Fun and Educational Family Travel Tips

When you visit the Smoky Mountains, a trip to the Ripley’s Aquarium is an absolute must.  Your children are certain to be thrilled with the many close encounters they will experience.  In addition, there are several great photo opportunities that will provide you with photos that will bring a smile to your face years after your trip - particularly the “aquariums” that allow your children to feel what it is like to be a fish.

When your child jumps into the “aquarium” and pretends to be a fish, this is a great opportunity to test his or her fish knowledge.  Ask your child what else he would need if he were really a fish.  Then, ask him to describe to you what the life of a fish would be like.  Based on this discussion, you can then challenge your child to come up with a non-rhyming poem created from the word “Fish.”  To create this poem, simply have your child think of four lines to the poem, with the first line starting with an F, the second starting with an I, the third starting with an S, and the last line starting with an H.  The poem can be as silly or serious as you like.  For example:

Funny swimming creatures

In and out they weave

Stop and be sure to watch them

How beautiful they are

If your child seems to enjoy this activity, challenge him or her to create similar poems based on the names of the other creatures you encounter during your visit.  Then, have your child put them together in a book and illustrate the poems - what a great momento of your trip that would be!

Share This

If you take a drive to Townsend, Tennessee, you will be able to visit Tuckaleechee caverns.  Children really find caverns to be quite intriguing as it opens up a whole new world to them.  Exploring these underground tunnels is not only exciting, it also offers a number of opportunities for learning.

Before visiting the Great Smoky Mountains, let your children know that you will be visiting caverns during your visit.  Explain the differences between stalactites and stalagmites.  An easy way to remember is that stalactites hang on “tight” to the ceiling and stalagmites “might” reach the ceiling.  In other words, stalactites are the formations that hang down from the ceiling and stalagmites are those that grow toward the ceiling.  When these two formations meet together, they form a column.

To have fun with this concept, you might want to consider making some rock candy with your child.   The process of making rock candy is similar to the process of forming stalactites in that water and the minerals the water has gathered along the way drop from the ceiling.  Very tiny amounts of the minerals are left behind when the water drips and, over time, this forms the stalactite that hangs from the ceiling.

You can also explore mold with your child before visiting Tuckaleechee Caverns.  Mold does not naturally occur in caverns, but the light that is placed in the caverns in order to light the paths of visitors creates a great environment for mold to grow.  Discuss the properties and the life cycle of mold before you go to the caverns.  Then, when you encounter some during your visit, see if your child can explain to you all of the mold you see seems to be growing near to the lights.

Share This

Although there are a number of educational activities that are quite obvious when you visit the Great Smoky Mountains, there are others that you might not have thought of.  These educational ideas are those that you can do while at the park itself.

• Play with mental math -  There are many variations of topography within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Ask your youngster to determine how high you are traveling by subtracting the elevation of your starting point from the elevation of your endpoint.
• Pretend to be a ranger - One of the duties of the rangers is to take a regular census of the animals living within the park.  Have your child keep track of the type and number of animals you spot while on your family vacation to the Smokies.  Stop off at the Sugarlands Visitor Center first so you can learn more about the animals that make their home in the Great Smoky Mountains.
• Explore fauna - Before you set out to hiking within the park, get a field guide to plants that are found in the Great Smoky Mountains region.  Then, encourage your child to identify as many plants as possible.  You can extend this further by having your child make his or her own field guide by taking pictures of the plants you see or by drawing the pictures.
• Roleplay - Since the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is just as rich in history as it is in natural beauty, you have a great opportunity for role-playing.  When you visit the churches, farms, and homesteads within the park, have your child pretend to be living years ago.  Join in the role playing to deepen the learning and to have some fun yourself!

With these activities, your family vacation to the Smokies will be even more memorable for the entire family. If you have any other ideas or if you want clarification on any of these activities, feel free to drop me a comment!

Share This