Homeschooling at a Theme Park: Maps

So, we went to our local theme park today.  We have season passes.  I absolutely love going there on weekdays, especially in the spring before school lets out and in the fall after school has started.  We miss having husband/daddy along, but it's great to be there and encounter no lines or crowds.

I would never assign a task at a theme park or try and make it be a learning experience; we just go to have fun.  However, the problem with homeschooling is that you just can't help but learn wherever you go, and it's often not in the so-called "educational" areas that our theme park offers.

What I am loving about theme parks for my kids is the map reading that it encourages.  Both Bee and Bug insist on having their own paper map.  I never get a map--I just borrow one of theirs if I need to look at something.

Bee, of course, reads the words on the map, and last year that was a really good activity for him.  Now, his reading level is much higher, and it's no longer a challenge.  But it's nice to see him looking at the map and orienting and figuring out which direction things are in.  He can also read the signs well.  I gave him the task of remembering our parking lot name and number, and he did, and he took great pride in directing us right to our car.

Bug, on the other hand, is just getting an introduction to maps.  He likes to look at it and find his favorite rides and point to them on the map.  He's just identifying landmarks and getting used to the idea of the map, and it makes him feel grownup and important to hold his own map.

The thing I love the most about this "map activity" is that I had nothing to do with it.  Bee started insisting on getting his own map at some point.  Of course, Bug wants to be big like his older brother and have a map too.  I did not sit down with them and point things out about the map that I think they should know--they just ask me questions about it.  This is an activity that came spontaneously from them, and I always think that's neat.  I don't think it's necessary at all for a good learning experience, but I love it when it happens that way. 

I am pretty sure, however, that the maps would not be nearly as fun if it had been my idea and I had given them each a map.  "Here you guys go!  Maps!  See what you can find on a map!  This is North!"  And so on.  It's much more fun for all of us when they take the initiative.