Okay, I had to write this one. While I absolutely love family travel, I do have a background in education and I'm the mom that whenever possible "sneaks" learning into everyday tasks, even vacations. I especially love math. Combing vacation planning and education has always been fun for me, so I'm really excited to share these ideas.
In my opinion, nothing makes a better gift than the gift of family memories. I love giving (a receiving) the gift of travel. My absolute favorite birthday was celebrated on a Disney cruise with my husband and two daughters. For me, it doesn't get much better then waking up at sea, enjoying breakfast on my own personal verandah, and pulling into a new beautiful destination for the day.
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There are so many fun ways to gift a Disney vacation. I'm sharing a few here for inspiration. All of these ideas include sneaky ways to slide in a little learning before your trip.
Present a countdown calendar.
A countdown calendar can take on many forms, but a common and simple way to create one is to print out a month view page of a calendar. Children in pre-school to second grade generally have a month view calendar in their classrooms that is used for daily skill building. Creating a month view Disney countdown calendar for home can not only be a fun way to count down to a Disney vacation but, it can help reinforce skills that are being taught at school, such as one to one correspondence, patterns, days of the week, even months depending on how far out you make your calendar. For younger children, it may be best to not make the countdown too far out (a month or less). For pattern practice, have children make a pattern and continue to follow it as they cross off the days. For example color in days you are crossing off in the pattern, black, black, red, (this is a A, A, B pattern), or star, heart, triangle (this is a A, B, C pattern). You can discuss what part of the pattern repeats. Great questions to ask as you are counting down towards your vacation are, "How many days have we crossed off?" and "How many more days until our trip?". Questions like these help with one to one correspondence and with part, part whole relationships. Calendars can be easily made for free using Canva or you can find free printable calendars by searching google images.
Wrap up puzzle pieces that reveal the surprise.
Purchase a blank jigsaw puzzle and write the surprise message, such as "We are going to Disney World!" Puzzles are great for problem solving, reasoning and building spacial awareness. This blank jigsaw puzzle from Amazon comes in an 8 pack. Conisider writing one word on each puzzle for an extra challenge! Just be sure to keep each puzzle in separate baggies to prevent pieces from getting mixed up.
Send your family on a a Disney scavenger hunt.
Scavenger hunts are always fun and you can get really creative mixing in problem solving or math problems. Start with a clue that leads to the next clue until you revel the final surprise. Below are some clues you could use to get started:
Captain Hook hid your clue in a treasure chest, but first you'll have to solve this problem! (Use a combination lock on a box, give a math problem where the solution is the code for the box. ex: There are 357 pieces of gold, and 482 gems, how many treasures are there in the box?)
Mirror mirror on the wall, you'll find the next clue here! (tape the clue to a mirror)
Pluto hid your next clue (tape the under a dog dish, or by dog food)
Sleeping beauty knows where to find your next clue. (hide the clue under a bedroom pillow)
When the clock struck midnight, this got left behind, and so did your clue (hide the clue in a shoe)
I'm hiding under a dinglehopper. (hide the clue in the silverware drawer)
Use a guess box.
This is one of my favorites because is super fun and requires inductive reasoning. In a bag or box put several items related to the vacation. Gather the family together. Tell them you have several items that you will revel one at a time and it's their job to put the clues together to guess the theme. Start with the less obvious item, such as sunglasses. Items may include, bathing suits, tennis shoes for lots of walking, flip flops for the pool or beach destinations, mini Disney back packs, Disney or matching t-shirts, ears, magic bands, etc. Take items out one by one let the fun begin!
Visiting during the Holidays? Make a count down felt tree!
This is a version of a countdown calendar and can even be reused as an advent calendar. Cut out a large felt Christmas tree. Using different colored pieces of felt, cut out shapes for ornaments. Each day leading up to the trip add one shape to the tree. As you are decorating the tree with the new ornament discuss the shape that is being place on the tree. How many sides does it have, how many corners, what is it called? With older children you can also discuss the angles of the shape (obtuse, acute, right) and how do you know? Want to make it more challenging? Lay out all of the shape ornaments. Think of one of the shapes. Provide clues one at at time until your child is able to guess which is the magic ornament for the day (I'm thinking of an ornament with 3 sides. This ornament has one right angle, this ornament is pink) When all the ornaments are gone and the tree is beautifully decorated, you are ready for the trip!
Ready to give the gift of family travel? I'm Irene, a travel agent with Mouseketrips, an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner and I would love to work with you! My planning services are free and I price monitor saving you time and money! Request a no obligation quote here or email me Irene@mouseketrips.com with any questions!
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