How Do You Remember Your Trips?
We are headed out on a family trip to New Mexico in a few weeks, and I just realized that this will be the first time E is verbal enough to participate actively in documenting the trip himself. In the past, we have relied on digital pictures, and we often sit down and look at pictures of our trips at the end of a long day.
For this trip, though, I would love to have E take a more active role in deciding what we record. I'm thinking of having him make a little album with favorite pictures after the trip is over, but I'd love to hear what other creative ideas readers have for letting young children record their adventures. Let me know in the comments.
6 comments |
Posted on July 17, 2008 |
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eli on July 17, 2008 at 7:04 a.m.
I've been meaning to try out these guys:
http://mycustomstory.com/shop/
and see how their board books would hold up against a toddler. We printed some photo books through a flickr affiliate, and they were cheaper, but are rapidly getting destroyed.
For a recent trip to San Francisco, we got a Goodnight San Francisco book from the series that seems pretty ubiquitous now. It has some of the landmarks we saw while we were there, and we can talk about them at bed time, and then also look at our pictures on the computer.
Debbie on July 17, 2008 at 1:52 p.m.
What a great idea! I'll have to check it out.
Debbie
Julie K in Taiwan on July 17, 2008 at 8:27 p.m.
You could make up a bunch of journal prompts for each day (customized beforehand if you've planned out stops). Things like "What I ate, what the weather was like, the funniest thing I saw, ..." Leave room for a drawn picture summing up an experience, or if it's been a long day, I saw someone who let their child pick the day's color as a way to express their emotions nonverbally.
CodeCrafter on July 18, 2008 at 7:52 a.m.
How about giving him a camera of his own? Disposable cameras are cheap and you can get the waterproof ones that are very durable or there is a range of tough digital cameras for kids on the market.
I also love the idea of journal prompts that you would help him fill in.
Might be fun to give him a journal/blank book and crayons that he would be free to draw stuff to document the trip as you travel. Maybe package up the blank book, crayons and camera all in a special bag just for him that he could also store little things he collects on the trip in. Like brochures, ticket stubs and other reminders of the trip.
Pattee on July 18, 2008 at 10:53 a.m.
When we went to Hawaii for vacation last year I had my daughter, who was 3 yrs old, tell me at least one thing she liked about each day of our trip. Each night, usually before bedtime, I would talk with her about all the things we did that day, and then I would ask her what her favorite part of the day was or what she liked the most about that day. I would then write down what she told me in a journal that I brought along with us. Each page of the journal was dedicated to each day of our trip. I would write a few comments about what we did that day and then write down what my daughter shared with me. This is a great way to look back at your vacation.
Debbie on July 18, 2008 at 9:39 p.m.
Wow! I am loving these ideas for helping him build his own journal. I bet I could even get little D to tell me a few words about their day. Maybe I'll combine these ideas and let the kids each tell me their favorite thing & then select a favorite digital photo from the day to go along with it. When we get home, we could even share the albums with grandparents (who gobble up any pictures we are willing to send)
I'll be sure to share how this goes... does anyone have other good ideas we might try too?