United STATES of America

Ever since Ethan's unique interest in the 2012 Summer Olympics, I have been looking for flash cards or games to encourage his curiosity of the countries, their flags, and so on. A couple of weeks ago, I came across some USA flash cards at a dollar store. I bought them because it just seemed like something Ethan would enjoy. OH MY GOODNESS......to say that he is enjoying them is a HUGE understatement! HE LOVES THEM!!!! We have played with them almost everyday since we bought them! Even when my mom comes over for a visit, she knows that she will be asked to play two things.....Money & USA.

Well, this past weekend, Daddy was planning on being gone all Saturday, so I saw this as a great opportunity to invite my mom over in order for she & I to clean out/organize/re-arrange Ethan's bedroom. (More on that later) Well, when we got to the last step of decorating the walls, I remembered that I had a large map of the United States that was already laminated & hanging in the back of my closet. You see, Ethan's love of maps comes naturally.....I love them too. Well, I knew that we just HAD to put it in Ethan's room.

Originally, I was going to hang it over the shelf as artwork. But Ethan & my mom wanted it close to the ground....where Ethan could see it, study it, and play with it. Good call!!!

When I asked Ethan what his favorite part of his room was, he told me, "Massachusetts." LOL!

You may notice that there are smiley faces on some of the states. These are states that Corey & I have been to together. My goal is to visit all the states before our 50th wedding anniversary.

Along with his wall map, Ethan got this puzzle from us last Christmas. He has never shown any interest in this puzzle.....until now.

Each state is a puzzle piece, and underneath, there is an outline of the state and the capital. It's a Melissa and Doug toy that we got on Amazon.

This is what started it all...the USA flash cards.

On the front side is the state name & a map of it's location.

On the back, they list state facts. Ethan is already interested in each state's capital.

Last week, my sister learned of Ethan's love of the states. She showed us a website of many different games including lots of interactive state games....and of course....Ethan loves them! Here is a link to the website.....http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/web_games.htm. Ethan's favorite game is http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/USA_Geography/USA_GL_click_1024.html

ALL of these items are used to create many kinds of games. Some he plays alone, some with us, some we make up, some he makes up, but it can go on for hours of play. In fact, after we hung up the wall map, I no longer had help from my mom in fixing Ethan's room.....she was occupied by a little boy wanting to play USA over & over again in different ways....and all three of us had a GREAT time!