MAKE A MAP Most people are familiar with a road map, or a map of your country. Hotel rooms and classrooms have a diagram of the escape route in case of a fire. That is a map too. There is probably a map of the water and sewer pipes running underground in your town. Maps are two dimensional representations of three dimensional space. You can map things as simple as your neighborhood, or as complex as the universe. What would a map of your brain look like? Can you map the inside of the refrigerator? Map the way to get to the library from home. Did you ever wish you had a treasure map? You can make a treasure map for a friend. What kind of treasure will you have for him to find? Mapping Penny’s World Lisa’s class is learning to make maps. She and her dog, Penny set out to explore in this introduction to maps. Mapping Penny's World by Loreen Leedy Interactive 3-D Maps: American History: Easy-to-Assemble 3-D Maps That Students Make and Manipulate to Learn Key Facts and Concepts-in a Kinesthetic Way! by Donald M. Silver and Patricia J. Wynne(Author)  The Geography Book: Activities for Exploring, Mapping, and Enjoying Your World by Caroline Arnold. Suitable for middle grade and up, this book has plenty of ideas to keep you busy exploring the world.  Geography Coloring Book (3rd Edition) by Wynn Kapit Excellent coloring book teaches geography effortlessly to anyone of any age. TRAVEL GAMES Summer means vacations. Vacations usually involve travel. Here are some great games to keep you occupied during the slow parts of your journey. Most can be adapted to a variety of age levels. Twenty Questions One player thinks of something. It must be a thing, a noun, a person, place or thing. The partner gets to ask questions, but only questions that can be answered with a yes or a no. If the partner can guess the thing using 20 questions or less, She wins! Then switch roles. Hint - It helps to know if it is animal (human or other animal) vegetable (plants and food from plants) or mineral (anything that is not living) Stump the Chump Players take turns naming animals. Each person names another animal (no repeating) that starts with the last letter of the last animal named. (zebra - antelope - elephant - tiger...) This game can be played with cities. Young children can play with any words they know. I Spy One person says " I spy with my little eye, something that is ....(colour)". Then others try to guess what the object is and the one who guesses it takes the next turn. Buzz The players start counting substituting buzz for the number seven and multiples of seven. If a player makes a mistake the whole group starts again. You can play with other multiples but you may want to use different sounds. For example, when you are playing multiples of five you might substitute “beep.” If you are real math brains, try doing two multiples at a time. Call it Beep and Buzz. TV Theme Songs Try singing the themes from TV shows. Can you remember all the words? Can you at least hum the tune? Challenge your travelmates to remember the theme song or music to old TV shows. For example: Hawaii Five-0, Gilligan's Island, Flipper, Flintstones, Here Come the Brides, Cheers, The Andy Griffith Show, The Brady Bunch, etc... IN THE CAR: Alphabet Signs One team gets the right side of the road and the other team gets the left. Each team tries to spot the letters of the alphabet in order. You only get one letter per sign. The first team to z wins. You can play this game individually. License Plate Spotting Keep track of the different state license plates you see along the way. How many different states did you see? Where did you see the most variety? The Cow Game One team gets the right side of the road and the other team gets the left. You keep a count of all the cows you pass throughout the day. But every time you pass a cemetery on your side of the road, you lose all your points. The winner at the end of the day's drive gets a treat! Butterflies Pillow Seasonal Butterfly Gifts Watercolor Butterfly Gifts

TREASURE CHEST Store vacation treasures in your own special box. Shells and rocks, postcards and pictures deserve a pretty place to remind us of special times. Recycle a shoe box or other treasure chest sized box. Cover the outside with colorful wrapping paper or pretty magazine pictures. Line the inside with tin foil. Add your own style using buttons, stamps, stickers, ribbon, glitter, sequins, fake fur, felt shapes, pom poms, or sea shells. Now all you need are memories to fill your treasure chest.   Rainbow of Dancers Gifts Dance Apparel and Gifts