Learning on the Road

We love learning...but we don't sit down and "do school" every day. We prefer to learn through life experience and by pursuing the things that Bella is passionate about...which is referred to as "unschooling" (more info here and here). Here are just a few of the new things we learned while we were in Las Vegas!

Springs Preserve
There were so many people telling us to go check this out, that we just had to go! The Springs Preserve is a 180 acre natural habitat right in the middle of the city. According to their website, "...the Preserve features museums, galleries, outdoor events, colorful botanical gardens and an interpretive trail system through a scenic wetland habitat". It was basically a HUGE science museum and outdoor trail system with hands-on exhibits, and a great art museum. They are very focused on sustainability...and had many opportunities to learn about living green. I wish we would have had more time to explore it all! We needed several days there to take it all in.

Hoover Dam
We were especially excited to go see the Hoover Dam and the new by-pass bridge...and it was only 45 minutes away! We packed a picnic lunch and headed to Boulder City. It was a beautifully sunny day, and we enjoyed walking the dam and learning more about the amazing men that built it. We were bummed that the museum on site was $8 per person...but we ended up finding a great little museum in the Boulder City Hotel for just $4 for everyone!

Chinese New Year
Bella has dreamed of China for as long as I can remember. When she was younger, she used to have her own gibberish language that she called "Chinese". She would also tell us that she had a sister in China...and made up elaborate stories about this sister. So we were super excited to hear about the Chinese New Year celebration in Las Vegas' Chinatown! We were able to find some books at the library to learn a little more about the event's history before we went.

The celebration was on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, and it was packed! We enjoyed the dancing, the noodles, and the beautiful dresses! We bought some pretty chopsticks to remember our time there.

When we got home, we read one of our favorite books, Hungry Planet. We learned more about what they eat in China...and that night we made rice and veggies with tofu. Bella made sure that our bowls were set up EXACTLY like the photos in the book!

Lied Discovery Children's Museum
This museum was only 1 mile from our campground! We were thrilled to find out that the "passport membership" we have through Bozeman's science museum covered this one as well (free admission!). It's a great program if you travel full time...you can get into MANY zoos, museums, and more for free! Bella begged to go back here over and over. Her favorite thing was the miniature airport security check point. She must have taken her shoes off and walked through the scanner 5 times in a row. She also loved the grocery store. Daddy really liked the bubbles!

Photos from Las Vegas here.
Photos are available for comment on Flickr.