5 Days of ... Making Geography Fun- Day 3: On the Road

We only just arrived home from our trip to the Creation Museum last night, so I wanted to share how we included geography in our trip, because you know, children are always learning, not just during lesson time.

It wasn't anything fancy. We just let the children have a map, which can be found for free at rest stops. 

As we traveled down the road the children would ask where we were and I would show them on the map. I also let them know which direction we had traveled and where we still needed to go. When we stopped at the rest stop we also showed them the map they had on display pinpointing where we were.

The older girls had a pretty good understanding. Hannah just had fun looking at the map.

She thought she was going to be able to find specific places, like restaurants and such. We tried to explain that those kinds of landmarks would not be found on a state map. 

Now that we are home I plan to pull out the map and go over the trip again showing them where we were and seeing if they remember some of the places we stopped. 

If I had done more planning I think I would have marked our trip out on the map with a highlighter and marked some specific roads, intersections and cities. Then, when we past through those places the children could have marked them on the map to get a better feel for how far we had come and how far we still had to go. Poor Tabitha felt like she was going to spend her entire life in the van and we would never get there (she may be a bit on the over-dramatic, worrier side).

So, how to you include learning on road trips?

As I mentioned, there are many more insightful posts to be found. Here is the link to the main post on the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog where you can find a list of everyone who is sharing. To get you started, I invite you to stop by these blogs:

Dawn @ Guiding Light Homeschool ~ Homeschooling with Excessive Energy
Lexi @ Lextin Academy ~ The Homeschool Dad, CEO
Lynn @ Ladybug Chronicles ~ Organizing Your Home and School
Cristi @ Through the Calm and Through the Storm ~ Homeschooling Thankfulness
Melissa@ Mom's Plans ~ Historical Field Trips
Adena @ AdenaF ~ Mnemonics
Amy @ Homeschool Encouragement ~ Lego Learning
Erin @ For Him and My Family ~ Record Keeping