How to Make Your Own Number Plate Game

See how many different license plates you can find on your trip, and check them off a prepared list of states. You can make this a family project by playing for just one trip, a summer or a year. Record your findings, and you can even add such details as the time and place you saw each license plate. Work as a team or individually.

Vary the search criteria while you have the children examine license plates. For a time period, have the children make up words using the first letter on a plate, or have them write a phrase using all letters on a plate. Then, set aside another period of time for a numbers-based activity. Have the children copy the numbers from a license plate, and ask them to add them together. Older children can add the numbers and assign each letter a number value for its place in the alphabet.

Try different spelling games using the letters children find on license plates. Have them make a word with the letters on a plate, using them in the same order. The longest word can win the point total of the numbers on the license plate ... if they add them correctly. For older children, require their words to be more than one syllable. For those just learning to read, ask for a word that starts with the first letter on the license plate, or one that ends with the last letter on the plate.

Encourage creative thinking by having the children use all letters in a license plate to form another phrase. Ask them to use the letters in the order of appear on the plate. For instance, if the letters are LBC, one phrase could be "ladies baking cakes."