Flat Travelers

 

Years ago, when Ben was maybe 5 or 6, we read a book called Flat Stanley.  It  is the story of Stanley Lambchop, a little boy who wakes one morning to find he has been flattened by the bulletin board that once hung above his bed.  The whole family pretty much takes Stanley's predicament in stride and Stanley goes on quite a few adventures; most notably he visits his friend in California through the mail.  Yep, Mom packs him a snack and tucks him into an envelope.  A good way to save on plane fare!   At the back of the book there is a Flat Stanley you can cut out and send  on adventure of his own if you like.  Many schools do this, and there are even Yahoo groups that you can participate in.  I thought this would be a great idea, and even signed up for one of those Yahoo groups.....all those years ago. Though somehow, despite my best intentions, we never quite got around to making a Flat Traveler.  I have thought about it several times over the years and almost got going when I read the book with William when he was a Kindergartner.   Almost.  

Well, now Charlie is almost 6 and I just read the book with him (Ben and Will listening in, too), and I am soooo happy to report that we are part of a Flat Stanley group and finally sent our first Flat Travelers out to a family in New Hampshire! 

We will be receiving Flat Travelers from all around the U.S. as well.  In fact, we just hosted two flat brothers from Kentucky for a few days.  We took them to an interesting local location, snapped photos and sent the pics along through email with info about our town and state. Then we sent the Flat Travelers to their next destination.  The idea, other than just plain having fun, is to learn a little bit about the geography of the U.S.  My guys are anxious to hear word from their hosts and see some pictures of their Flat Selves hanging out somewhere new!

I am so thankful to G. over at Explorations in Learning for setting this project up, so I could finally make good on that promise I gave to Ben when he was just a little guy.  We're all looking forward to having fun with this!