Monday, March 16, 2009

Got Maps?


Anyone else have a child that MUST collect ALL maps of EVERY kind in the entire universe? Tornado boy has to be the first map-a-holic I have ever met. When it came time to decorate his room he immediately said he wanted maps. So, we found the biggest wall map mural of the World we could find and it pretty much takes up one whole wall from ceiling to floor. He then added in his Unites States map of all railroad lines in the U.S. And did I mention that he has maps all in his playroom and a giant basket that is ever growing to collect his map collection? He actually got angry at me one time when I went to one of the large malls in Orlando and forgot to bring him back a map of the mall. What does he do with his maps you ask? He will literally sit for hours with the maps spread out everywhere and make up his own games where he will ask you to select starting points and destinations and then he will map out the route for you to take. When daddy brought back maps from Singapore, tornado boy was GLUED to those particular maps for weeks! We even found the COOLEST spot in the world online....it allows him to combine two loves-trains/subways and maps...it has every subway line map on all the continents that you can download and print. You should have seen his eyes when we realized the goldmine we had found! Needless to say, the printer was working straight for about an hour printing everything from subway maps in South America to Asia.
Well, it seems Tornado boy has taken it a step further (as usual....this is a normal, daily event)...and has figured out how to make his own subway lines using Microsoft Publisher. The only thing that annoys him is that he can't use curved lines, he can only use straight lines right now. He sat down and made his own subway map line called the Shmuzzy Subway and then placed the amount it cost to ride each line. He modeled it after all the subway maps he has seen by making each line a different color and the little oval/circles are stations that you stop at and the black ovals are transfer stations.
I don't think that I know anyone who could possibly afford to ride on his subway system though!

2 comments:

  1. This is brilliant. I mean, fantastic!!!

    (I also have a secret stash of every subway system I've been too...all over Europe, San Fran., NY....so I may be biased...lol)

    There's a program called Kidspiration where he can translate information into mind maps and add graphics. A graphic organizer, if you will. My kids loved using it!

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  2. Thanks a ton for the great info!! We just downloaded a 30 day trial to see if he is interested! He is definetly a visual learner!

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