The Flat Traveler Project was originally designed for
homeschooling families, but parents,
grandparents, and educators have enjoyed the Flat Traveler Project as
well. Visiting another state or country couldn't be easier, more
fun, less expensive, or more rewarding than with the Flat Traveler
Project.
In
the original book by Jeff Brown, Stanley Lambchop is squashed flat by a
falling bulletin board. One of the advantages to being flat is that his
parents can put him in a large envelope and mail him for a visit to his
friends in California. With the Flat Traveler project, students make
paper Flat Stanleys and mail them to other schools, friends, other
families willing to host, or prominent people.
Each
member of the Flat Travelers Project designs and creates their own
"flat traveler" and sends him on trips through the mail. The
traveler usually spends a week with a host family, and then returns home
with a travel journal telling of his or her adventures, photos,
souvenirs, and information about the state or country it visited.
The
Flat Traveler Project is a lot of fun, but it is also educational.
To send a traveler through mail is
usually just the cost of a postage stamp, envelope, and the time it
takes to mail it. To exchange with another country is higher, but that
is up to each individual as to how much they want to spend. If you host
a traveler, the amount varies as to what it will cost. The weight of the
return package, or envelope, and the country it is returning to will
influence the cost. I have sent travelers back with the postage being as
little as $2.00 and as much as $12.00. It really depends on what you
wish to send back to your visitor’s family and where it is going back
to.
The most important factor is
keeping it fun!
