Resourcefulness

Two birds with one stone....that could be the resourcefulness tagline. Finding ways to use, reuse and get the most out of everyday items is just one way to be resourceful. As I plan a family vacation I am looking for ways to involve the kids in our quest for resourcefulness. A lesson that I hope they will retain and also one that will help them see the scope of all involved in "fun". Our first step was to determine "how far" we will travel. They then put together estimates of gas prices and the gas mileage of three different vehicles. From that they determined the cost of driving 1650 miles. They also had to take into account the fact that traveling that far would also require an overnight stay and possibly two. The next task for the kids was to determine the costs of rental cars and also airfare.
Day two of our resourcefulness lesson was to make an entertainment budget. This trip to Southern California holds opportunities to do lots of fun activities! All of these activities come with a price! Some of them a very steep price! Our findings included the costs of admission and parking. An online search found some "multi-activity" discount cards, so that information was also calculated.
The next days research was centered around a food budget. Many factors included whether or not we drive or fly. Driving food, or travel food as we named it, was compiled by making a list of the foods they would like to eat in the car, and food that will "travel". Vacations are special times, so this is when we allow the kids to eat foods that we would not normally have, and buy foods that we don't normally buy. The kids made their lists, and then we went to a local grocery chain website to check the prices of the food. (As we get closer to time to actually travel, we will make the final shopping list and conquer the coupons!) Step two of the food budget was to find out the food policies of the activities we had chosen. Could we take a backback in? Are we allowed to bring in our own snacks? Can we carry water? Are we allowed to leave the park and re-enter? Once we found the answers to these questions, a list could be made of snack foods to carry in a backpack. At first, the kids thought of lots of high sugar, sweet snacks. So we went back to the internet and looked up the costs of those and also the estimated food cost of purchasing food within these fun places. A meal was easily three times what it would cost outside of the "park". They determined that it would be important to eat a good hearty breakfast and take filling snack foods to sustain through the day. These new food lists were put on paper. Two more items for our food budget, dining out and also food prepared at "home" or at the resort. We are chosing to stay somewhere with a kitchen or kitchenette so that we can prepare good meals while there.
We are getting closer to finishing our "preliminary" plan. Today we are going to take the information gathered so far, and to plug these into a chart. Once we have our chart put together it will be time for the grand presentation! We will present the vacation planning budget chart to dad. From these findings we will be able to make decisions on the "hows" of our vacation.
Planning a vacation and looking forward to the activities can be just as exciting and rewarding as the going! My hope is that my children will gain several things from this study. One, they will realize the cost involved in "fun". The sacrifice involved in going on a trip, and the work involved. Getting the kids involved will also give them a sense of appreciation and also accomplishment in knowing that they had an important part in the planning. This is going to be a vacation that they will remember forever.