Neighborhood Scavenger Hunt

All the kids are home from school. What an amazing gift this could be if only they could have the opportunity to romp around the yard and play sun up to sunset. It's so rare anymore for kids to have the time to play with the neighbor kids with any regularity and now they have the time but they have to practice social distancing. Not fair. I'll say it. It's not fair, it's the reality and I get it but yeah it's not fair. I feel for them, for all of us. As I've been thinking about these difficult days and the impact on kids I've been brainstorming some ideas that I think might help us all have a little fun. For starters I want to share the first one. I started working on something today and maybe you can head it up in your neighborhood?

A Neighborhood Scavenger Hunt.

I shared the idea in our Neighborhood Facebook group and it was well received:) Here's what we are doing: Residents will place a few interesting, even weird items in their windows, landscaping, trees, even on the roof. They need to be seen from the road, so know no one need venture into the neighbors yards. They should NOT be items of value. After they place the item they will send me photos of their items and their street address. I will use the photos to create the item description. I will compile a list of the items kids need to find. They will be given the street names of participating houses so they know where to look. Then, go for a walk, a ride, even a drive! And hunt. Let the kids snap a photo of the items to check them off - no touching necessary Let siblings team up with parents and compete. Play virtually against your neighbor friends. Every week, we'll change out or move items as a long as the shutdowns last. I might even start a separate FB group for the game. I imagine we will have other families from outside our neighborhood who want to come drive through or walk through and play. Maybe this would be a good fit for your child's class? Team? Youth group? A way to connect without contact? We might even decorate the whole front door with a well wish - offering a prayer and some positive thoughts in a difficult time as people come to look for our items. We might make a child smile. We might give mom something to use as a bribe to finish that school work they need to do. We might give families something to do in the evenings. But mostly we can walk around and recognize that our neighbors think enough of us to play a silly little game to keep us all in good spirits until this passes. We can still pull together as community even if we have to keep 3 feet between us! Our game will launch this weekend! Whaddya say Game On?