Blog Archives - Page 24 of 46 - Mom's Guide To Travel

May 01 2015

Take A Virtual Trip With Your Kids And Brain Chase

Brain Chase Sunstone of Cortes — Brain Chase has produced a REAL sunstone for one lucky winner to find the $10k prize.

Last month I mentioned a cool virtual summer learning program called Brain Chase. If you missed the post, you can check it out here.

The company has just released several new announcements that are making this program even hotter for your kids! Shoot, I’m jealous I can’t participate.

First off, they created a real Sunstone. What?! Yes! The sunstone is about 12 inches in diameter and has mechanically rotating components that open to reveal the center compartment, where the key to retrieve the $10,000 prize will be hidden.

If I had to list the three things I love most about the Brain Chase program in order, it would be: the opportunity for my kids to travel on a scavenger hunt for the prize; the $10,000 prize; and the opportunity to participate in a Rosetta Stone learning module.

As part of their online academic work, kids can choose the language module in lieu of the writing module.

Students will complete 2 lessons (a total of a little over an hour) each week in order to fulfill their language requirement and unlock the next episode. Students will be allowed to choose from 30+ languages when they register, and will have a week at the beginning of the program in which to switch languages if they prefer.

Brain Chase mystery item — Mystery bonus items make the program more intriguing and fun for kids.

If you want to learn more about “adventure learning” or out-of-the-classroom learning that’s touched with wonder, you should really check out the Brain Chase adventure learning blog. The blog is full of tips and resources for parents and kids.

Here’s one of the funnest additions to the program that they’re offering: The Brain Chase Library Challenge.

What is it? Well, throughout the month of May, Brain Chase will be hosting a 5-city Library Challenge. In each of the following cities, they will hide a voucher worth $1,000 in a local public library:

Boston
Salt Lake City
Orange County
Seattle
Austin

A unique riddle will lead adventurers to the exact location of the voucher and a complimentary Brain Chase registration.

We might just need to take a trip to Boston to participate in this mini scavenger hunt and maybe win some loot along the way!

This post is sponsored by Brain Chase in conjunction with their summer learning program. All opinions expressed are my own.

Apr 24 2015

Benefits of Educational Summer Camps When Not Traveling

It’s amazing to think that there are less than two months left in the school year. This time of year is always a hustle for me as I sort out both summer family travel plans and summer camps.

I’m definitely NOT one of those parents who has their kids signed up for camp by the third week of February. Perhaps if I worked in an office with a traditional 9-5 job, I’d be that organized and forward-thinking.

Summer camps — Kit for our helicopter craft

One of the luxuries of working on my own from home is that I have the option to either send the kids to camp for a few weeks or find my own ways to keep them busy. However, when they’re home with me and I need to get work done, it’s a challenge to keep them engaged.

Many parents face the same dilemma: what to do with the kids during the summer to keep them engaged and learning?

Our Summer Camp Experiences

A couple of years ago I wanted to ensure that my oldest was enrolled in summer camps that challenged him to be creative and think critically.

That year he attended a week of circus camp and electronics camp. In the electronics camp he had a chance to tinker with materials and learn how to make functioning objects.

It was fun helping him tinker with the projects he brought home. I was able to encourage him first-hand to create, explore, fail, and succeed without fear.

This is exactly what Galileo summer camps encourages with their preK to 8th grade campers: to be fearless innovators.

That type of learning experience leaves a lasting impression on both kids and parents.

If you’re in the San Francisco or Los Angeles area (or plan to be for a few weeks), sign up for a Galileo camp experience for your child. Use the discount code to save money when you do.

A Galileo Inspired Home Activity

To show you an example of an activity that fosters your child’s innovative spirit, check out this helicopter craft that my son and I created together.

What was so great about this activity was that I stepped in only when my son asked for an extra hand. For the most part he was able to follow the directions, tinker, and complete the craft on his own.

We had fun testing out our helicopter. I enjoyed watching his sense of accomplishment once he was finished.

He tested the helicopter repeatedly, adjusting components to observe the variation in results.

#CriticalThinking skills at work!

Try this craft out with your own child. This is one type of activity that Galileo Camps shares with its campers. You can access four downloadable PDF instructions here for even more craft activities.

Consider a Galileo summer camp for your own child for an even more immersive learning experience. Just in case you need more encouragement, enjoy a $50 coupon for the LA camp (code: 2015GALILEOCAMPSLA) and a $30 coupon for the San Fran camp (code: 2015GALILEOCAMPSF).

