Check Out the Damage!

August 21, 2007

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:

 scotts-car-1.JPG

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

scotts-car-2.JPG

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.

scotts-car-3.JPG

 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!

Damage

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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Making the Wisconsin Dells Magic Show Educational

August 13, 2007

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!

By admin | Posted in Educational Family Travel, a, concept, dells, discuss, discussing, educational, eye, fun, magic, number, offers, opportunities  , slight, the, wisconsin | Comments (0)

Home and Abroad: A Great Resource for Family Travel Ideas

July 9, 2007

As I had mentioned in a previous post, one web site that I recommend visiting for more educational family travel ideas is Home & Abroad.  This site provides some great information on some of the most popular travel destinations and also offers some fun and educational activity suggestions for specific locations.  I know they are great because I have written several of the articles for the site!

I am not just tooting my own horn, though, Home and Abroad employs a number of different city experts and activity writers in order to create a comprehensive site filled with travel ideas and tips.  It even includes a travel planner that allows you to create your own itinerary, which you can create based on a specific theme if you like. 

I definitely recommend checking this site out.  I know from experience that the folks running the site are good people and they have a true interest in helping families enjoy a better vacation experience.

By admin | Posted in Educational Family Travel, a, abroad  , amp, educational, family, ideas, mentioned, post, previous, recommend, travel, visiting | Comments (0)

Great Smoky Mountains – Educational Ideas Part 5

July 6, 2007

While visiting the Great Smoky Mountains on a family vacation, you should definitely take an hour or two out of your visit to play miniature golf at one of the many minoi-golf courses in the area.  Many of them are quite creative and can be quite an experience.  You can also make this fun experience educational in a number of easy ways.

One of the simplest ways to  make your mini-golf adventure educational is to allow one of your children to keep track of the scores.  Or, have each of your children keep track of their own scores while you keep track of the scores on your master scorecard.  Then, when the game is over, have your children figure out the differences between the scores.

For younger children, you can still have fun with math.  For instance, each hole will have a par.  After your child finally sinks his or her ball, ask your child to figure out how much below or over par the score was.  You can also introduce golf terms such as birdie (one under par), eagle (2 under par), bogey (one over par), double bogey (two over par), and so on.

Children get excited about learning new words, particularly when they hear their parents using them.  So, after each hole, ask your child if he scored a bogey or a birdie.  They will have a great time reprting back to you!

By admin | Posted in Educational Family Travel, National Parks to Visit with Kids, adventure, and, courses, creative, easy, educational, experience, fun, golf, great, mini golf, miniature, minoi golf, mountains, play, simplest, smoky, the, to , visit, ways, ways one, while visiting | Comments (0)

Great Smoky Mountains – Educational Ideas Part 1

July 2, 2007

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!

By admin | Posted in Educational Family Travel, National Parks to Visit with Kids, a, activities, educational, number | Comment (1)