Since she’s been old enough to read and write, any trips Elle’s taken have included educational components before, during and after. And believe it or not, she loves it!
Occasionally, travel will require us to miss a day or so of school. When this happens (and we only do this on rare occasions) we make arrangements with her teacher to take a packet of work for the days she’ll miss.
Here are a few things we do to make sure that each trip includes some educational fun.
BEFORE
Elle loves travel so much that she is sometimes instrumental in deciding where we go. She has a bucket list of domestic and international places she wants to visit. Once the destination is planned, She has to do research of the top landmarks/activities in that city for kids. For example, in preparation for London she chose Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and the London Eye. She also wanted to visit Brixton. She had to research each place and describe things like where it’s located, when it was built, what’s special about it, etc. Her research also includes learning the currency in the country we’re visiting and common words and phrases in the language.
DURING
It helps that Elle is a copious note taker and loves bringing a journal everywhere she goes. On trips, she brings a travel journal and everyday (throughout the day and/or at the end) she’s writes about the day’s events. She also takes pictures and picks up momentums (guides, brochures, etc) from places we visit as well as souvenirs.
AFTER
Once the trip is over, we print her pictures and make a photo album of her trip. Scrapbooking is one of her hobbies, so it’s really fun for her. She includes brochures, metro stubs, receipts, foreign currency, etc in the book. If the trip was during the school year, she’s also done presentations for her classmates about her trip. Sometimes, she brings little trinkets for them as well.
I do these activities with Elle because they bring a fun and educational component to our travel. She’s learning about global citizenship and respect for other cultures/norms. For me, this is equally as important as the trip itself!