Art & Design
Cultural Literacy
All Ages
Examine: Learn what heritage of art the places you are going to have and find appreciation for it.
All Ages
Listen: Most geographic regions have music heritage. Find out what that is for where you are going and get acquainted.
Language & Thinking
Pre-Reading Skills
Toddlers & Children
Play: Play ‘Alphabet I Spy.’ Each player of the game has to find every letter of the alphabet in sequence on the billboards, license plates, cars, etc. outside. The only rules are that you must call out the letter and the source of the letter as you drive by, all the letters counted must be found outside your car, players cannot claim the same letters as each other – they must be unclaimed to count, and the first player to get to letter Z wins.
Reading
All Ages
Read: Read the most interesting nonfiction you find about the locations you are going or passing through. This could be combined with historical readings of the locations and amount to a rich research and planning task.
All Ages
Read: Read the most interesting fiction you find taking place in the locations you are going to or passing through.
Writing Nonfiction
Children & Teenagers
Write a Journal Entry: Create a daily driving journal describing how far the family drove, where to, and why.
Children & Teenagers
Write an Essay: Write about the beauty of the places you go to and use descriptive language, and devices such metaphor, simile, etc.
Life & Home Skills
All Ages
Link: Road trips are an opportune time to learn about cars. Browse the learning ideas on the Cars interest page.
Math
Consumer Math
Children & Teenagers
Calculate: Calculate your car’s miles per gallon. Keep track of how much remaining gas is in the tank at the start and end of the trip, how much gas you buy at each gas station, and how many miles are on your car’s odometer in the beginning and end of the trip.
Children & Teenagers
Estimate: Estimate how much gas you would consume with each route you can take to get places. Either look at an atlas to see alternatives or simply compare options like “avoid highways” or “avoid tolls” on your map app. A learner could budget the trip or estimate the cost.
Social Sciences
History
Children & Teenagers
Research: Investigate historic routes or great migratory routes in history if these are applicable.