The Official Flat Stanley Project

I was watching the Academy Awards from Hollywood the other night, and was surprised to see Clint Eastwood on the red carpet holding a small paper cutout of a man. I thought what is that all about? Well, a little Internet research later, and you have the subject of todays Family First Site.

The site is called the Official Flat Stanley Project, and Flat Stanley is the name of the character that Clint was holding. For the uninitiated and the uninformed (like I was), Flat Stanley is the character from a childrens book of the same name. He was squashed flat by a falling bulletin board. One of the many advantages is that Flat Stanley can now visit his friends by travelling in an envelope. That is the premise of the project, that we should all keep in touch with each other, and encourages writing letters and emails. It has achieved almost a cult status in schools. Students make paper Flat Stanleys and begin a journal with him for a few days. Then Flat Stanley and the journal are sent to another school where students there treat Flat Stanley as a guest and complete the journal. Flat Stanley and the journal are then returned to the original sender. Students can plot his travels on maps and share the contents of the journal.
At the site you can see that Flat Stanley has not only been hanging out with Clint Eastwood. You can see that he as traveled into space on the Space Shuttle, attended a series of briefings at the White House (where he had a photo op with the President), been to a Willie Nelson recording session, and traveled to all 7 continents on the planet. The site also includes ideas on how to integrate Flat Stanley into school cirriculums, games to play, a chat area for strategy sessions, and an area where visitors can post their own Flat Stanley photos.
I have always maintained that a great website is one that is not only fun, but also educational and informative. This site is all of those, and then some. It is one to come back to every so often, and see who has met with Flat Stanley recently, or see how your journal is doing.
http://flatstanley.enoreo.on.ca/