It's essential to clearly explain the content investigated in Step 1. No matter how good the packaging is, there has to be substance inside.
Don’t you think that if a child manages to create a decent advertising brochure through their own efforts, writing a personal self-recommendation brochure in the future will be a piece of cake? Maybe one day, when they’re creating a successful promotional brochure for their own product, they’ll say, “Oh, I have to thank all those countless travel brochures I made during my daydreaming adventures!”
Step 3: Write an “overflowing with happiness” boastful email
The third step is even more awesome—write an email to your best friend sharing your travel experiences. Include where you stayed, what you saw, what you did, whether you encountered any difficulties during the trip (like Amber Brown getting sick midway), what impressed you the most, and so on. The key is to write very specifically and authentically—ideally, you’ll even forget that you never actually went to France yourself!
Over the past few years, Tao Tao has done plenty of this kind of “daydreaming.” The last week of every school year is designated as the Imagination Theme Week. I still remember in first grade, the theme was camping—everyone brought tents and sleeping bags to “camp” in the classroom, and they also wrote heartfelt letters to their parents expressing their longing. This year’s theme was the beach—beach chairs, towels, sunglasses, you name it, all brought to school. In the end, they even wrote an extremely long and detailed travel diary about a week at the beach...
What’s the benefit of writing these boastful emails? I’d say it at least improves your ability to make up stories ^_^
Alright, after the teacher led everyone on such a grand imaginary trip to France, each child can then choose a destination they’re interested in and go on a “solo trip” following the three steps above. Tao Tao chose Brazil, and he slightly modified Step 2 by turning the brochure into a PowerPoint presentation. Here are just two random pages from it—pretty stylish and high-tech, right?
You can also encourage kids to come up with other creative ideas, like making a big poster, building a scene with their toys, or recording an audio/video clip...
How about that? Doesn’t this kind of imagination trip sound great? If you haven’t had time to plan a real trip, if your schedule is a bit tight, or if you don’t want to take your kids out to face crowds of tourists, why not go on a spontaneous “imagination trip” with your child? You might even gain more from it. And when the time comes for an actual trip, the “advertising brochure” your child made could turn into a “tour guide booklet.” Not only will the whole family enjoy the trip even more, but your child will also feel proud to have been the planner of the family vacation.