Turn Learning into a Treasure Hunt

Have you ever heard, "Mama, let's play a board game?" only to discover that no one wants to play the board games that are stacked up in the closet?  This is a great opportunity to create your own game!  All you need is a piece of paper, pencil, something interesting to hide and your imagination.

The best thing about this game, called Treasure Hunt, is that you can incorporate learning, fun, adventure and nature exploration simultaneously!  See the above picture?  I quickly drew a map of our back yard, gave mundane outdoor features exciting names, incorporated physical activity, math, reading, geography and following directions in a single FUN activity.

From the map (shown above):

Step 1  From the back door, take 42 steps
Step 2  Go South and spin 8 times
Step 3 Skip to the Magic Tree House
Step 4  Climb the Magic Tree House and read one Chapter of Stuart Little
Step 5  Run to the deck
Step 6  Walk past the grapevines
Step 7  Look under flowers

Suggested Book for Inspiration:

A Bird's Eye View

Hula Hoop Geography

 Using a hula hoop as the shape of the Earth and fallen leaves for the continents...
 

and then shaping them with scissors to make the continents geographically correct.

Ancient Civilizations: Ancient Crete

1. Add the island of Crete and the Cycladic Islands to your map. Be sure to include the Aegean Sea.

I added this to my map.

2. Find pictures and read information on the palace at Knossos. Write a paragraph about an aspect of Knossos that interests you.

One aspect of Knossos that I like is that it was one of the first buildings to have a plumbing system. The palace had at least three separate liquid management systems. One was for water supply. Another was for drainage. The other one was for drainage of waste water. The palace had aqueducts that brought water from springs 10 km away. Sanitation drainage was through a system leading to a sewer apart from the hill.

3. Read and summarize the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur.

The myth is about a young boy who is very brave. He grows up to be a hero, brave and intelligent. Then, he challenges the king of Minos to set his human sacrifices free. He descends into the maze, and defeats a large bull/man beast. But, he returns with black sails. His father throws himself into the ocean in despair, thinking Theseus is dead. But he isn't, he returns the sacrifices to their families and beomes a hero.


4. Draw a very large and complicated "classical three circuit" labyrinth.

I made a maze where it is very easy to get through if you are doing it on paper, but next to impossible if you are doing it on foot. See image below.

5b. Draw your own image of Icarus and Daedalus (from the story of Theseus) and their adventures with flying. Write a poem about what you think this experience was like.

Here is my poem:

Flying

Light, Free,

Swoops, dives, and glides .

The most wonderful feeling.

Flight is Freedom.

Ancient Civilizations: Ancient Greece

1. Add the countries of Southern Europe to your map. Include Greece, Italy, France, Spain, Albania, Macedonia, Yugoslavia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and the countries around the Black Sea.

I did this, but Bosnia and Yugoslavia seem to be the same, as well as Herzegovina.

2. Read D'Aulaires' Greek Mythology (I am reading this.)

3.c. Draw a picture of the Trojan horse as you imagine it.



4. Take note of each of the Gods and Goddesses and the attributes and qualities that make each of them distinctive. (I am doing this.)


5a. Write a report about Athens.

Athens
Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece, also one of the world's oldest cities, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years.


The populated area of Athens goes beyond the city limits with a population of 300000 and a land area of 159 sq miles. A busy city, Athens is the main attraction in Greece. It is becoming a business center in Europe. In 2008, Athens was ranked the world's 32nd richest city.


Classical Athens was a powerful city-state. A center for art, learning and philosophy, home of Plato and Aristotle. It is widely referred to as the beginning of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy.
The mark of the classical times is still left in the city, by a number of ancient monuments and works of art, the most famous of all being the Parthenon. The city also has a large variety of Roman monuments. Landmarks of modern times are also present, dating back to 1830 (the establishment of the independent Greek state). Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it welcomed the 2004 Summer Olympics, with great success.


Athens is spread across the plain of Attica, often referred to as the Attica Basin, and bound by Mount Aegaleo to the west, Mount Parnitha in the north, Mount Penteli in the northeast, Mount Hymettus in the east, and the Saronic Gulf in the southwest. Mount Parnitha is the tallest, and has been declared a national park. Paths, gorges, springs and caves are some attractions. Hiking and biking in all four mountains are popular activities for many people. The capital has expanded to cover the entire plain, making future growth difficult.


Athens, being big, seems to hog the attention of all other Greek city-states. That seems right, tough, since it is rightfully the most popular Mediterranean city.



6b. Find out more about one of the Seven Wonders of the World and draw a picture of it. Include the surroundings you imagine it may have had.

It is the Temple of Artemis.





7. Continue to read Greek Mythology. (Yes, of course. I am.)


8. Write the names of all your family members using the Greek alphabet.

COMING SOON!


9. Keep reading Greek Myths. (I am.)