21 August 2005

Road Games

Many people have been surprised that we look forward to travelling with six children across the country. Some mentioned “American Vacation” with Chevy Chase as an example for us. They expected our children to nag and fight for thousands of miles!
We have been travelling as a family for some time and children are pretty used to driving. We enjoy playing played the “Spotting” game, with winners calculated for each day's play. Some would think the driver would have the advantage being up front and involved in the road, but the driver tends to concentrate on the road and driving conditions and misses many of the non road points.

Spotting
We created a spreadsheet for each person with a column for each day and a row for each item to spot. David, Lana, Ariel, Eric, and the other three were grouped. Rose’s scores were with Lana’s. As you can see here, Eric is taking it all quite seriously.

Items to Spot:
New VW Bug (1 pt)
Old VW Bug (1.5 pts)
Silver Mack Truck Dog Mascot (1)
Gold Mack Truck Dog Mascot (2)
Mini (3)
Police Car (1)
Ambulance (1)
Fire Engine (1)
Sheriff Car (2)
Flashing lights (1)
Interesting thing (2)
Martian Tripod (Water tower) (1) *
New State licence plate (Tag) (2)

We have a blank map of the US with state borders. When a new state vehicle tag (licence plate) is spotted it is added to the map. This is a fun way to learn the states.
* The water tanks that provide water pressure for lots of towns and suburbs look a bit like Martian Tripods from "The War of the Worlds".

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