Geography Quest: Summer Adventure Edition

Perhaps your family has traveling plans for the summer. Our first stop this particular summer was Maine followed by a road trip to Kansas for a few members of the family, and back to the St. Lawrence Seaway in August. If you are a fan of our Geography Quests and you are looking for a way to enjoy the travel portion with your teens and kids, read on for Geography Quest: Summer Adventure Edition.

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Either way, it would be fun to incorporate some geography during this upcoming season of adventure.

Travel Geography Adventures

Here are a few ideas for enjoying geography with your travels:

Spring is finally fully underway now in upstate NY and many homeschooling families are thinking about summer plans as their formal learning comes to a close for the summer. Or maybe you are a year-round homeschoolers looking to begin your summer routine.

• Map the journey to your destination.
• Prepare a car map and markers/stickers for your kids to mark the drive as you go along.
• Make a travel journal to record the fun on your trip- Our 14yo made one for herself before leaving on our trip to Maine and she’s been having fun adding to it.
• Pick up travel brochures to use in collages and fun memory makers of your time away.
• Map the area you are enjoying with memories– with all the fun things you’ve enjoyed as a family. We’re staying on Mt. Desert Island in Maine and we’ve had some pretty fun times in a few spots. We can map the memories we’ve made here.

Geography Adventures with Summer Books

There are a whole host of summer books to pour through and immerse yourselves in for adventure with a side of geography. Here are a few of our favorites:

• Swallows & Amazons– The original and the whole series. Nothing but good old fashioned fun with this one. You’ll have to stick in for a few chapters getting acquainted with nautical terms, but once you are there it will take off and you’ll find yourself wishing you could camp on an island for the summer too!
• Carry On, Mr. Bowditch– Not specifically for summer, but it’s definitely full of adventure as you learn the history of American navigation.
• The Captain’s Dog– A story of Lewis and Clark told in the point of view of his dog. Who doesn’t love the story of the journey of Lewis and Clark?
• The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and One Very Interesting Boy– this is a modern classic that is reminiscent of Little Women. Such a sweet story and there are now 5 books in the series.
• Fantasy Adventures– The books of Tolkien and Lewis have elaborate “other world” settings. If you have a student who loves world building, it might be fun to make maps of these fantasy worlds.
• Books with Journeys– Other than the fantasy works I mentioned, my teens suggested the Percy Jackson series, Ranger’s Apprentice, and others as books with journeys which are fun to follow.

Almost any book can make for a fun geographical adventure.

If you have a favorite, please share below!

Incorporating Geography into Your Homeschool The Easy Way

I was excited to participate in a bunch of Google Plus Hangouts years ago with Bright Ideas Press (and the iHomeschoolNetwork). This one is all about how to easily incorporate Geography into Your Homeschool and I thought it would give us ideas for summer fun with geography.

The panelists on this hang out had some fabulous, low prep ideas on doing geography which is perfect for summer fun.

You don’t want to miss Tyler Hogan’s explanation on why geography is important for kids.

I’m looking forward to our geography adventures this summer.

How can you encourage geography skills while having a fun season of warm weather?

Comment and tell us about it!