Billboards, newspapers, and local magazines are good ways to find new words and phrases. For school age, promotes language arts, geography, history, and organizational skills History's movers and shakers can be found in all regions of the country. Provide resources for your children to learn about famous people who herald from your destination. Play twenty questions with the family and see whether they can guess what famous paths you may cross. For younger children obvious choices such as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln will be appropriate.
Older children can research more obscure historical figures.
A visit to the beach at Nags Head, NC, might unearth the Wright brothers who soared into fame a few miles down the road. Neil Armstrong stepped off the moon and into Ohio, along with fellow astronaut John Glenn. Olympic Gold medalist Shannon Miller balances her life around Edmond, Okla., just a handspring away from fellow Olympic gymnasts Bart Conner and Nadia Comaneci, Norman, Okla., residents. Ask your children to tell the family about the famous people they've selected. Almanacs and encyclopedias will be good sources for your research.