Summer Project: Plan a Trip (Or a virtual one!)

Summer is creeping up on us, and for many people this means that school is out and the kids are home all day.
For homeschoolers, it means that it is time for a break and a more laid back learning environment.
Despite the relaxed schedules, I think that we can all agree that we don't want our kids' brains tuning to mush over the summer!

I have the perfect project to avoid mushy brains! It is a lot of fun and it has some exciting learning opportunities for all ages.
Are you ready?
Let's go!

Plan a trip!
Yup. That's it. Just plan a trip.
This trip can be as long or as short as you want.
It can be a real trip that you are actually taking, or it can be a virtual trip.
Any type of trip you decide on is sure to be a lot of fun!

You can choose how much input you will give for this trip depending on your child's age and educational level. Younger kids will obviously need more help, while older kids can work more independently.

A few years back, we had our teens each plan an entire virtual trip themselves. They each had $1000 as a budget. It was very interesting to see how they worked out the details.

Getting started is easy. You just need to set the guidelines and decide on the extra activities you will do along the way. Here's a basic guideline.


1. Decide where you want to go.
    Do you need ideas? I have an awesome tip! Go to a hotel in your area and look for their travel brochure display. It looks like this:

Added bonus- many of these brochures have coupons on them!

2. Set a budget.
    This budget will be for everything... food, entertainment, transportation expenses, special clothing or supplies or equipment, lodging, etc.

3. Map it out.
    Just what it says. Map out the route that you will take for the trip.

4. Write out your itinerary. 
    This is basically a little report that outlines all of the previous steps of this project. Include all of the things you will be doing on the trip, and what your cost will be.

5. Take your trip and add optional activities.
    There are so many things you can do for both real and virtual trips.
Here are a few ideas:

• Create a journal entry for each day of your trip.
• Take pictures (or get some online, from travel magazines, or brochures) and create a scrapbook or collage of your trip. Make a postcard and send it to a friend.
• Discover the history of your destination. Whether you are going to an amusement park, a museum, or a campground, there is history there somewhere!
• Find a science connection. For example, explore physics at an amusement park, study animals at the zoo, or explore nature at a campground or national park. (I remember one year when we went camping. We had fun looking up the tracks that a critter made around our campsite while we were trying to sleep. Um... hint... chicken left out in your campsite is raccoon bait! I'm sooo glad we didn't attract bears!)
• Explore the cuisine. If you are really going on the trip, make sure you sample some of the local cuisine. Maybe there is a farm nearby that grows blueberries or peaches. Or perhaps you are traveling to an area known for their barbecue. Try it! If you are planning a virtual trip, find a recipe or two that originates in the area and make it with your child's help.
• Create art- draw pictures, paint, build something... anything... just create something artistic about your trip.

There you have it. Sounds fun right?

There are so many different things you can do. You can make it a lesson that takes only a few days, or you can plan and explore a real or virtual trip over the course of the entire summer!

Either way, it promises to be not only fun, but educational too! Shhh don't tell the kids!

If you do this Summer Project, I would love for you to share some of the things you and your kids did! Just come back to this post and leave a comment, or write a blog post about it and link it up below.

Click HERE for a printable copy of the instructions.

I hope you all have a SUPER summer!!!