Here’s to an engaging and innovative summer!

Many thanks to Galileo Summer camps for sponsoring today’s post and encouraging my son to think like an innovator.

Apr 09 2015

Family Trip Planning And Travel Fun in Williamsburg VA

Spring has arrived so now it’s time to start planning for our summer family travel.

I can remember traveling with my family every year for three or four summers to Williamsburg, VA. I was a teenager at the time. We’d explore Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens, a few restaurants, an outlet center, and then pretty much spend the rest of the time at our timeshare resort.

Today, family travel in Williamsburg VA is so much more.

Pack the kids in the car for a road trip to Williamsburg and turn your family vacation into an immersive educational experience. The Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center are living history museums that tell the story of our nation’s beginnings through interactive experiences, exhibits, and outdoor settings re-created for the time.

These educational living history museums are excellent ways to bring the classroom to life for your child. We’ve taken our son to destinations like Gettysburg and Prince Williams County, VA where he had a chance to walk onto a preserved battlefield and preserved slave home, respectively.

Having those experiences strengthened his understanding of the stories that he learned and placed them in different contexts. Our trip were both fun and educational.

Here are some activities that you can do in Williamsburg at the Jamestown Settlement and at Yorktown Victory Center:

1. Climb aboard replicas of the three ships that brought America’s first permanent English colonists to Virginia in 1607.

2. Try on armor and play quoits inside a re-created colonial fort

3. Learn how to grind corn in a Powhatan Indian Village.

4. help fashion a dugout canoe in a Powhatan Indian village

5. Take a private tour with your family or small group (less than 14) for a customized and in-depth experience with a personal tour guide. Best thing: with an advance reservation, the tour can be added to any admission option. If you have a particular theme you’d like to focus on, opt for a premium theme add-on.

There are 4 combination ticket options to choose from in order to take advantage of all that the settlement has to offer:

1. Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center

Unlimited admission to each museum for seven consecutive days when purchased online and represents a 20 percent savings over single-visit, individual-museum admission. The ticket is $21.00 for adults, $10.50 for ages 6 through 12.

2. Jamestown and Yorktown Four-Site Value:

One ticket for seven consecutive days of unlimited admission to Jamestown Settlement, Historic Jamestowne, Yorktown Battlefield and Yorktown Victory Center is $35.00 for adults, $23.00 for ages 13-15, $12.50 for ages 6-12, and can be packaged with lodging.

3. America’s Historic Triangle:

One ticket for seven consecutive days of unlimited visits to five historical attractions – Jamestown Settlement, Historic Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg’s Revolutionary City and Art Museums, Yorktown Battlefield, and the Yorktown Victory Center – is $89.00 for adults, $41.00 for ages 6-15, and can be packaged with lodging.

4. Williamsburg Flex:

One ticket for seven consecutive days of unlimited visits, spring to mid-fall, to six attractions – Jamestown Settlement, Historic Jamestowne, Colonial Williamsburg’s Revolutionary City and Art Museums, Yorktown Battlefield, Yorktown Victory Center, and Busch Gardens® – is $193.50 for adults, $152.20 for ages 6-15 and can be packaged with lodging. From mid-May through Labor Day, the Williamsburg Flex ticket includes Water Country USA® as a free bonus.

The Williamsburg Flex ticket is pretty awesome because you’re seven day-itinerary is pretty much planned out for you. Talk about the ultimate in trip planning! If you have a family of four like mine (two adults and two kids, ages 6-15), this would cost $692 for your activities for the week!

Kids are busy, learning, and you don’t have to stumble on the question: “what are we doing today?”

Information about private tours and premium themes is at www.historyisfun.org/visit/special-experiences/private-tours/.

Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, until 6 p.m. from June 15 through August 15. For directions and more information visit www.historyisfun.org. If you want to relax and need help planning an amazing week with your family in Williamsburg and the surrounding area, consider working with me for trip planning services.

Apr 06 2015

How To Simplify Trip Planning So That You Can Travel More

trip planning

Do you see never-ending pics of friends or travel bloggers on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest to exotic far-off places and foam at the mouth with envy? Maybe they’re somewhere not so far-off but your’re still dreaming that it was you doing all that traveling.

Wouldn’t it be nice to be on the other side of those travel pics more often with your own family?

Well, let me show you how.

Listen, I’m a travel writer and travel blogger and even I get envious sometimes. We’re human. We see someone somewhere awesome and we want that for ourselves as well!

The difference is that I see my friends’ travels to places that I’ve never been as the first two parts of the trip planning phase: awareness and research. If I love what I see in their photos, that destination goes on my list and I start setting things in motion.

