Fun and Educational Family Travel Tips

In light of my recent vehicle catastrophes, I thought it might be relevant to discuss purchasing a vehicle for family travel.

The vehicle we had to replace isn’t actually the one we use for family travel.  This car is actually my husband’s work vehicle.  My primary vehicle is a Yukon and this is also the one we use when going on our family vacations.

When selecting the Yukon, my husband and I had travel at the forefront of our thoughts.  Initially, we wanted to get a Yukon XL because it has more storage space in back.  The only reason we wanted this feature, however, was because of vacations.  After much discussion, my husband and I decided that this would actually be cumbersome for day-to-day driving and we would just get a cargo carrier if we needed more space.

When shopping for a family vehicle that would also serve as our family vacation vehicle, we had many things that we kept in mind.  These include:

• Comfort
• Durability/ease of cleaning
• Having a DVD system installed
• Safety
• Good for vacations and for day-to-day living
• Able to meet all of our vacation needs, including towing

We actually had a mini-van before purchasing the Yukon.  I am not really a fan of mini-vans because I don’t really care for the way they look.  But, it worked out well when the twins were young.  Now that they are five, we decided I could go back to having an SUV without much trouble.  This is great because we like to ride ATVs and we have a trailer to tow them.  So, we can now easily take them on vacation with us if we like.  In the future, we might get a boat as well.  Having towing capabilities will be handy for this too.

 For me, having the DVD system was a must.  In the minivan, I had purchased an add on system but didn’t much care for it.  With the Yukon, the system is built in.  I much prefer this system because it is higher quality and the kids get good sound from the car speakers.

 Regardless of what you are in the market for, be sure to do your homework to make sure you get a great deal.  We prefer purchasing slightly used vehicles because you don’t have to pay the new car sticker price but you can still get a car that is in great shape.  Check out the Kelly Blue Book value beforehand to make sure you aren’t overpaying and look at many dealers to make sure you get exactly what you want.

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OK,  everyone.  I think I am ready to start blogging on a more regular basis once again.  I apologize for the delay, as I was making posts every day.  As I mentioned in my previous post, my house was hit hard by some terrible weather.  A large tree limb fell on my husband’s car, as you can see here:

 Here’s a close up of the back window - check out the speakers sticking out.

I know this doesn’t have a great deal to do with family travel or family vacation tips, but I thought it would be interesting to share!

Unfortunately, the car wasn’t the only thing affected.  As you can see here, the same tree pushed into our house.

 This next picture is kind of difficult to appreciate without knowing what this area is supposed to look like.  Anyway, that little bit of white that you can see in the background is one of my garden sheds that was crushed by another huge tree limb that fell in my backyard.  I have a garden walkway in this cove that leads to the shed.  Obviously, you cannot see that at all now!

So, we have most of this cleaned up now and the insurance adjusters have been out.  So, I should be able to start talking about educational family travel and family vacation tips next time.  Thanks for your patience and the words of support!

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Hello everyone!

I just wanted to write a quick blog to let you know that I am still here.  Unfortunately, we had a terrible storm tear through here a couple of days ago and it completely wiped out my power - not to mention putting a tree through my husband’s car and one of my sheds (and some other damage as well).  On top of it all, I was quite sick for a couple of days.  I should be back up and running with regular posts again soon!

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The magic show at Wisconsin Dells also offers a number of educational opportunities.  Discussing the “magic” of slight of eye is particularly fun as you discuss the concept of persistence of vision.

In short, persistence of vision is about the fact that our eyes maintain images for a brief moment even after they are no longer there.  Remember those flip books you used to enjoy as a child?  You know, the ones that contained nothing but pictures and appeared to be in action when you flipped through the pages quickly  These books utilize the concept of persistence of vision.

 Before you go to the magic show at Wisconsion Dells on your family vacation, discuss this concept with your child.  Then, help your child make his or her own flip book.  It can be a great deal of fun for the entire family!

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Before you take your family vacation to Wisconsin Dells and ride the Ducks, learn a little bit more about these interesting machines and discuss it with your child.  These military vehicles are more formally known as the DUKW and is a six wheel drive truck capable of riding on land and on water.  This characteristic is known as being amphibious.  You can introduce this word to your child and talk about animals that are amphibious as well, such as frogs and toads. 

These vehicles were originally created by GM to use during World War II and were used to carry troops and goods over water and land. Today, they are mostly used to give tours in various places around the country, including at Wisconsin Dells.  You can learn more about these vehicles by visiting Wikipedia.

Ask your child to create his or her own new vehicle that is unlike any you have every seen before - just like the inventors of the Ducks did so long ago!

You are also going to see several rock formations along the way during your tour.  This opens up a wonderful opportunity to talk about rock formations and how they are created.

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Now, let’s talk about how you can make your time at Storybook Gardens in Wisconsin Dells more educational.

This site is definitely geared more toward the little ones, though older kids might also enjoy the experience of feeding the animals.  A great way to prepare for a visit to Storybook Gardens in Wisconsin Dells is to read a number of popular children’s books before going (hopefully, you are doing this anyway!).  Then, before you read the oversized storybook sitting next to the statues throughout the site, see if your child can guess which story they are from.

If your child is learning how to read, you can challenge your child to read the stories from the storybooks to the rest of the family.  Then, you can ask your child to come up with an alternate ending to the story other than the one you already know from the original story.

Since you will be encountering all sorts of animals at the Storybook Gardens, you might also want to do a bit of research about some of the animals beforehand.  See if your child can find out how long a giraffe’s tongue is - then experience it first hand when you feed the giraffes on your Wisconsin Dells family vacation!

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I spent a good deal of time telling you about some of the attractions you will encounter when you visit Wisconsin Dells, but I have yet to tell you about ways to make this trip more educational.

Some of the sites are inherently educational, such as the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory.  Other sites may not seem so obvious when it comes to education - and, even those that are obvious, can be expanded upon further.

Let’s start with the Kalahari Resort.  That’s right, even a resort can present many different educational experiences. 

You can kick off the educational aspect of staying in a resort by doing a little math.  For example, you can tell your child how much it costs each night to stay at the Kalahari and ask him or her to determine what the final bill will be.  Don’t forget to add sales tax.  In addition, if you are charging expenses to your room, let your little accountant keep track.  Not only will this help hone math skills, it will also make your child feel like he or she is performing an important duty for the family.

The Kalahari also has an indoor and an outdoor waterpark. The water aspect opens up a whole bunch of different educational opportunities.  When you get back in the hotel room, for example, you can give your child a lump of clay and challenge him or her to find a way to make it float in the bathtub.  Your child will have a great time forming the clay into different shapes and trying to make it float in the water.  Next, challenge your child to put pennies on the clay and see how many pennies can be placed there before the clay sinks.  If you want to make it even more fun, tell your child that he or she can keep all of the pennies that the clay can hold before sinking.

Since there is an outdoor waterpark as well as an indoor waterpark, you can discuss the differences in temperature in the water.  When we were there, the water of the outdoor waterpark was quite cold since it is no in a climate controlled atmosphere.  This can lead to further discussions about oceans and the effects of outside temperature on the water temperature.

 With an elephant being the symbol of the Kalahari, you might also explore learning more about elephants.  What does an elephant have to do with the word “Kalahari” anyway?  Try to learn more about the Kalahari desert and the creatures that inhabit it before going to the Dells.  That way, your child will have a much greater appreciation of the decorations at the resort. 

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For many of you, the school year is quickly approaching.  I know that, for me, I have to return to work on Monday and my students return on Wednesday.  EEK!  Where has the summer gone?!

With so little time left before your kids are back in school, it is time to consider some last minute family vacation ideas.

Obviously, you aren’t going to plan some great getaway over the next couple of days and whisk your family off on a week long vacation.  Nonetheless, you can still have some fun before those last few days of summer vacation pass you by.

One great place to go is to a nearby zoo.  Zoos offer fun for kids of all ages.  From my experience, even teenagers can have fun at a zoo.  And, it gets the whole family out for the day while the weather is still great.

More than likely, there are some great museums within an hour or two drive from where you live.  Children’s museums are a great choice as they generally offer displays that are appropriate for infants all the way up to adults.  In addition, the displays are often changing, so it can be a new experience every year.

Having a great family vacation doesn’t even have to involve going somewhere.  You can plan a great day of fun in your own backyard and, if you want to give it more of a “vacation” feel, you might want to pitch a tent and let the kids stay outside.  Roast marshmallows, sing songs, play games and just enjoy each other’s company.  After all, isn’t family togetherness the best part of having a family vacation?

If you don’t have a swimming pool or know anyone that does, you might even want to consider renting a hotel room in a nearby city for the night.  Enjoy an evening of swimming and fun as you spend the day somewhere away from the same ‘ole, same ‘ole of home!

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I thought my faithul readers might be interested in checking out this travel article that I wrote for another site.  It is about my return trip after our family vacation to Disney - and how even the worse situations can turn out to be “hidden gems.” 

I will discuss this trip in more detail later (complete with pictures!), but here is a little teaser for now - click here!

While we are on the subject of me bragging, take a look at this book I wrote for Remedia Publications.  This is series of short stories that follow Jenna and her family through various national parks as she solves mysteries.  Obviously, I put my travel experiences to work for inspiration on this one!  If you want to see my name as author, you will have to get a copy.  Or,  you can visit this site where they have the book for sale and have listed me as the author.  I also did several of the stories and questions for this product. 

Although I do a great deal of writing for a variety of purposes, my favorite projects are educational materials and blogs such as this one since these materials help me teach someone in some way.  Hopefully, there are plenty of you out there that are learning something with this blog because of the experiences I have to share.

Do any of you write?  If so, what do you like to write about?

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Perhaps the single most important family travel roadtrip tip is to keep the kids entertained while on the road. By  breaking up the trip and stopping every couple of hours, you will automatically help stave off boredom.  Nonetheless, you will need to take other steps to prevent boredom as well.

The most obvious thing you can do to help keep the kids from getting bored is to install a DVD system in your vehicle.  Watching movies along the way to your family vacation destination will certainly keep the children entertained as long as the movies remain available.

Of course, not everyone has a DVD player in their vehicle.  If this is the case, music can help prevent boredom from setting in as well - particularly if everyone joins in with the merriment.

Another roadtrip game you can play is to challenge the children to look for certain items along the way.  For example, you can challenge them to look for license plates for all 50 states. If you create a list ahead of time, they can simply check off the states as they find them.  You can use this states.doc with your kids while on your trip.

Another roadtrip game is to look for every letter of the alphabet on the signs along the road.  To make the game even more challenging, go in alphabetical order and only count the first letter of the words you see on the signs.  You might have to cheat a little on X, though we usually find a semi-trailer with Xtra on it at some point or another.  Q can be a challenge as well - just hope you come across a Dairy Queen once you reac that letter!

You can also look for different colored vehicles, such as challenging the children to be the first to spot a red vehicle or any other color you select.

With a little imagination, you can make your family travel experience enjoyable while on the road.

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