An appeal to American Sprite Stitchers

[LinkIsMyHomeboy]

Indiana: I was born here and always end up back in this state every time I leave, so I know a bit about it

Popcorn: Orville Redenbacher popcorn was started in Indiana
Indianapolis 500: One of the top racing events in the world in the "Indy Car Series" held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Brickyard 400: Also held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, this is one of the most popular (and boasts the 2nd highest payout to the winner) NASCAR races.
Limestone: There is a HUGE quarry in Southern Indiana that has been mined for important buildings such as:
-New York City’s Empire State Building and the Rockefeller Center
-The Pentagon
-The U.S. Treasury
-Several other government buildings in Washington D.C.
-14 other state capitol buildings around the U.S.

Hope you're able to get something out of all that INformation (<--haha. IN-formation. Get it? ::womp womp::)

[Mishatu]

Indiana: I was born here and always end up back in this state every time I leave, so I know a bit about it

Popcorn: Orville Redenbacher popcorn was started in Indiana
Indianapolis 500: One of the top racing events in the world in the "Indy Car Series" held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Brickyard 400: Also held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, this is one of the most popular (and boasts the 2nd highest payout to the winner) NASCAR races.
Limestone: There is a HUGE quarry in Southern Indiana that has been mined for important buildings such as:
-New York City’s Empire State Building and the Rockefeller Center
-The Pentagon
-The U.S. Treasury
-Several other government buildings in Washington D.C.
-14 other state capitol buildings around the U.S.

Hope you're able to get something out of all that INformation (<--haha. IN-formation. Get it? ::womp womp::)

If it hadn't been mentioned by LIMH, I was definitely going to suggest the Indy 500. Maybe print out little cars and have them design their own? If that won't work, anything related to corn will work xD

[Firestarterr]

I am from Wyoming
We are called the Equality State, but everyone from here calls it the cowboy state.
We were the first state to let women vote (but we only did it to become a state and afterwards, we tried to take it away and the government said no)
Wyoming is second least densely populated of the 50 United States
We have the first national park (Yellowstone), the first national monument (Devil's Tower) and Esther Hobart Morris who was the first female judge in United States in 1870
University of Wyoming is the only public University
Wyoming also produces 40 percent of all coal mined (This has dropped since the natural gas boom over in North Dakota though)
Our state sport is rodeo, our state mammal is a bison and our state dinosaur is a triceratops
Our logo is a bucking bronc, the bronc is a famous bucking horse named Steamboat
You can find more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyoming

I can send you postcards if you would like, I can even get the educational ones

[katdun]

That is a cool idea! I can help with North Dakota if you want. It's not exactly a tourist destination, but it's still a state! Let me know if you want any postcards!

Right now we have an oil boom going on in the western side of the state (where I live). My city's population has close to doubled in the last five years. I can probably dig up some more info if you want.

Rugby, ND, is the geographical center of North America.

Chokecherries were recently established as the state fruit. There is a festival every year now to celebrate. I could send some jelly to sample, I don't think anywhere else has chokecherries.

We have paddlefish. They're great big fish (can grow over 100 pounds!) with a "nose" that looks like a paddle. The season opens May 1st and lasts until the limit of fish is caught.

It would be SUPER cool to do a little linguistic study with your kids about how people speak English different across the globe. People in America think Kentuckians sound really funny, so it would be neat to let some of your kiddos hear how Kentuckians talk, versus someone from Texas (or another deep South State like Georgia or Alabama) and compare that to someone from the New England area. I'm a high school teacher, and I'm sure I could convince some of my kiddos to record/video how they pronounce certain words or what we Kentuckians call certain things-- like cantaloupe for a lot of Eastern KY people is "mush melon."

I totally dorked out on that. Sorry. I love my state!

Haha, people think North Dakotans sound weird too. I ran across this blog the other day that was talking about how other states perceive us. It was pretty accurate, lol.

most people in cities DON'T wear cowboy hats all the time, or ride horses to work.

Haha, we hear about that here too. Visitors are impressed we have electricity. *smh*

[Firehawke]

I'm in Nebraska...and there's a lot of history connected with the state. Here's a link to the wiki page...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebraska.

In terms of activities you can do with 10 year olds...a number of trails ran through Nebraska. The Mormon and Oregon trails easily come to mind. You could always have the kids research what things people too with them as they travelled across the trails and have them discuss what things they would (or would not) take with them and why.

Also, there's Cruise Nite, an annual classic car show in Kearney (love it!) http://www.cruisenite.org/ There has even been Model A's and T's featured!

I grew up in Omaha, which also has a lot of history. It also has the Henry Doorly Zoo http://www.omahazoo.com/, which holds a lot of records and does a lot for conservation efforts.

If you want to do something sports related, the state University, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, has a huge football program. Go Huskers! http://huskers.com/

Good luck!

[smoni]

Thanks for the amazing replies so far! Have got a few more ideas, but nothing finalised yet...

It would be awesome if anyone is able and willing to send me some postcards from your state, please pm me if you're happy to do this, and I'll give you my address.

I can see I'm going to need to find out more about American football! I don't know anything about it!

Thanks again!

[kuja.girl]

I can help with North Dakota if you want. It's not exactly a tourist destination, but it's still a state!

I'm sorry but that made me LOL. Poor North and South Dakota.

And... OMG American football... not all of us are crazy about it (just like how not all Europeans and South Americans are crazy about futball ), so I have mixed feelings about it being taught as part of American culture. It is important for some Americans but not all and besides, there's so much other cool stuff they could learn!

[katdun]

I can help with North Dakota if you want. It's not exactly a tourist destination, but it's still a state!

I'm sorry but that made me LOL. Poor North and South Dakota.

South Dakota has Mt. Rushmore, but North Dakota...

[rockinwithrammstein]

Well, I spent most of my time in Montana...I would say you could do something with mountains since they're everywhere you look when you're there I'm not sure if everywhere was like where I was at, but there were a LOT of wildflowers and it was really pretty.

[jadely]

You mean all Texans don't wear hats all day?! The Dakotas have electricity?! My very core has been shaken!

But I completely get the rough go with stereotypes. Every time I have gone out of state, people ask if I only wear shoes when I leave the state.


'Murica!