Have you ever heard of the license plate game? If you have taken a road trip in the United States you probably have heard of and played this game. My guess is that a game like this exists in countries around the world, so maybe you have played it before where you live. You’ll have to keep reading to find out if the rules are the same.
The license plate game is fun and easy to play. It is also educational, because as a person plays, he or she learns the names of all the states that make up the United States of America. This is a game played by young and old people alike in the United States. In order to play a person need only know how to read and be in a moving car. Before I tell you how to play this game I think it is important to mention that every car that is driven on public roads in the United States needs has to have a license plate. (See the picture above for examples.) Every car in the United States has a license plate with the name of the state where the car is licensed (i.e. where it is from) and a unique combination of numbers/letters that is 5-8 characters long.
Now that you know this information let me present the rules for playing this game. You can adjust these rules to play this game wherever you live by looking for the license plates used in the various states/provinces in your country or surrounding countries.
The license plate game
Notes: You can only play this game in a moving vehicle (car, truck, bus, van, etc.) not while walking around. Also it helps to make a list of all the states in alphabetical order before you start.
Rules:
1. Watch the license plates of cars you pass as you drive.
2. Mark down the license plates from the states you see and record them in a list. (Watch for Alaska and Hawaii they are often the hardest to find.)
3. Try to find the license plates from all 50 states in America.
4. Keep a total for how many different plates you find in a day or over a long trip.
5. When you see all 50 states you win! (If you are playing with other people in your car the first person to see all 50 states wins or the person with the most number of different states on their list at the end of the trip wins).
Next time you are on a long car ride I hope you try out this game. If you want to practice your English even more you can read out the letters and numbers (in English of course) on all the license plates you see.
