Puzzle Solved!

Bored kids spread misery like it's peanut butter. But why buy a minivan-load of books and puzzles when you can download free games?

Scavenger hunts

Laurel Smith, a mother of three from Louisiana, posts road-trip bingo, in which kids check off boxes when they spot a plane or barn, and a scavenger hunt of sights--including Wal-Mart (momsminivan.com).

Lyrics and trivia

Printouts from hotel chain Americas Best Value Inn teach lyrics for classics like "On Top of Spaghetti" and list bizarre laws: "In Pennsylvania, you may not catch a fish using any body part except your mouth" (bestvalueinn.com).

Bingo and quizzes

Kampgrounds of America has license-plate bingo, coloring-book pages, quizzes on state capitals and nicknames, and campfire-story audio files (koa.com).

Word searches

Discovery School lets you create customized word searches, as well as mazes, cryptograms, and other games (puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com).