how do you make disney parks educational events?

[sclotyemhawi]

We are going in 60 days and I am looking for ways to make this not only fun but educational. Educational to the point of hard copy, you know something in writing/person that can be brought back to school to show the teacher that we did do education while on vacation. Thanks in advance.

 

[PotteryGal]

There are some excellent suggestions on allearsnet.com about activities you can do with school aged and preschool children. I know we are planning to make the rounds at World Showcase and learn a different fact about each country, also my daughter is going to keep a travel journal about our trip. Another idea I had was to take pictures at each country and create a 'picture journal' as well. At AK we hope to take some info back home about animal conservation, as well as a picture journal of the different animals we see. We also asked her teachers for ideas of things she can share with her class, so you might try the same. It depends on the teacher's attitude about your trip! My daughter is a good student, so her teachers have been supportive.
Hope this helps!

 

[Hakunamatata]

Take the Behind the Seeds tour at Epcot. Pure education with a look "behind the curtain". Its also very economical as tours go. Oh, and the kids get to release ladybugs in teh greenhouse.

 

[KHockett]

As a teacher, I think it depends on the age of your children. If you have younger children, I think you have a much better shot because there are so many cool educational things. For a middle/high schooler, it would be more difficult, because what they study is a bit more in depth. I know Disney has an educational area on their website which includes a variety of items. For older children, you could look at the science associated with some of the rides (like physics days at other parks). Also, you could look at the Hall of Presidents, American Adventure, some of the exhibits in World Showcase might provide good information for a social studies class. Good luck!

 

[Hakunamatata]

There is a new historical exhibit at China and the last time we were there (Feb 06) there was a viking exhibit in Norway.

 

[cloudboy]

What ages are they and what are they covering in school right now? And is there anything in particular that you want to cover (for instance, cultural, geographical, real world skills, science, etc.)?

 

[autumndawn1006]

You could use the other guests as resources. Talk to people while you are in line, and your kids could learn anything from culture to geography to career paths.

 

[typhoonguy]

This is more geared toward groups, but there's the Y.E.S. program. They're facilitators that teach educational aspects of WDW. Physics, Diversity, Horticulture, they can do lots of different types of educational programs.

 

[CThaddeus]

It's hard not to find something educational in Epcot or Animal Kingdom. Each pavilion teaches you something different...some better than others. Personally, I'd recommend Universe of Energy (fun, funny, and educational), Circle of Life, Living with the Land, the various exhibits in the Seas, and parts of Innoventions. The films of the various countries are incredibly educational about their people, landscapes, and cultures. And for a real history lesson, as mentioned by KHockett, you can't beat American Adventure or Hall of Presidents (at the Magic Kingdom...yup, you can learn a lot there, too!).
Animal Kingdom has lots of good information about - of course - animals and the environment. I found Rafiki's Planet Watch to be a great source of information, as well as the Kilamanjaro Safaris, Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends, all of the nature trails, and even Flights of Wonder drops a nugget of information once in a while. Flights is more fluff than substance, but worth a try.
Disney-MGM is educational in a different way, showing aspects of how films and television are made, though in recent years the educational aspect has been downplayed significantly in favor of cheap thrills.
I'm always amazed at how much information I pick up at the Disney MParks and am able to use later. There's enough there to write a hundred reports, all on different topics!

 

[sclotyemhawi]

thanks for the helpful hints so far

my children are age 10, 5 and 1 (obviously this is not educational for the 1 yr old).

 

[C&D]

Botany, zoology, science, architecture, finance, transportation, etc., all abound; if it's just explaining how things work, that should be enough. Have your kids write a little field trip report, the youngest could draw pictures.

 

[cloudboy]

I am assuming then that the 10 year old is the one that needs the most help. The 5 year old I would imagine would most benefit from the pure storytelling aspects, particularly the stoies in FantasyLand attractions.

For the 10 year old I would focus on a couple of things. I would have him spend some time in Epcot simply talking to the cast emmbers there, who are from the various countries. Have him ask them what school is like in their countries, have him learn how to say Hello and Thank You in a couple different languages. And make sure he sees the movies such as Impressions Du France etc.

You could spend some time in the Animal Kingdom - not just going through the attractions, but talking with the guides who are there and find out more about the various animals, and perhaps some interesting facts about them. Bring along a notebook or recorder to record what they say!

Another interesting project would be to have them do a travel video. Bring along a video recorder, and have him stand in front of the camera and talk about the various parks and rides. Get him to try various foods from different countries and to describe them.

The trick is to not just walk through the attractions, but to talk with all the cast members. They can be a great resource, particularly those in World Showcase.

