Next week the demons are on Spring Break & it’s looking good that we will spend one of those days down in DC on the Mall. Visiting the Natural History museum is a given plus probably hitting up the Air & Space.
We went to the Mall a few years ago with the boys & they loved it.
But…
Mayhem was/is so eager to see everything that he runs from thing to thing without really seeing anything. His goal is to see the next thing, not look at what is in front of him.
Left to Mayhem we would have run through the whole Natural History museum in about 45 minutes.
He’s less intense about it now, but ‘what’s next?’ is still his driving force.
What I need help with is how to make him slow down & look.
I almost want to give him a 6 page questionnaire about the exhibits & insist he complete every question before his is allowed to leave the building.
But I want this to be a fun trip too.
I am no good at making up games to make learning fun or to make a tedious time exciting or any of those things some parents seem to do so effortlessly. (Neither were my folks. You learned because you had to & you endured tedium because tedium happens. I don’t think it ever occurred to them that they could make things like that fun. Oh there was the rare game of travel sign bingo on long trips, but we’re talking twice in 15 years.)
I’m also not having much luck at coming up with something to make an excited boy slow down and really LOOK at things.
So I am looking for ideas that will be interesting/fun for him that will encourage him to take more than a millisecond looking at the animal in front him.
Some kind of “find the….something or other” or “lets count how many times we see…something or other” Maybe get him to write things down (since penmanship is still a major issue with him we try to make him write as much as possible for practice). We have an assortment of cameras that the boys can take & use so maybe a photo chase…?
And obviously Havoc will be participating as well, so maybe a competition of “who can…something or other..first or the most?”
Clearly I am hopeless with this & need your help
Any suggestions will be appreciated
