Road Trip on a Budget: High School Life Skills Challenge

This high school life skills class challenge is a great high school budgeting project.

This project focuses on building and strengthening a variety of real-world life skills including planning, organizing, estimating, time-management, decision-making, problem-solving, mapping, budgeting, communication, and many more.

The topic itself (road trip budgeting) is real-world and relevant to students. That relevance, in addition to opportunities for student choice, keeps students engaged in the activity throughout the experience.

This life skills road trip planning experience asks students to plan a theme-based, 7-day, road trip for 4 travelers on a budget.

Students set their own budget based on realistic costs at the time. They will research costs, lodging, restaurants, excursions/theme-related stops, money-saving tips, and more. They will plan a route and detailed itinerary.

Finally, students will share road trips with an identified target audience by creating a series of shareable innovative final products.

This life skills project is low-prep and free as long as students have access to a computer and the internet. Students will lead; you will facilitate. It helps to have access to Google Apps, as Google Maps is one tool used in this experience. The project could be done without it, but it is ideal to have access to Google Maps.

*Note: The road trip plans are hypothetical, not intended to be taken by the student, but if you are a school travel coordinator or a homeschool parent, I highly recommend having your students use this resource to plan or help you plan a road trip.

This resource includes a PDF printable version and a digital, Google Slides version.

This resource includes:

• Teacher guide - The teacher guide includes a project description, teacher tips, an implementation guide, and scaffolding questions for problem-solving as it relates to budgeting. The teacher guide is intended to make the facilitation process seamless and low-prep.

• Student guide - the guides walk students through this project so precisely that students could execute the entire experience independently if needed.
  • Brainstorming tools
  • Budgeting templates
  • Planning templates
  • Checklists
  • Final product ideation, creation, and checklist templates

• Learning Reflection questions
• Project Rubric

Looking for free resources that go well with this resource?

• Free Experiential Learning Tools Mini-Bundle
• Free Video Training: Teaching 21st-Century Skills

Check out these blog posts for additional assistance with this resource:

• Why 21st-C. Skill-Building is Important
• How to Add Skill-Building to Your Curriculum

If you like this product, check out these activities as well!

• High School Life Skills Challenge: Plan a Dinner Party on a Budget
• 21st-Century Skill-Building Portfolio

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