Family road trip? We’re sharing a DIY Mini Road Trip License Plate Game with free printable! Find out how you can transform an empty mint tin into this fun road trip game.
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As the popular song says: “it’s the most wonderful time of the year”! Of course, that song sang of parties for hosting and marshmallow for toasting, which are great, but it’s not the reason for our excitement. If you know anything about my family and I, you know the real reason:
IT’S COMIC-CON TIME!
The yearly event in San Diego is almost here! We’ve been waiting all year and anxiously counting down the days.
Well, it’s more than 2 days away, but a photo to illustrate how our girls countdown every year…
A lot prep takes place the last few weeks before we hit the road. Car maintenance is one of my top responsibilities. I’m also the guy for making our road trip breakfast. And cleaning out the ice chest. And laundry. I’ve got stuff to do.
The kids are beyond excited and, this week, they started talking about road trip games. More specifically, they started talking about the license plate game — where you keep track of all the different state license plates you see while on your road trip.
Years ago, we had a magnetic version of the License Plate Game. The kids played it on every single road trip. But, we started losing pieces and it was time to retire it. They still play the license plate game on paper, but they liked the magnetic version a lot. This got me thinking…
You know those mints that come in a metal tin?
My wife loves those and it looked like a perfect option for a DIY Mini License Plate Game.
To make a DIY Mini License Plate Game, we needed a few supplies. I also needed to get an oil change on our van and pick up some stuff for our road trip. That meant heading out to Walmart, where we could multitask and GET STUFF DONE in the one stop.
Now, if you follow me on my personal Instagram account, then you may remember that my van hit the big 100,000 miles mark recently.
Because of this, it was cool to learn that the Pennzoil® High Mileage Vehicle® Oil Change (perfect for vehicles over 75,000 miles) was on Rollback for $35.88 from June 15 – September 28, 2016 at the Walmart Auto Care Center. I usually get my oil changed there, even without a price Rollback, but this was a nice bonus.
While the van was getting its oil changed, we picked up all the supplies we need for making our License Plate Game, plus other last minute road trip shopping, like trail mix, water bottles, and sunscreen.
Once we were back at home, the kids got started making a Mini License Plate Game. They turned out really cool and they were easy to make too.
Magnetic DIY Mini License Plate Game
What You’ll Need:
- Free Printable License Plate Game
- Scissors
- Empty Mint Tin with Hinged Lid
- Painter’s Tape (optional)
- Spray Paint (or other items like paper or tape to decorate the outside of your tin)
- Double-Sided Tape or Adhesive
- Adhesive Magnets (available at Walmart, office supply, or craft store)
How to Make Your Own Mini License Plate Game:
First, make sure your empty mint tin is clean. Carefully remove the lid from the bottom of the tin to make it easier to spray paint.
You may also wish to use painter’s tape to protect the inside of the tin from getting paint on the inside.
Decorate the outside as you wish. One of our girls picked the red glitter spray paint (the glitter texture helps to hide more of the embossed design on the tin), so I gave it several light sprays, allowing it to dry in between each layer. Don’t rush the process or you’ll have a drippy mess. You can use any spray paint color or even decorate the outside with paper, duct tape, washi tape, etc. After your tin is completely dry, reattach the lid.
Next, print our free printable license plate game. I recommend doing this on basic printer paper since it’s thin and won’t be too thick for magnets to hold through.
CLICK BELOW to PRINT:
Free Printable License Plate Game
Cut out the two sections. Adhere the part that says “USA License Plate Game” to the inside of the mint tin lid.
Adhere the bottom section of the free printable(the US states), to magnets. The adhesive magnets I used are business card size. I attached the sticky side to the back of the USA States printable and trimmed away the excess.
Then, cut apart each state. The individual state magnets will be placed for holding in the bottom of the mint tin. While you are on your road trip, look at the license plates of the cars around you. When you spot a license plate from a certain state, move that state magnet up to the top section. Keep repeating this with each state you find. The person who finds the most wins!
I would recommend making a separate tin for each person who wants to play. You can also make up your own rules. Since our kids are older, we usually have a rule that cars parked in parking lots (like at restaurants or gas stations, and especially hotels) don’t count. This makes the game a bit harder, but if your kids are younger, you might want to allow this.
I hope this DIY Mini License Plate Game is a lots of fun for you and your family on your next road trip. And, before you hit the road, be sure to find your local Walmart Auto Care Center and get your vehicle an oil change with Pennzoil.
Thank you to Pennzoil for sponsoring this post. You can stay connected to Pennzoil for their latest information and updates, following them on Facebook and on Twitter.
We’d love to hear from you: where will the road be taking you and your family this summer?
Originally posted July 14, 2016. Updated June 8th, 2019.
I love this so much!! I’m featuring it today at Thursday Favorite Things at my blog. Thanks for sharing!
Thought Comic-Con was in S.D.a few months ago, what again? Love idea of license plate game. Had to print out for daughter and kids and ourselves. Daughter has to take both daughters from S.D to northern CA to college twice a year. Thanks for how-to and printable, will be quite handy for summer. Looks like fun. Can remember playing license plate spy as kids. 2 of our 4 kids live in S.D. areas, we live in western CO, west of Grand junction and 2 live close to us.
Have great weekend.
Oh my gosh, my son would love this! Great idea! We would love if you would share at our weekly link-up party Handmade & Otherwise (Fridays 8am-Mondays 8pm). http://petalspiesandotherwise.com/category/handmade-otherwise/
Wow, I haven’t been to Comic Con San Diego in a decade! It’s blown up out of control these days do I don’t even try to get tickets but it was fun. I like the car games and will have to try it with my kids.
This is such a a neat idea! And what a great way to re purpose these little tins! Thanks so much for sharing!
Stopping by from Sunday’s Best. I love road trip games. Makes the trip a little more bearable. Thanks for sharing. Hope to see more of you. This is a great post. Oh, I connected with you on several social media sites.
Fun game for the grandbabies! Pinned ♥ I’d like to invite you to bring this post and more over to my new UNLIMITED Monthly Link Party!
This is a really great road game. Fantastic idea.
What a fun game!
This sure beats the crumpled paper map I keep in the car every tourist season!
these are just too cute. I know my son would love this. thanks for sharing.
Such a GREAT idea!!
How fun are these?? I would have loved to have something like this when I was a kid and we’d make our 8-hour road trips to Virginia 🙂
Hey! Where did you live? Because i live in va and it takes us 8 hours to get to ohio!
Hello, from a fellow blogger at Inspire Me Monday. I live in the Atlanta area and Comic Con is a big deal around here. You made a cute game. Enjoy the road trip. ?
I love games like these and use to play these games with our son all the time. Thank you for sharing at Dishing it and Digging it link party.
I am so doing this but I will make another version as well. My family also does a version of this with the letters of the alphabet on signs, license plates etc…
I found you through the Inspire Me linky party.
http://www.itsamomslife.blog
Thanks for the wonderful idea! My spouse and I play this game every time we go on a trip together but with a pen and paper. I’m making this right now- already had the Altoid tin and picked up some magnet sheets at Walmart for under $2. Plus I’ll have some left over to make some new refrigerator magnets. I’ll keep this in the glove box so it’s ready for our next trip (TN to FL for Thanksgiving weekend). Thanks again!
This is adorable! What a fun thing to do when on a long trip. Definitely pinning to try! 🙂
My kids used to love playing the license plate game! We have a long car trip coming up, and we may have to bring it back.
Congrats on your feature at the #ThisIsHowWeRoll Link Party! Pinning now.
What a fun idea for long road trips – thank you for sharing at #HomeMattersParty
This is such a cute idea! Thanks for sharing it.
fantastic idea! we might have to make a euro version for some future travel plans. thanks!
I just love this!! I pinned it so I can remember to make it this fall. It would be perfect for our kids when we are on our way to my in-laws.
Good idea! Way cheaper than buying a dinky little set like this at the store for $10…there’s really not much to making your own! Thanks for sharing at the Family Joy Linkup!
My girls would love this!
Love this idea! thanks so much for sharing on craft schooling Sunday!
Our roadtrips this summer involve New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland. I love this roadtrip game…and I’m thinking the adults could use it to stay entertained, too. Thanks for sharing this great idea! Have fun at ComicCon! #client