Scavenger Hunts

[Beatrice]

These are K's New Big Thing :lol She was bored while I was waiting at a shopfront the other day so on impulse I sent her off round the waiting area to find a blue thing, a green thing and a red thing. She was intrigued but not quite sure. At home, I started out with verbal instructions but she'd forget what I asked, so I drew pictures and sent her out with four things to find. She really liked the format of two specific objects, something of a particualr colour, and something she liked :) I can see this filling a lot of "I'm bored" moments in future :lol

I reckon B would like it too if I gave her a list of stuff to find when she's out and about. Shall have to suggest it :)

[~*heket*~]

What a great idea!!! I love it! I'm nominating you for mother of the year now :lol

[Beau]

sounds fun.....wonder what else you could add....a map maybe.....x marks the spot or something.....(pregnant woman thinking randomly here ;))

[Beatrice]

I was thinking about that too, might make it more fun for B. I don't think K would be up to it quite yet though.

[Sarasvati]

I have been known to suggest treasure hunts (equip with bucket and send her into the yard to look for interesting things) but I *like* this idea very much! thanks!

[~*heket*~]

I'm gonna try it sometime, that's for sure! Sometimes the best ideas are the simplist hey!!!

[Beatrice]

I'm looking for ideas my kids can do without much input - I reckon they'd like to revisit this idea tomorrow :)

[Ayla]

Have you ever read the old Cherry's adventure? My dad read that book to me when I was little and I loved it!

[Beatrice]

No. Tell me more :)

[Ayla]

I Googled it :lol It's out of print because it was written in 1960, but it's called The Cherrys to the Rescue by Will Scott (and there were other books too). The Cherrys are a family (I think?) and one of their family members leads them on a scavenger hunt by going missing and leaving cryptic clues around for them to find. It was a really fun story :)

[Ceres]

Might try this today to distract the chidlers while we get the house sorted.

[Mishmash]

Just love this idea, will definitely give it a go :D

[Tinkr]

This is a great idea.
I did something similar on a long drive the other day. I suggested the girls could look for things in the colours of the rainbow (we sing the song 'I can sing a rainbow) out the window ie red dirt, purple flowers, blue sky, green grass, etc. Was quite fun, they went from 'im bored' to being really facinated by what was around us.

I also keep a little 'bordom kit' in my hand bag (little note books, coloured pencils, pack of cards) for at restaruants or waiting rooms to keep them happy.
Perhaps I'll add a treasure hunt/eye spy list to my kit.:eager

[cgull]

It's been raining here A LOT lately - like, twice the average for August - so I did a variation on this for an indoor game. I had a basket and sent DS to find things and bring them back to the basket. Got him running and using up energy :)

[Beatrice]

Hmm, I had forgotten about this idea!

[Kyt]

Haven't used it recently?

It's a really good idea and as they get older you can incoporate a lot of things into it if you are so inclined eg find 2+2 green items, find something begining with the letter B etc etc I played it a lot with the kids I was teaching at school cause they were bored stiff out of their brains doing rote learning etc.

[zenifa]

Oh, just discovered this thread, will definately give this a go with my girls!!