TripFLIX Family Travel DVD: A Summer Learning Adventure

When I received the TripFLIX DVDfrom Team Mom, I thought, "OK, cool, my kids always love videos." We popped it in and began watching. We soon found out that this is so much more than your typical video to keep the kids occupied for a little while. It is incredible!

Remember the "Choose-Your-Own-Adventure" Books we used to read as kids? Well, TripFLIX is actually an interactive video with 25 kid-friendly destinations all across the continental US. You choose the route you wish to travel, and the fun teen guides highlight the history, culture and attractions along the way. It's the ultimate choose-your-own-adventure DVD!

As I watched it, I was amazed at how educational the video is! I even learned a thing or two. My seven-year-old daughter loves trivia, so she was excited when the trip included trivia questions, such as State Capitals, World Records, and where the first hamburger was made.

The entire running time is 2 hours, but you can break it up into smaller segments. You can find out all 25 destinations, and the stpry behind the creation of the DVD at the website, www.tripfilx.com

As a former teacher, I'm always looking for ways to stretch learning activities and create with kids. Just to illustrate how you can use this video, I decided to highlight a few of the New England Destinations, and suggest a craft or activity that could be paired with the video. You could make this into your summer project, make a "suitcase" out of a cardboard box, spend a day or a week on each destination. The possibilities are endless.

Maine:

• Video: See how to make a wooden boat
• Craft: Make paper boats and float them in a creek, pond or kiddie pool.
• Science: Try different thicknesses of paper, and see which floats better. Study buoyancy, currents, and wind.
• Geometry: Try different shaped boats, and figure out how to make a template with different shapes.
• Play: Get up on the playset or treehouse, and pretend you're the captain of a sailboat.
  

Vermont:

• Video: Vermont Teddy Bear factory
  
• Craft: Make teddy bear shapes out of felt, or faux fur. Cut out clothes shapes from old clothes, rags, or scrap fabric.
  
• History: The video says that the Teddy Bear was named after Teddy Roosevelt. Study Roosevelt, and print out pictures to color.
  

Massachusetts:

• Video: Pilgrims/ Plymouth Rock
  
• Play: Pretend to go on a long journey around the yard. Find a rock and bring it inside.
  
• Craft: Paint your rock to represent your new settlement.
  
• Social Studies: Name your new settlement and figure out how you can survive the coming winter.

• Video: The first gristmill (Grinds corn into flour - well, I didn't know before watching this video.)
• Activity: Make Cornbread. Let the kids feel the cornmeal, and imagine that it was once whole corn.
  
• Math: Let the kids measure each ingredient, and make conversions if necessary.
• Research corn used for ethanol, and other uses for corn.
  
• THE BEST cornbread recipe, IMO, is found on the bag of Hodgeson Mill Cornmeal. Just add a little extra sugar.
  

Anyway, those are a few of the activities I would do after watching segments of TripFLIX. I give this video 5 blooms! It is definitely worth getting.

You can order it by clicking here: