The Flat Stanley Project

Now that the kids are back in school, I thought you might be interested in hearing about how we completed our Flat Stanley project at the end of last school year with our nephew, Aidyn (Harris Sister Donna's son).

If you are anything like us, you may not have heard of Flat Stanley before.  This project is designed to help school children learn about geography.  So each child creates a paper "Flat Stanley" and then mails him to a friend or relative who lives in another state (or country), and then good old Stanley lives with them for a while, having adventures in another part of the world.  His hosts document what Flat Stanley did and learned while he was there with journals, pictures, etc, and ultimately sends it all back to the student at the conclusion of the project. 

As it turned out, we had a trip planned to Los Angeles, CA right around the time Flat Stanley arrived so we decided to just take him with us.  Here's a look at some of the things Flat Stanley did during his time in LA. 

First it was a quick plane ride out to California...

Then right down to business.  First stop was for a treat at Randy's Donuts.  

Stanley toured the Paramount Film Studios with us.  

Including a tour of the Dr. Phil show. 

He was front and center when we found the "Hansel and Gretel" house in Burbank. 

And I think he might have eaten a berry or two before he saw this sign.  Eeek!!

He really wanted to visit the beach, so we took him.

 

He made his way to the famous Hollywood sign, of course. 

 And then it was off to the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  He found all his favorite stars. 

And when Stanley finished his whirlwind tour of the big city, he did a little souvenir shopping for his friend back home in North Carolina.  

Good old Stanley did indeed make it back home safe and sound toward the end of the school year, and by all accounts, I'd say it all turned out pretty well. 

So, if you ever find yourself in possession of a Flat Stanley, take a little helpful advice from me.  Just drop him in your purse and take him with you everywhere.  I plunked him down everywhere we went and just whipped out the camera for a few shots.  Trust me, no one batted an eye, and more often than I could count, people actually knew who Flat Stanley was.  As it turns out, he's pretty well traveled.  ;)