I have always loved to travel and some of my favorite childhood memories include family vacations (aka road trips) with my dad at the wheel, mom as co-pilot, and my sisters and I packed in the backseat of the car chanting, are we there yet? We didn't fly anywhere back then, so we took advantage of every opportunity to stop at those silly tourist attractions, roadside parks, Holiday Inns and STUCKEY'S! Of course, dad always missed the exit and my sisters and I would laugh and laugh about how dad always misses the exit (mom didn't think it was funny)! The point is, we loved to buy Stuckey's world famous divinity and shop for rare treasures (aka cheap souvenirs). Some shops featured collectible "State Plates" depicting a map of the state, fun facts and symbols of the state. I never really payed much attention to those plates until now- fast forward to my Social Studies Class/North America Unit/Regions/The United States and I have a flash back. Kids love to make things out of paper plates and I love things that are cheap so, I decided to let my classes use paper plates to create their own souvenir STATE PLATES! Students were assigned a random state (we drew names out of a hat) and then completed a research assignment using the Atlas, the Internet and other resources to find specific facts about their state. They then used the paper plate as a canvas to creatively display their research data and just like that- a GREAT STATE PLATE is born! My daddy passed away five years ago this month and although I miss him like crazy, I can't help but think of him every time my family takes a road trip. The only difference is- we use GPS and Google Maps, my husband still misses the exits, and we stop at BUC-EE'S- Travel Center. And yes, they have divinity and cheap souvenirs! Here are a just a few of my favorite souvenir plates~ See you at Bucee's,