What to bring back for Show & Tell?

[adg06]

We'll be on the Fantasy for a Western Caribbean itinerary Oct 14th, and my kids will be missing just a couple days of school, since that coincides with their fall break. To make up for that, I have told their teachers that they will do presentations or do a show & tell when we get back about what they learned on their trip. I'm thinking geography, culture of those countries, etc. So now I'm trying to figure out what they can bring back to show their classes. How difficult or time consuming is it to actually get your passport stamped at each stop? What about trading in some $$ for local currency? What other ideas do you all have? My kids are in 4th grade and Pre-K. We'll be stopping at Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica, and Castaway Cay.

 

[Erintx7]

Love the currency idea! Have your 4th grader buy something at market in port and talk about bargaining/making change. My two oldest both bartered for unique shells (conch horn and a painted shell) in the Bahamas. Your younger one can get a book about local fish and see how many he/she can find, or get a stuffed animal to represent a local bird/mammal. Fun and educational idea!!

 

[adg06]

Love the currency idea! Have your 4th grader buy something at market in port and talk about bargaining/making change. My two oldest both bartered for unique shells (conch horn and a painted shell) in the Bahamas. Your younger one can get a book about local fish and see how many he/she can find, or get a stuffed animal to represent a local bird/mammal. Fun and educational idea!!

Great ideas, thanks!!

 

[JanDave]

Our grandkids brought a world map and had castmembers sign it by their city/country. That map is now framed. Cms love to tell guests about their culture, life in their country, etc.

 

[adg06]

Our grandkids brought a world map and had castmembers sign it by their city/country. That map is now framed. Cms love to tell guests about their culture, life in their country, etc.

I love this idea!

 

[phinz]

You could also talk about culture and food. In Cozumel you could go to Mega and get some kind of local snack. There are Duty Free shops in Jamaica that may have something local. You could eat patties and have a Ting to drink at Patty Port and take pictures of the food. I've always stayed onboard in Grand Cayman, but there has to be something unique to the island. Cultures are defined by their food more often than not.

 

[dcassetta]

I second the idea about talking to CMs onboard. People come from so many places. Perhaps the kids could how to say hello or thank you in a variety of languages. If the CMs an ameneable have them take a photo with the kids where their nametag is visible as it includes their home country.

 

[ValentineJulie]

Rum.

I'm kidding....kind of, I'm a teacher

 

[Mr. Drauer]

We had our 4th grader do a presentation on the Mayan civilization after we took an excursion to the ruins on Cozumel. They have a lot of cheap things that can be brought back like a Mayan calendar, maps of the ruins, and little trinkets. Our kindergartener collected Mexican and Cayman coins to bring back to compare with US coins.

 

[Love2Cruise2015]

What about postcards from each port?

 

[Cackyschmackers]

We did this exact thing, and my daughters were in K and 3rd! They all journaled, and I printed photos for them when we got home to include. We also found dead coral and shells in Grand Cayman and Cozumel they brought in for show and tell, along with some coins from Grand Cayman, I believe. They presented their journals and passed around the coins, coral and shells. Have so much fun!

P.S. I would not want my kids taking their actual Passports to school, but that's just me...

 

[phinz]

P.S. I would not want my kids taking their actual Passports to school, but that's just me...

This was my exact thought when I read the stamp question.

 

[AndreAggie]

I like the world map idea. And you can even mix in the currency idea and ask the CM what their form of currency is. That way you can show some sort of actual "project". Not just "I went on a cruise and here's some shells." I think for the 4th grader, you could even figure out the exchange rate for some of the currency.

 

[MUN]

We'll be on the Fantasy for a Western Caribbean itinerary Oct 14th, and my kids will be missing just a couple days of school, since that coincides with their fall break. To make up for that, I have told their teachers that they will do presentations or do a show & tell when we get back about what they learned on their trip. I'm thinking geography, culture of those countries, etc. So now I'm trying to figure out what they can bring back to show their classes. How difficult or time consuming is it to actually get your passport stamped at each stop? What about trading in some $$ for local currency? What other ideas do you all have? My kids are in 4th grade and Pre-K. We'll be stopping at Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica, and Castaway Cay.

Angela, how about taking pictures of some local neighborhoods in Cozumel, Jamaica, and Grand Cayman and take those in to show the classmates, so they can compare and contrast the living conditions?

