online to buy another one, and to my disappointment, I learned that they’ve stopped making them. I checked everywhere, including eBay, and even contacted Melissa & Doug directly via email and their website, but I never got a response.
I then learned that the recommended age for the game is 8+, and Olivia is happy to let her brother be in charge of flipping the pieces when we go on road trips. She’s still learning to read, so she only knows about a dozen license plates like Arizona, Oregon, Washington, California, Connecticut, New York, Hawaii, New Jersey, Nevada, Florida, Georgia, and Ontario (Canada).
However, if a state’s license plate has multiple designs, which seems to be most of them these days, and it’s not the most common one, she gets frustrated. But I can’t recommend getting a license plate game for kids more because it not only passes the time in the car but helps kids learn the names of the states, their capitals, and U.S. geography. My son now knows where every state in the country is, all thanks to this game.
The best license plate games for kids
If you’re looking for similar games, here are all the license plate games on Amazon, and here’s the most highly rated one, which I just bought for my daughter.
This new one is only $12, comes with an illustrated foam magnet sheet, and comes in a tin case, which is perfect for travel and storage. It’s also ideal for younger children since the recommended age is 3 and up.
The only downside is that the board isn’t big enough to place the license plates exactly where the state is, especially in the Northeast where the states are all clustered together. They should have made the tin larger, as well as the map inside. But so far, that hasn’t deterred my daughter from hauling it out and playing every time we get in the car.
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