Our Best Travel Activity

I'd promised to share with you our best travel activities, so here goes! Our absolute favorite was photo stickers. Before we left, I'd printed thumbnail-sized pictures of family members (our immediate family, my sister's family, and my parents) on sticker paper. One afternoon as we drove, I sat in the back seat next to Kardelen (while Bia napped) and together we stuck them on the pages of a FamilyFun magazine. It was goofy, it was creative--she loved it! Nana went scuba-diving, Karsten drove a new Malibu, and Kardelen stood on a spoon.

It turned out to be a double-duty activity, one we could use while traveling and when we arrived at our destination, too. When we got to Montana, we spent one whole afternoon doing the same thing, this time with my sister's children, who found the activity absolutely hilarious.

Kiana and Kaleb pore through magazines for just the right picture.
Krystiana, in the background, gives moral support.

Kardelen and Karsten make a collage out of our silly creations
for the living room wall.

Want to see some of the funniest ones?

Princess Kevin, Princess Jacob, Princess Karsten, and Princess Kaleb

Karsten gets creative with his brother's picture and
his mommy's fitness magazines

Later that day, the photo stickers got an encore at my nephew Kaleb's birthday party. We made homemade cards with a "Kaleb the hero" theme, using photo stickers of Kaleb and magazine pages to make him a guitar hero, hunting hero, and missionary. He even got his face on a box of Life cereal (which is his dream)!

We also used his picture on his cake. Since this year he'll be old enough to go bear hunting with the family, the cake reflected on that theme.

The toy soldier--er, bear hunter--had Kaleb's face on it!

What We Love About Photo Stickers: they make for creative, open-ended fun; high-interest since they use family pictures; great for group activities; can make them more serious or goofy depending on the pictures you use; ages 2-100.

Drawbacks: Adult must help younger children peel off sticker backs; need to cut out each sticker with safety scissors. If you're traveling, this means a grown-up (or bigger kid) needs to sit next to the child in the car.

Other Ways to Use Photo Stickers:
~Create a personalized rebus story for young readers to enjoy. A rebus story is one in which some of the words are replaced by pictures, and they're great motivation and fun for beginning readers.
~Mark your child's possessions with photo stickers of him or her (notebooks, etc.).
~Use them as the return address for letters to grandparents.
~Give them as gifts (for your child's friends, if you've taken pictures of them).
~Use them as part of a school unit on families.
~Make Christmas gift tags with them.

You can find sticker paper at OfficeMax for $10.49 for 25 sheets. Ours was a gift from my Mom and Dad (thanks, guys!).

Since I've shared so much about this travel activity, I'll save the other ones for a separate post coming soon!