Making Storybook Gardens at Wisconsin Dells Educational

August 11, 2007

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!

By admin | Posted in Educational Family Travel, talk, time | Comments (0)

Making Your Stay at the Kalahari Educational

August 10, 2007

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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By admin | Posted in Educational Family Travel, a, an, and, aspect, atmosphere  , child, clay, climate, cold, controlled, elephant, forming, great, hone, indoor, math, no in, opens, outdoor, pennies, sinks  , skills, temperature, temperature  with, the, the water, the water  , time, track  , water, waterpark | Comments (0)

Family Travel Roadtrip Tips – Make the Trip Part of the Family Vacation

August 4, 2007

I have done a great deal of talking about some of the wonderful places I have visited with my family, so I think it is about time I offer a few family travel tips for when on the road.

For me, the actal trip to the destination can be just as much fun as the destination itself.  In order to make the trip a pleasant part of your family vacation, you have to establish a certain mindset.

First of all, don’t try to push your way through as quickly as possible.  This only results in cranky children and irritated adults when the trip schedule is inevitably thrown of track.

I used to call my husband the “Pee Nazi” because stopping for a restroom break was such an ordeal.  “But, baby, I am making such good time” he would say.

Finally, he realized that going into the roadtrip with the understanding that we would have to stop along the way just made it easier on everyone.  Now, when we go on a family vacation, we even keep an eye out for fun stops along the way.  Stopping every few hours to take a restroom break, to grab a snack, or to see a interesting site has made the roadtrip aspect of our family vacations a great part of the trip rather than a hassle.

By admin | Posted in General Family Travel Tips, a, actal, deal, destination, family, fun, great, itself  , my, offer, places, talking, the, time, tips, travel, trip, visited, wonderful | Comments (0)

Wisconsin Dells – The Tommy Bartlett Show

July 28, 2007

The Tommy Bartlett Show is one of the first attractions to be offered at Wisconsin Dells.  Located right next to the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory, you can spend time at the Exploratory before the show and then go right next door to the performance when its almost time for the show to begin.

The theme of the Tommy Bartlett Show during our visit was “pirates,” and they were obviously trying to piggy-back off of the popularity of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies by choosing this theme.  My husband and I both thought that they really stretched the theme during their waterski show that comprised the first half of the show.  While the stunts were certainly impressive, the attempt to make it a pirate show really came off a bit lame.  Even the kids were a bit disappointed.

 My boys didn’t seem to be very thrilled by the first half of the show, which was all waterskiing stunts.  The second half, however, seemed to get them going a bit more.  There were definitely some heart-stopping moments as the performers performed amazing acrobatic feats, including dangling by their heads from several feet in the air and running like hamsters in rotating devices towering in the sky.

The Tommy Bartlett Show is worth a visit to on your family vacation, but prepared for the little ones to possibly be a bit bored by the first half of the show.

By admin | Posted in Great Cities for Family Vacations, Performances for the Family, bartlett, begin the, dells  , door, exploratory, located, offered, performance, pirates, spend, the, theme, time, tommy, visit, wisconsin | Comments (0)

Wisconsin Dells – The Kalahari Resort

July 19, 2007

The most recent family vacation that my family and I went on was a trip to Wisconsin Dells.  After having already gone to Disney World earlier this year, we decided to go on a sort of mini-trip to a location that was nearby (unfortunately, my husband doesn’t get much vacation time and I am always using it up with vacations!).  So, since we reside in Indiana, a trip to Wisconsin Dells was only about 5 or 6 hours away.

I had never been to the Dells before and I really didn’t expect much from it.  In fact, I kind of thought that it would be pretty lame – especially after having gone to Disney.  But, we really did enjoy our time there.

Wisconsin Dells is known for its many waterparks.  After having watched a travel channel special and finding that two of its water parks were listed as the top ten in the nation, Noahs Ark and the Kalahari resort, I decided to book a stay at the Kalahari.  The Kahlahari has both an indoor and outdoor water park.  Since we went in early June, it was actually a bit cold to enjoy the outdoor water park.  The indoor water park was a whole lot of fun, though, and there were some great play areas that my five-year-old twins could enjoy without concern for their safety.

Althouogh the rooms at the Kalahari were really nice and the water park was great, my family and I likely won’t stay there again.  The luxury of staying at a resort with a waterpark is quite costly and turned out not to be worth it for us because we only spent time there on two days of our trip – and, the second day was really more because we wanted to feel like we were getting our money’s worth.  If you are planning a trip to the Dells, it might be better to simply plan a stay at a less expensive hotel and save your money for visiting the many sites the Dells has to offer. 

By admin | Posted in Great Cities for Family Vacations, Lodging Tips for Family Travel, a, an, and, ark, book, channel, decided, dells, dells  , enjoy, finding, indoor, kalahari, noahs, outdoor, park, park  , resort, special, stay, the, there wisconsin, time, travel, watched, water, waterparks  , wisconsin | Comments (5)

Great Smoky Mountains – Educational Ideas Part 6

July 7, 2007

After a visit to the Smoky Mountains, your child should have a great appreciation for nature.  That makes this the perfect time to discuss what you can do as a family in order to help protect nature. 

If you haven’t done so already, use this as an opportunity to discuss the importance of recycling.  Talk about deforestation and how animals are going extinct as their habitats are destroyed in order to make new goods that could have been made with recycled goods.  Ask your child to come up with a plan for the family for improving your recycling habits.  Not only does this help get your child thinking in a more worldly manner, it also gives him or her some ownership into the project.  By giving your child ownership, he or she will be more likely to follow through with the plan.

You can extend this concept further by asking your child to develop a plan that could be used by your entire neighborhood or community.  Who knows, you might be able to start an initiative that will get a whole group of people working toward better protecting the environment!

By admin | Posted in Educational Family Travel, National Parks to Visit with Kids, a, and, animals, appreciation, child, deforestation, destroyed  , discuss, extinct, great, habitats, importance, nature  , nature   if, order, perfect, protect, recycling  , talk, the, time | Comments (0)