 

[Hakunamatata]

It's hard not to find something educational in Epcot or Animal Kingdom. Each pavilion teaches you something different...some better than others. Personally, I'd recommend Universe of Energy (fun, funny, and educational), Circle of Life, Living with the Land, the various exhibits in the Seas, and parts of Innoventions. The films of the various countries are incredibly educational about their people, landscapes, and cultures. And for a real history lesson, as mentioned by KHockett, you can't beat American Adventure or Hall of Presidents (at the Magic Kingdom...yup, you can learn a lot there, too!).
Animal Kingdom has lots of good information about - of course - animals and the environment. I found Rafiki's Planet Watch to be a great source of information, as well as the Kilamanjaro Safaris, Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends, all of the nature trails, and even Flights of Wonder drops a nugget of information once in a while. Flights is more fluff than substance, but worth a try.
Disney-MGM is educational in a different way, showing aspects of how films and television are made, though in recent years the educational aspect has been downplayed significantly in favor of cheap thrills.
I'm always amazed at how much information I pick up at the Disney MParks and am able to use later. There's enough there to write a hundred reports, all on different topics!

Magic Kingdom can be very informative. Hall of the Presidents is pure history. There are a significant number of artifacts in the que area and most if not all the pictures have captions with historical information. CoP is a real life walk through the past of technology and American Culture.

Disney Studios also can be informative/educational. Forced perspective is heavily utilized in the Studios and this is a whole topic in itself. Before you go, have your child read about it and then see it in real life. Also, I believe there is still a historical based attraction on the life of Walt Disney at the studios.

 

[iKat]

A couple people here have mentioned the world showcase in Epcot.
If you need hard copy stuff - when I was in school, we took a field trip to Epcot. I don't know if they still do this, but we each got a 'passport', went around to the different countries, and got our 'passport' stamped at each one.

 

[nibblesandbits]

A couple people here have mentioned the world showcase in Epcot.
If you need hard copy stuff - when I was in school, we took a field trip to Epcot. I don't know if they still do this, but we each got a 'passport', went around to the different countries, and got our 'passport' stamped at each one.

As far as I know...you can still do that. Not sure if the passport is free or not. Never gotten one before. But I've heard it can be done.

 

[Epcot82Guy]

My family and I did that, and we had each country's CMs translate a statement for us into their native language. That could easily be reworked into a "worksheet" or something tangible.

I also agree with the BTS tour. YOu actually get a worksheet on how to create your own hydroponic aquarium garden at home (so could go beyond the paper itself if you wanted to).

Another idea would be to do one of the meal programs or tours (Imagineer, Keys to the Kingdom, etc.) and to have a report written up at the end. If you have a laptop, you can work on it with them in the room after the day.

Another idea is to do a creative writing project. Take your kids on one of the classic dark rides that are "original" (i.e. Mansion, Pirates to an extent now, SSE, Maelstrom) and have them pick one character and have to write a story about them. Suggest they incorporate other things they see.

Just some thoughts...

 

[Philmvt]

As a teacher...

In the Magic Kingdom I have my students do creative writing. Fantasy/Fairy Tales for Fantasyland, Sci Fi for Tomorrowland, Scary tales, Historical fiction and adventure stories also are good. In EPCOT science is alive and swell as are Geography tasks. Many choices in Animal Kingdom and modern culture at MGM.

Hope these ideas help.

 

[NASAMan]

There is a lot of good advice here, and a few things that could be prepared ahead of time. But always look for those teachable moments that pop up. It might be a question from your youngster ("Why are fireworks different colors?") or something you discover along the way ("See all the different birds by the Rivers of America?") But let the day be one of fun, and have talks about the day in the evening, or over a meal, about what they have seen. Talk about the physics of the rides, like Mission:Space or Star Tours, or visual effects like Haunted Mansion and the 3-d movies. Have your youngster make a list of Cool Fact of the Day where they pick their most favorite thing they learned, so their teacher sees they were 'working' every day.

But the most important thing to do is to get a real nice souvenir to take back to teacher! LOL!

 

[KKnopf]

As far as I know...you can still do that. Not sure if the passport is free or not. Never gotten one before. But I've heard it can be done.

You can purchase the passports at the gift shops, My daughter did that for kindergarten, as well as a "pictorial" travel log she colored... I down loaded it from Nickelodeon, as it was a Dora the Explorer travel log... I wish I made copies before she colored on it... It was perfect for a 5 year old, and I would love to use it again for my other daughter.

There are also GREAT travel logs for older kids on http://www.themouseforless.com/downloads/kids/journal.shtml
There are options for both boys and girls...