Summer travel brings new educational opportunities

The opportunity for travel is one of the perks of being in a military family, and for families with school children, summer is the best time for travel. When travel and education are combined, “edu-travel” is formed.

Edu-travel is a mix of fun, learning, new experiences and family time. Whether the travel is due to a PCS move, visiting family members or simply taking advantage of the chance to visit new places, learning opportunities abound. While sitting in a classroom, children hear about history lessons and see pictures of geographical landmarks. While traveling, they can experience those lessons and landmarks firsthand. That is what edu-travel is about.

Getting to the travel destination is only part of the learning experience. From license plate scavenger hunts to travel journals, even being in a car can be a learning experience. Plan ahead, search for trip games online and hit the road with the family for a fun learning experience.

Here are a few ways to help you get a rewarding edu-travel experience.

Geocaching

This high-tech outdoor scavenger hunt involves math and direction-finding. “Caches” of trinkets are hidden all over the United States — in fact, all over the world — and it’s up to you to find them. When you do, you take a trinket and leave another. It is fun for the whole family and costs nothing more than a GPS unit. You will probably take a GPS device on your trip anyway, so why not make it a portable one that you can also use for geocaching? Check it out at www.geocaching.com.

Letterboxing

Letterboxing is an intriguing “treasure hunt” style of outdoor activity. “Letterboxers” hide small, weatherproof boxes in places that are accessible to the public, like parks, and post clues to finding the box online on one of several websites. However, clues to finding some of the most highly-sought boxes are passed around by word of mouth. There are about 20,000 letterboxes hidden in North America alone.

Individual letterboxes usually contain a log book, a hand-carved rubber stamp and an ink pad. Finders make an imprint of the letterbox’s stamp on their personal log book and leave an imprint of their personal stamp on the letterbox log book. Look it up at www.letterboxing.org.

National Parks programs

If you have preteens or younger, the National Parks Junior Ranger Program can’t be beat, as it provides curriculum ideas for each park as well as a variety of activities. A companion program is the Passport Program, which allows both kids and adults to have a special parks passport stamped as they visit and learn about various parks. See www.nps.gov/index.htm.

Active duty personnel in the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard and activated National Guard and Reserves can now obtain the new military version of the America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreation Lands Annual Pass. Service members and their dependents get free access to more than 2,000 national parks, wildlife refuges, national forests, and other public lands around the nation. Check with each park for operating hours and event schedules.

Blue Star Museums

Blue Star Museums is a program that offers free admission to museums for all active duty, National Guard and Reserve military personnel and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day. For a list of participating museums, log on to www.bluestarfam.org/Programs/Blue_Star_Museums.

For any K-12 educational questions, please contact the NBVC school liaison officer at 805-989-5211 or email monica.james@navy.mil.