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More contributors to MommyTalk.com will be announced soon and writing wonderful features for our members.

July, 22 2009

Road Trip Book for Kids

by Dionna Sanchez

In the summer of 2008, our family took a 3 week long road excursion across the United States. It was something my husband and I had always wanted to do and we were all looking forward to it.

A three week long trip means a lot of driving. A LOT. At the time, our girls were 9 and 11 so they were old enough to bring along some of their own distractions. But my husband created this traveling book for them that I was simply in awe of. He thought it would be fun for them to read about the towns/cities we went to so he'd researched information on each spot. He typed out interesting pieces of info and highlights. He also looked up possible points of interest in between our destinations. For example, we stopped at one of the oldest carousels still around in Kansas. We wouldn't have known it was even there if my husband hadn't researched it out!

In addition to the fun facts, highlights, and road stops-my husband also printed out some maps of the United States. Instead of simply writing down license plates we saw from all of the states, we colored the state in with a crayon. It was fun to see the map start to fill in as we made our way across the country. We also got a little competitive and would start keeping license plates a secret from one another in the quest to "get ahead." But it was all in good fun!

My husband put a lot of time and thought into making this book for our road trip. He put it all in a big binder inside plastic page protectors and it was a great thing to pull out. Sometimes when the trip seemed a little long, I would grab the book to see if there was anything interested entered around the spot we happened to be at the time.

Our kids weren't ALWAYS interested in the book � but it did add to our trip as a whole and they did dig into it a time or two on their own without prompting from us.

If you are looking for a way to get your kids looking outside of the car instead of just at a DVD player, IPOD, or Nintendo DS -you might consider making your own book for your next car trip. It can be a fun, fascinating, and interesting conversation piece to help you see and know the world around you a little bit better.

Dionna Sanchez is Founder of Emphasis On Moms. Subscribe to her free monthly newsletter at http://www.EmphasisOnMoms.com.newsletter.htm

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