This activity was great for mapping skills. And although Travis has recently practiced making maps, today the idea was to follow one instead!

That means that the set up is a grown-up step. I drew a map of town for Travis from the park to a near-by intersection where we could leave the car. I made sure to include a legend box, lots of details like street names and symbols for main buildings, and more.

When we arrived, the first thing he had to do was orient us! Travis immediately picked out where we were based on the logo for a coffee cup I’d drawn. But now he faced a dilemma: which way to go.

There was so much to love about the process that followed, little things I realized we’d never touched on before like reading the street signs to assign a name to each street, or understanding how to orient yourself in 3-D space based on a 2-D drawing.

In short order, he puzzled out the map and we arrived. Now it was time for much deserved play!

This turned into an unexpectedly awesome day in the park. The kids loved running through the grass…

…waving to cars through the fence…

…finding clovers, and more.