“Welcome to my Worldâ€. Posts on Wednesday’s will be about whatever I feel like sharing. It may be about my kids, my thoughts, my memories or just a day in my life.
Have your kids read the Flat Stanley books? See here: http://www.flatstanleybooks.com/
This year, Malia’s class participated in a Flat Stanley Project. In a nutshell: “Flat Stanley is the title character of a series of books written by Jeff Brown. Stanley Lambchop is a normal boy who finds himself flattened by a bulletin board, but that doesn’t stop his adventures. He is sent through the mail to places all around the world, where friends and family take him on trips, see sights, and increase the knowledge of the world of not only Stanley but also anyone reading the book. Teachers across America and in Canada have taken this idea to heart, starting their own Flat Stanley Projects, in which students make their own Flat Stanleys (or Flat Jessica’s or other female names) and then mail them to friends and family. The adults who receive these new flat friends take the little guys or girls on all sorts of adventures–to work, to the zoo, on plane an boat trips. The range of destinations for Stanley is limited only by the creativity of the people he visits.”
(credit: www.socialstudiesforkids.com)
Malia’s class had a LOT of fun with this project. Their little Flat students were mailed all around the United States. Some even traveled to Switzerland and Australia. For several weeks the kids would anxiously wait for the mail in hopes that their package would arrive.
Malia chose to send her “Flat Stanley Malia” to visit her Grandpa and Nana in Florida. It just so happened that I was subbing at her school in the computer lab on the day that the package came back. Malia was absolutely giddy with excitement! She opened it to find this note:
“Dear Mrs. B…
Your flat student – Malia – came to visit her Grandpa and Nana in Largo, Florida. The City of Largo is located on the west coast of Florida between Clearwater Beach and St. Petersburg. It is on the west side of Tampa Bay and goes to the Gulf of Mexico.
While she was here, she visited many fun places and we took her to the beach with us one day. There is a picture of her in a chair on Clearwater Beach with the Gulf of Mexico in the background. The water was 74 degrees and the air was 82 degrees…she was a little over dressed.
Flat Malia on Clearwater Beach
There is also a picture of her at the “Welcome to Largo” sign at the edge of the City.
Flat Malia in Largo
We have included some brochures from some fun places here and a map showing where Largo is and some more fun things to do.
Though we would enjoy the real Malia here on a visit, we made sure that we gave Flat Malia a good time as well.
The approximate mileage between us is 1,700.
Thank you for allowing us to be a host family,
Grandpa and Nana”
As I mentioned above, this project was SO fun for the kids. I think I’ll always remember Malia’s giggle as she showed me the picture of her relaxing in the lounge chair at Clearwater Beach.
If you think this is something that your child’s teacher might enjoy, I recommend that you check out The Official Flat Stanley Project at: http://flatterworld.com/
