Maddy, Owen, Cora, and I have been in Pennsylvania for the last few days so that I could say goodbye to the father of one of my best friends while my husband re-couped from knee surgery.
It was an emotionally–and physically–exhausting trip to say the least, and after our usual 3 hour trip back to Maryland took close to 5 hours, I was more than happy that I took a few minutes while the kids ate lunch with my parents to create a Travel Bingo: MD to PA for our ride home.
- Travel Bingo: I admit, I searched for one on the Internet but couldn’t find one that would work for Maddy, Owen, and Cora that I could download and use today. I remembered my search came up the same way the day I made ABC Road Hunt.
So, I whipped up Travel Bingo: MD to PA while my crew filled their bellies for the long ride. I added things I knew we’d see along the way, like the “Barbell Guy” in York, cows on the farms we pass, and summertime flowers. I gave them each their board a sheet of stickers to use as bingo markers, and once we got on the road, I told them we could play but asked them to tell me when they were up for it.
After about our second mile of crawling through traffic, Maddy said, Hey, Mommy, what about that Bingo game? And it kind of kept us sane through inching along for a gazillion miles and then again when we hit another detour several miles later.
I “tweaked” it tonight, making some changes that Maddy and Owen recommended, like changing “Body Building Statue” to “Barbell Guy” like we call him, and adding bridge, convertible, and a few other things.
The great thing is, like the shopping lists we use, this game can be changed according to where we’re going; on our way to the shore, I’ll do a little research and add some “beachy” sights, and for our trip to visit friends in Pittsburgh, I can add a tunnel.
I deliberately took the time to add the words below the pictures, since using both the pictures and text helps emerging readers to decode the words, and I put a few boards in uppercase letters for Owen and Cora and a few in lowercase letters for Maddy so that everyone was set up for success.
That’s it for today. I’m glad to be back in Maryland. Happy sneaky learning and happier travels!
ps: If you want to download Travel Bingo MD to PA as a pdf, it’s here to share. Enjoy!
Michelle
What a great idea! I don't know if my twins can figure it out, they will be 2 1/2 when we go on our first road trip with them, but it just may be worth trying!
Amy from Occupation: Mommy
In August, we are driving from Philadelphia to Myrtle Beach, SC. This will be perfect for some of that LOOOOONNNNGGG (11 hrs) drive. Thanks!
teachmama
Michelle–Maybe if you just focus on the pictures, they'll be okay. With Cora, I sometimes said, "Can you find the pickup truck or the fire engine? Put a sticker on the fire engine first then on the truck. . ." (I was driving, so I don't even know if she did that, but I tried giving her explicit directions to keep her focused…)
Amy–Oh my gosh!! We'll be headed the same way in August. Maybe we'll catch up at one of the many rest stops or on the beach!
Christy
That is great. My children would love it.
Multi-tasking Mommy
Thanks SO much for this great idea. This will come in handy when we travel 4+ hours to visit my in laws! This is just perfect.
Thanks for putting it in a word doc too 🙂
Heather
This is great! I am so glad I have you so I don't have to reinvent the wheel. While you "whip" things up on your computer I would be staring at a blank screen thinking, "where do I start?" You rock.
Julie
Thank you so much for the files. My daughter loved the grid games. I'm having trouble with downloading the .docx file this time, though.
teachmama
No problem, friends. Julie–I just tried to download the files from the last part of the post, and they worked okay for me. On my laptop, though, I have Works and Word 2007, I think. I am not sure how else to share it. Any ideas?
Julie
I use MS Word and have been able to download previous .doc files. I could only find the Travel Bingo as a .docx file. Maybe I could find a way to convert it?
teachmama
Julie,
I created it on my parent's Works, then edited it on my Works and saved it again as a Word file. How about you send me your email, and I'll send it to you that way? Might that work?
Julie
I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier–I just used an oline file conversion website to convert the .wps file to .doc. Thanks so much for offering these awesome downloads! My daughter thanks you, too.
carlylennox
Hello! I really love this bingo idea! My daughter will be four next month and loves to play eye spy games in the car, she will love this new game! Is it ok for me to link back to this great idea on my blog please?
Best wishes, Caroline.
teachmama
thanks, Carlylennox, for reading! Sure–link to your blog, I'd be flattered!
amy