asktriplets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2004
- Messages
- 531
hi all.
just wanted to share how we have set up our countdown calendar for this next trip....my kids LOVE this!
for the last 3 trips, we have made a 30 day countdown calendar on poster board and have put pictures of things we will do/see under the cut-out Mickey heads. each day, the kids get to uncover 1 more thing they will be experiencing there--this is such a fun excitement builder. on our last calendar, the kids would uncover a picture and at times say, "but mom, this was on the countdown calendat LAST time!"...still fun, but a bit stale, i guess!
for THIS trip, i put the pictures under the Mickey heads again, but before they can uncover the day's MIckey, they have a scavenger hunt to find 3 big "hidden Mickeys" around the house (bright red poster board to spot easily and covered in contact paper to last through the month). on each big Mickey head, there is a piece of paper taped to it with a clue to the attraction that they will be uncovering for the day. clue #1 is always, "this is a ________(ride/show/place to play/restaurant) in ________(MK, Ep, AK, MGM)." clues #2 and #3 get increasingly more specific. after each clue, they each make a guess as to which attraction it is. once they each make a guess after clue #3, they get to take down the Mickey head on the countdown calendar and look at the picture to see if they were right.
this has been SUCH a blast to do in the morning. they wake up asking to go searching for hidden mickeys!
this is a bit of an elaborate production, but as we already had the pictures and countdown calendar, it was a matter of just thinking up 3 clues for each attraction (easy enough, and dh and i had fun thinking of them together and reminiscing about previous visits). i write them out and tape them to the big mickey heads in the AM, then go hide them while the kids are bouncing around excitedly, so it's low daily overhead.
i 've gotten some great suggestions from you all here over the last few years, so i thought i'd share this.....
just wanted to share how we have set up our countdown calendar for this next trip....my kids LOVE this!
for the last 3 trips, we have made a 30 day countdown calendar on poster board and have put pictures of things we will do/see under the cut-out Mickey heads. each day, the kids get to uncover 1 more thing they will be experiencing there--this is such a fun excitement builder. on our last calendar, the kids would uncover a picture and at times say, "but mom, this was on the countdown calendat LAST time!"...still fun, but a bit stale, i guess!
for THIS trip, i put the pictures under the Mickey heads again, but before they can uncover the day's MIckey, they have a scavenger hunt to find 3 big "hidden Mickeys" around the house (bright red poster board to spot easily and covered in contact paper to last through the month). on each big Mickey head, there is a piece of paper taped to it with a clue to the attraction that they will be uncovering for the day. clue #1 is always, "this is a ________(ride/show/place to play/restaurant) in ________(MK, Ep, AK, MGM)." clues #2 and #3 get increasingly more specific. after each clue, they each make a guess as to which attraction it is. once they each make a guess after clue #3, they get to take down the Mickey head on the countdown calendar and look at the picture to see if they were right.
this has been SUCH a blast to do in the morning. they wake up asking to go searching for hidden mickeys!
this is a bit of an elaborate production, but as we already had the pictures and countdown calendar, it was a matter of just thinking up 3 clues for each attraction (easy enough, and dh and i had fun thinking of them together and reminiscing about previous visits). i write them out and tape them to the big mickey heads in the AM, then go hide them while the kids are bouncing around excitedly, so it's low daily overhead.
i 've gotten some great suggestions from you all here over the last few years, so i thought i'd share this.....