And you can too!

Join me on Tuesday April 7, 2015 at 9pm for a free webinar where I’ll teach you a few key trip planning strategies and tips that will help you save time and money so that you can travel more.

trip planning webinar

In the training, I will walk you through:

How to decide where to travel.
How to start the trip planning process.
Where to look for deals in order to save money on family travel.
Which websites to use to book and plan.
How to pull everything together in a live demo.

This year I’m focusing harder on my mission to get more moms (and dads) traveling! I know that that’s not going to happen by going to more destinations and posting dozens of smiley pics with tropical drinks in my hands.

Puerto Vallarta Food — See what I’m talking about?

I know that family trip planning can be a daunting task for some folks so I have to show you HOW to do it in a way that makes sense for you, is realistic, and is feasible on all fronts.

I. am. passionate. about. travel. I love the positive affects it has on our families and children. My goal is to work with 1,000 families or more this year. Slowly I’m chipping away at that number.

Join me on Tuesday! Do less travel dreaming and more travel planning.

Mar 20 2015

Combine Brain Chase And Travel For Kids Summer Learning

March is quickly coming to a close. Many of us parents are already thinking about Summer plans, most of which involves a balance of travel and summer learning.

I have a problem that I deal with every year once June rolls around: summer learning loss.

Earlier this week I received an email from a learning center that we’ll be enrolling my oldest son in starting next month. I subconsciously rolled my eyes as I thought about the struggle I’d have keeping him motivated to attend full-out through the summer.

I’ve already started constructing the mental bribes.

Like all other children, mine want to forget about books, forget about snow, and forget about schedules. Their ideal day would be a balance of travel, online gaming, and running outside under the warmth of the sun.

I think I may have found a wonderful solution: Brain Chase!

What is Brain Chase?

Brain Chase summer learning — The characters in the game.

It’s a 5-week online summer learning challenge for 2nd through 8th graders, though technically kids can be between ages 6 and 16. It involves a massive global treasure hunt that’s powered by a child’s reading, writing and math on a personalized online learning platform.

Kids have four tasks that they need to complete each week:

Read for 15 minutes per day
Write one journal entry
Earn 10,000 points on Khan Academy
Do a bonus challenge

After they complete their tasks they can unlock the next webisode which contains hidden pictures, numbers, and riddles that will help them guess the treasure’s location.

How fun.

The program encourages and motivates kids to do online academic work during the summer time in hopes of winning a $10,000 scholarship and trophy. Oh, and bragging rights too of course! They will spend 5 weeks hunting for a golden mechanical treasure. This year the treasure is called the Sunstone of Cortes.

The program is in its second year. Last year 500 adventurers participated in the hunt for the scholarship money and the treasure.

Biggest Highlights

What I like is that it gives kids motivation to achieve two big goals: winning and traveling! It’s like the academic junior version of the Amazing Race.

Face it, if our kids aren’t continually practicing their reading and math skills during the summer, they lose one to two months of the previous school year’s brain power. A 2011 RAND study revealed this in its findings.

In addition to participating in a massive global treasure hunt for the golden trophy and the $10,000 prize, this is what else kids get when they participate in Brain Chase’s summer learning program:

5 weeks of structured challenges on external reading and math websites.
Weekly writing exercises with feedback from credentialed teachers.
Exclusive access to an original animated adventure series that’s loaded with hidden puzzles and clues.

Parents are emailed weekly progress reports and 3 adventure tools are mailed to the house to help kids solve special bonus challenges. I have a plan together on how to seamlessly incorporate it in our day-to-day schedule.

So how can you participate? This is what you need to know:

Check out this video to see how the program works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xciDyoHXz0&feature=youtu.be

The chase starts on Monday June 22, 2015 at 9 a.m. EST. Once the race starts, adventurers can log in every 24 hours to guess where the real treasure is located. The first child to guess within a two-mile radius travels with his/her family to the treasure site to claim the gold.

To participate, sign up at www.brainchase.com. The Limited Early bird price is $149 until April 15, 2015. Each additional sibling is $100. Use the code MOMSGUIDE15 to get 15% off your total purchase. The challenge is open to students ages 6 to 16 in the the 48 United States & D.C. (excluding CO, MD), Mexico, UK and Canada (except Quebec). Entries close 7/5/15.

Are you excited? I am. See you on the Chase!

This post is sponsored by Brain Chase in conjunction with the promotion of their 2015 scavenger hunt.