Ladybird Tuesday: Car Games

Do people still play car games? Or have hand-held electronics and DVD players taken over instead?

After reading this book in preparation for writing this Ladybird Tuesday post I'm wondering about a campaign to encourage everyone to start playing them again. They're all from a time that seemed so much more innocent and simple and I'd love to revive that rather than relying on modern technology to do so. The idea of a whole book on car games seems a bit alien in this day and age though.

Ladybird's Car Games book really is a flash back to a different age. Published in 1978 this book starts with the whole of the inside cover devoted to Health and Safety issues around seat belts, child locks and not distracting the driver whilst travelling. When you think about all the modern day distractions in a car it seems funny to think about all the warnings of children causing a distraction by playing I Spy or a number plate game!

Most of the games in this book assume that you've got two children in the car to play rather than involving the adults in the front of the car and many of them involve the children looking at what is going on around them outside the car. There are several games around number plate letters and numbers and also other vehicles on the road. Whilst number plate formats have changed since then it should be easy to adapt the games accordingly. 

Today's increased use of motorways makes some of the games in the book a bit more difficult – you don't see many pub signs along the M1 for instance – but modern day variations again could be created.

As an adult, the thing I love most about this particular vintage Ladybird book is that it's almost like taking a car journey back in 1978 and seeing everything that you would go past en route. Old vehicles, old signs and old street scenes. A retro car journey, from the comfort of my own sofa.

Car Games was first published in 1978 and is part of series 633, Hobbies and Interests.

If you have a collection of old Ladybird books then please feel free to join in with Ladybird Tuesday. There are no formal rules to follow, just leave a link to any post you write in the comments below and if you're feeling kind link back to my Ladybird Tuesday category here on Being Mrs C. Thank you!