Scavenger Hunt: An Adventure for the Entire Family
It's easy to get caught up in our daily routines. In fact, children like to know what to expect most of the time in order to develop feelings of comfort in their lives. However, let's face it...sometimes we need to mix things up a bit. I want to share an idea that can change an average day up in an instant. I call it the Family Scavenger Hunt. What I really like about the idea is that it is very spontaneous and can lead to an adventure for your entire family. Let's begin: Select 3 goals that will benefit all involved. I will give you a real-life example I've used with my family. We chose to: The day couldn't have been better. We took off with our new goals in mind. We didn't know what to expect but we were all experiencing a wonderful sense of adventure. We were heading North on Interstate 35 in our 1994 Mazda Pickup with a cooler filled with water and Gatorade in the truck bed and a backpack full of granola bars. We had nowhere specific to be and no timeline. We just had our 3 goals in mind. Approximately 1.5 hours into our journey Ayden, our 9 year old, saw the sign that would lead us to achieve our 1st goal of the day, learn something new. The sign read "Cameron Zoo". We took the exit and hooked a left and a little ways down the road we saw it...the Cameron Zoo. We could definately learn something new here. The zoo was no disappointment. We saw black bears, bats, tigers, and more. We carefully read the description of the habitats and facts about each of our favorite animals. We walked, and talked, and invested time in our family. We got to know each other again. We got to see Ayden smiling again and we took hundreds of photos which documented our spectacular and exciting day. We left the zoo and worked our way back to the truck's cold A/C and hit the road again. This time we went South on I-35 until we saw the perfect place to achieve our second goal, eat somewhere or something we've never eaten before. It was a 50's diner. We ate french fries smothered with liquid cheese and thick chili and fried onion strings. I could feel my arteries clogging as we ate. We talked about the zoo, all our favorite animals and all we had learned. We laughed and joked with each other as we finished our food and then we were off again feeling refreshed and re-energized by our fatty feast. We continued south again to achieve our final goal before returning home for the evening. We had seen signs along the highway promising us home made beef jerky and were feeling a little skeptical until we came upon it...a beef jerky Mecca! It wasn't the tiny stand I envisioned that morning on the roadside, but a free standing building complete with country doo-dads and widgets. This was it! We bought two large bags of jerky along with some jams. We've done it! We have achieved our 3 goals and along the way we've done much more that that. We've reconnected with one another. We were once again a family and in this process we had become much closer, gotten some sun, and built our choose-your-own-adventure story. Something we can talk about for some time to come. You can choose any kind of scavenger hunt you like. The point is...to invest time in each other and rebuild your family bond. Our family has had many adventures since. On our last scavenger hunt we went to a local park to find: The adventures are endless. Try having a scavenger hunt of your own and share your experience with us. We'd love to hear your ideas and see how creative your family is.
What did your family do?
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