I'm Hooked- Our First Day Trip
Last week, we went on our first day trip, or road schooling adventure. Road schooling is when you pack up your belongings and take your homeschooling on the road. We didn't quite take all of our belongings, but we definitely did overpack for a short 1 night stay. Who else overpacks?
The whole idea of road schooling or world schooling has been on my mind since the summer. I dream about traveling the world and weaving our schooling into these once in a lifetime experiences. Once we save up some money, you bet I'll be sharing where we go and what we do. Instead of just waiting for the time to come, I decided to start small and take some quick day trips around Indiana.
With some help from friends, I started creating a document of all the fun places to visit around Indiana. These could be a quick or long day trip, or turn into an overnight stay. Don't worry, i'll share the document below. With some friends nudging us and a nice discount code we decided to visit the Cincinnati Museum Center and then Great Wolf Lodge. The Museum Center includes their Children's Museum on the bottom level, The Museum of Natural History and Science, and The History Museum. Plus more we didn't have time to visit. With luck on our side, the Bengals won that week so we unexpectedly got free admission! Just an added perk I was very thankful for.
I had no idea all of these museums would hold my kids attention. I knew the Children's Museum would have some fun activities and exhibits, but we spent the whole day exploring these different museums. In the Children's Museum we experimented with their balls and shoots. How air could change the way the ball moves, force, and more! We also role played in their small "houses". We build with gears and blocks. We learned about oral health. We climbed and played through a pretend woods. We had a blast. Honestly, this is all I expected when we entered the museum.
My boys saw a room that was about Neil Armstrong. Without knowing if we could visit, we went back upstairs and asked. They said all the museums were included for free! So we went exploring some more. In The History Museum, we learned about space, Neil Armstrong going to the moon, the moon phases, stars, the history of Cincinnati, and how transportation as changed. In The Museum of Natural History and Science, we played with so many different science experiments. We learned about dinosaurs, animals, and more! This last museum showed me what type of science my boys were intrigued by, and ways I can incorporate more science into our school days.
After a full day of learning, we ended our trip with a fun stay at Great Wolf Lodge. What a fun place! The ages of my boys were perfect. My oldest, who is 8, could go on a big slide or play with a friend, while my youngest, who is 5, enjoyed the wave pool and smaller slides with me by his side. We enjoyed all of the water activities and slides and it was a fun way to end our first day trip. Although I did enjoy leaving the loud and chlorine filled building.
This quick trip has me hooked. Although it was jam packed and busy, we had so much fun exploring and turning our school day into an experience we won't forget. With the flexibility and freedom, we can take our learning wherever we go. The world is our classroom and I can't wait to travel more!
Tell me, what are some of your favorite spots to visit in Indiana?