Here are the highlights from this article!
- Learn to navigate: Help your child learn how to read maps for the journey ahead [jump to section]
- Get to know new places: Introduce your kid to U.S. states, cities, landmarks, and more [jump to section]
- Gear up with nature knowledge: Prep your child for a national park adventure! [jump to section]
Roll down the windows and turn up the tunes—it’s road trip season! Between the exciting journey and all the new places to explore along the way, road trips are a family favorite in the summertime. This year, why not make some room for learning on your family’s adventure?
Pack your kids’ minds full of new knowledge with road trip-ready IXL skills! Pin these skills for them to work on before you travel, use the IXL app to learn on the go, or try a combo of both.
Get ready to make your family’s road trip fun and educational this summer!
Learn to navigate
While you’ll probably turn on GPS for directions, consider packing a physical map for your children. They’ll get to hold their road trip route right in their hands! And it’s not only fun for them to follow along—it’s the perfect opportunity for kids to learn all about navigation and geography.
Get your children ready to read their maps with confidence with skills like these:
- Kindergarten: Introduction to maps
- 1st grade: Use cardinal directions
- 2nd grade: Use a map key
- 3rd grade: Read a map: cardinal directions
- 4th grade: Identify lines of latitude and longitude
- 5th grade: Use lines of latitude and longitude
Next up, kids can explore these skills to learn more about the types of places and terrains they’ll spot out the car window:
- Kindergarten: Identify Earth’s land features
- 1st grade: Identify Earth’s water features
- 2nd grade: Identify urban, suburban, and rural areas
- 3rd grade: Compare urban, suburban, and rural areas
- 4th grade: Identify Earth’s land features using photographs
With their new navigation know-how, children will have a blast being the family’s travel guide! Say goodbye to “Are we there yet?”
Get to know new places
Seeing your child’s face light up when they encounter new sights on the road might just be the highlight of your journey. To build up their excitement and knowledge, introduce your learner to some of the places they’ll discover along the way!
Whether it’s one of your stops or you’re just passing through, kids can learn the locations of U.S. states, state capitals, and cities in skills like these:
- 2nd grade: Major U.S. cities
- 3rd grade: Identify the 50 states
- 4th grade: Name the 50 state capitals
Heading out West, or taking a trip through the South? You can even pick out skills for the regions your family will visit:
- 3rd grade:Identify states of the West
- 4th grade: Name state capitals of the Midwest
- 5th grade: Cities of the Southeast
And if you’re planning to stop at any major American landmarks or monuments, your child can get to know some of these iconic destinations:
- Kindergarten: Identify American landmarks and monuments
- 2nd grade: The Lincoln Memorial
- 3rd grade: The Golden Gate Bridge
- 4th grade: Mount Rushmore
Bonus activity: bring a notebook for your child to keep track of the special places they visit—you choose what to include! Learners will love keeping tally on the road, plus they’ll have a special memento to look back on.
Gear up with nature knowledge
Backpacks? Check. Sunscreen? Check. Studying up before setting off to the great outdoors? Check!
Take your child’s national park excursion to new learning heights. Together, head to the park’s website to find out about its history and natural environment. Then, browse IXL’s science skills by topic to choose skills for your learner that relate to the park’s characteristics. Focus the skills on one of the park’s main features, or choose a variety!
Check out a couple ideas for inspiration:
- Joshua Tree National Park: An International Dark Sky park with designated stargazing areas (you may even see the Milky Way!).
- 1st grade: The night sky
- 4th grade: Brightness of the Sun and other stars
- 5th grade: Constellations and the changing night sky
- 8th grade: Identify constellations
- Grand Canyon National Park: A World Heritage Site stunningly shaped by erosion, with captivating rock layers and hidden fossils.
- 3rd grade: Changes to Earth’s surface: erosion
- 4th grade: How do rock layers form?
- 6th grade: Classify rocks as igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic
- 7th grade: Compare ages of fossils in a rock sequence
After taking an educational expedition through park-related skills, your little explorers will get to experience your excursion through a brand-new lens of learning!
Browse all of IXL’s geography, civics, and science skills to get additional inspiration for what your child can work on during your summer travels.
For more fun and educational road trip activities, check out IXL’s workbooks to start your learner off strong this upcoming school year.
