Fun games that liven up bus recreation activities
You know how people sometimes play bus games during fun field trips or journeys, right?
Long stretches on the road can get boring—not just for kids, but for adults too.
So in this article, we’ll introduce some fun games that are perfect for playing on the bus!
They’re all easy games that anyone can enjoy, from children to adults, making them great for class trips, family outings, and even adults-only travel.
If you’re looking for ways to make that often-dull bus ride a little more enjoyable, be sure to check these out!
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- [Bus Rec] No boredom on the bus! Fun activities and games to liven things up
- Fun bus activities: bus recreations that liven up field trips and school excursions
- Games you can play with just conversation. Classic and popular activities you can enjoy without any props!
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- Games you can play in the car! Fun activities to liven up drives and traffic jams
- Recommended for upper elementary grades! Exciting indoor recreation and games
- Brain-teasing game roundup
- Fun activities for junior high school students. Recreation games.
- [Simple Games] Recommended Indoor Recreational Activities for Adults
- [For Middle Schoolers] Let's Have Fun Together! A Collection of Bus Recreation Ideas
- Recreation Ideas That Truly Excite High School Students! A Fun Collection of Activities
- Fun games recommended for making friends with people you’ve just met
Funny games to liven up bus recreation (21–30)
Dialect Quiz
In Japan, the words people use can vary subtly by region, and you may sometimes encounter situations where conversations don’t quite click.
This game presents such dialect words as quiz questions and asks players to guess their meanings.
Just listening to these intriguingly sounding words is fun, and it can also be a chance to learn about regional differences in language.
You might even be using words in your daily life without realizing they’re dialect.
Focusing on those local words to create a quiz could be a great way to liven things up.
One-in-a-hundred survey
Do you know the “1 out of 100 Survey,” a popular segment from the variety show Waratte Iitomo? It’s a game where you ask a question that seems likely to apply to only 1 out of 100 people, and you clear the challenge if exactly one person actually fits.
That said, gathering 100 people can be tough.
In that case, you can still enjoy it by reducing the number to, say, 10 people.
It’s also fine to play with a larger group, like 200 people.
Feel free to adapt it flexibly to suit your situation.
Balloon Bomb Game
Let me introduce a “Balloon Bomb Game” using balloons.
Inflate a balloon and stick lots of pieces of cellophane tape all over its surface—some short, some long, placed at random.
Then pass the balloon around, and each person takes turns peeling off one piece of tape.
When the balloon pops, the game ends right there.
If you prepare a fun penalty for the person who pops it, the excitement ramps up.
All you need are balloons and cellophane tape, so it’s easy to bring along on a bus without taking up space—another plus.
Personality test
It’s a test where you’re given simple questions, and your answers are used to probe the depths of your mind.
Most of the questions and results don’t seem related at first glance, so even the parts of your psyche you wanted to keep hidden end up being revealed.
The fun comes from discovering surprising ways others think, as well as uncovering unconscious motives you didn’t even know you had.
If the revealed subconscious traits are accurate, you can relate to them; if they’re off, you can argue against them—either way, it’s enjoyable.
30-second guessing game
This is a game where you rely solely on your internal body clock to try to stop a stopwatch at exactly 30 seconds.
The rule is simple: press start and stop using only your sense of timing, without looking at any numbers, so you can add all kinds of variations.
You could keep a conversation going while measuring the time, or have people around you call out random numbers to distract you—both would likely make it more exciting.
You can also try closing your eyes to sharpen your senses, or keeping a rhythm to feel the passage of time.
Experiment with whatever method works best for you.
Don’t Overlap Game
I also recommend the “Don’t Overlap!” game, which requires teamwork.
In this game, multiple people answer a single prompt, and if any answers overlap, you fail.
For example, if the prompt is “Characters from the Sazae-san family,” you’d fail if multiple people answer “Katsuo.” On the other hand, if everyone gives different names like “Katsuo,” “Sazae,” and “Wakame,” you succeed.
Just make sure your answers still fit the prompt—keep that in mind as you play.
Survey
You might think, “What’s so fun about conducting a survey in advance and then presenting the results?”—but it actually gets surprisingly lively.
For example, ask participants ahead of time to answer several questions like, “Who looks like the richest person?”, “Who’s the best singer?”, “Who’s the funniest among us?”, and “Who’s the most narcissistic?” Of course, have the participating members answer about people within the group.
Even if you don’t see yourself that way, you may discover surprising sides of how others perceive you—and that really energizes the room.