B and her friend K are having a sleepover and I need to get them outside for some of it. So we find a new sort of action based scavenger hunt to do in the park… A few weeks on, B and I head back to the same place with a similar game that needs less preparation in advance…
133 – An action based Scavenger Hunt sort of thing…
Tuesday 19 August. Cloudy. 21°C
B and her friend K are having a sleepover… which they think means sitting inside all day playing with the stuff 10 year old girls play with. I’m getting my muscle in early. Almost as soon as it starts I’m getting them to the local park for a Scavenger Hunt. I reckon it they do that for an hour or two they’ve earned the right to stay in the rest of the time and I’ll be sane enough to cope.
These two did the first treasure hunt of the challenge together back in January and really enjoyed it so they’re tolerant of my whimsy. They’ve also done a wood walk and played in the same park a few months ago so they know where they’re going and they’re ready. I’ve done 20 minutes prep thinking up things for them to do and written them out on coloured card which I’ve folded up and put in a basket for them to help themselves too – a bit like the brownies scavenger hunt back in March.
I end up with 16 instructions as follows:
- Find something precious and hide it in the trunk of an old tree
- Find the prettiest oak leaf
- Climb 3 trees and decide which is your favourite
- Go into the little forest and find a secret place
- Find a fidget acorn
- Spot a butterfly and try to catch it
- Find a swing (someone’s helpfully put one up with a rope and a big stick)
- Find 2 long sticks and have a sword fight
- Sit on a tree stump
- Pick a reed and make something with it
- Have a go at grass whistling
- Find the hidden place where the fairy lives (site specific this!)
- Swing on a branch
- Find something in the community garden that smells nice
- Find the prettiest flower you CAN’T pick
- Find the prettiest flower you CAN pick
The trick is probably to get them to start opening the clues before they do a lot of these things anyway. We do ok – they find the swing but otherwise are ready to go and they’re off. They take it in turns to open them. Some get a lot more attention than others. The flower choosing is clearly boring (they get there towards the end when they’re looking for more active stuff). The tree climbing always is a success. They’re reluctant to pick leaves and sniff them in the community garden and need some help. The reed making feels like the start of something that’s going to run and run and I’m very proud that I manage a grass whistle for the first time.
We keep the basket of instructions. We might try this one again.
105 – The park list game
Wednesday 17 September. Cloudy with drizzle. 17°C
A few weeks on and we’re back in the park. B’s got an idea she wants to try. We bring a piece of paper and a pen each.
B: “So you’re going to time 5 minutes on your phone and we have to write down 10 things for the other person to find or do. If you don’t get to 10 you stop where you’ve got too. Then we swap and time each other doing the lists.”
Sounds good to me. We set the timer and off we go. I do it off the top of my head mainly and get to 10 in 2.5 minutes. B is more conscientious and goes to find all hers. She gets to 7 … I think she had the better idea. These are the lists we get:
B’s list: Find 2 milk bottles; a red petal; a rubbish bin with spray paint on; the main church door; a climbing tree (climb at least one step); a bird feeder; number plate XXX XXXX (removed for obvious reasons!)
L’s list: Find something to do on church noticeboard; drink a raindrop; find a fidget acorn (ie, one that won’t come out of it’s ‘hat’); Find something from the frog’s home to take; climb a tree up at least 3 branches; walk on a log; run from 1 noticeboard to another and tag them both; Spot a squirrel; Tag the drinking fountain; Pick a flower
B sets off first and goes quickly up to the ‘spot a squirrel’ instruction where she is flawed by a complete lack of squirrels. They’ve clearly all gone to bed early and I feel guilty for not checking they’re out first. She takes 12 and a half minutes.
Then it’s my turn. I’m really impressed with the milk bottles (near the compost heap) and take ages to find the right bin (there are several to check at opposing corners) and the bird feeder… but she gives me a clue on the car number plate and I do my 7 in 8 minutes. She’s surprisingly understanding about this (I suspect she helped me because she’s getting wet and wants to go home).
We both enjoy it and would do again. And it was much quicker to set up.