MUN

PS, I hope the teachers aren't giving you a hard time about pulling your 4th grader and Pre-K kids from school for a few days.

 

[MelissaE1]

A fun way for us to share the places we went with my kids' classrooms was to take a class "mascot" with us and take lots of pictures. Many teachers have a stuffed animal or two in their classroom that the kids are already familiar with and they love to see where it's been. You can get some great educational shots showing different places and cultures and your kids can talk about them or answer questions. My daughter's 4th grade class did not have anything so I purchased a small plush owl in Paris (their class was the "wise owls") and it had pics with the Eiffel Tower, Louvre, guard at Buckingham Palace, etc. The kids loved it so much it became the class travel mascot and got to go places I'd love to see!

 

[FigmentSpark]

Someone talked about a "Flat Stanley" idea in another thread. You could do a variation of something like that... maybe get a small stuffed Mickey for the younger one and have him/her (?) take the Mickey to various places and take a photo. Then do a collage of the photos on poster board that can be discussed in class. Call it "My Adventure with Mickey".

I like the money idea for the older one, but also the Mayan report idea, even if it's just an oral report. Or maybe if there's a book on the Mayans that might be age appropriate, buy it to donate to the teacher's classroom. That way, she can use it in some class discussions or just let it be used for in-class reading. That way, your son doesn't have to write a huge report.

 

[GPaLarry]

A variation of the suggestion from MelissaE1 above might be to take Flat Stanley and photograph him at various memorable sites on your trip. Check the internet for Flat Stanley, a fictitious boy who is flattened by a chalkboard in school and later mailed by his parents to his grandparents. For years, teachers have had their students make Flat Stanleys and send them to relatives and friends around the state, nation and world for a week or two where they are photographed visiting/participating (in) various local activities...he's even been to the space station. He is sent back with photos and the class learns geography, social customs, etc. When my wife and I did a DCL B2B Med./WBTA last Sept., our grandkids wanted to go, too. Because of school, dance lessons, jobs, etc. it wasn't going to work. So, our computer-savy son-in-law replaced favorite Disney character heads with his family's (5 - 3 grand kids) on the original bodies. They became the Flat Murrys. They took up next to no room in our luggage and we photographed them with ruins, towers, lighthouses and around the ship with princesses, mice and pirates.
Perhaps each of your kids' classmates could make a Flat _____ (name) and send them with you. If there are too many, then maybe a group shot would work. Good luck!

 

[MelissaE1]

...our computer-savy son-in-law replaced favorite Disney character heads with his family's (5 - 3 grand kids) on the original bodies. They became the Flat Murrys.

This is such a cute idea. We took "Flat Jake" to WDW once for a friend's son, he had a great time.

 

[adg06]

You guys are so full of awesome ideas, I love it!!

P.S. I would not want my kids taking their actual Passports to school, but that's just me...

I know, right? This idea was making me nervous, but from what I have heard, it's pretty difficult to get stamps anyway. So this is pretty much off the table.

Or maybe if there's a book on the Mayans that might be age appropriate, buy it to donate to the teacher's classroom. That way, she can use it in some class discussions or just let it be used for in-class reading. That way, your son doesn't have to write a huge report.

I LOVE this idea!!

PS, I hope the teachers aren't giving you a hard time about pulling your 4th grader and Pre-K kids from school for a few days.

I sent the notes to them this morning (2 week notice) but haven't heard back from them yet. We know my daughter's pre-K teacher really well, and I know she'll be fine. The other teacher is new to us this year though, so hopefully all is good!

 

[Shanti]

We'll be on the Fantasy for a Western Caribbean itinerary Oct 14th, and my kids will be missing just a couple days of school, since that coincides with their fall break. To make up for that, I have told their teachers that they will do presentations or do a show & tell when we get back about what they learned on their trip. I'm thinking geography, culture of those countries, etc. So now I'm trying to figure out what they can bring back to show their classes. How difficult or time consuming is it to actually get your passport stamped at each stop? What about trading in some $$ for local currency? What other ideas do you all have? My kids are in 4th grade and Pre-K. We'll be stopping at Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica, and Castaway Cay.

Taking the kids out of school for a trip, then upon their return having them do a show and tell for their classmates about the vacation trip they took while their classmates were working at school is in very poor taste.