We played a game yesterday that was OFF THE CHARTS FUN.

#SelfieSunday Scavenger Hunt

The vibe: We didn’t have normal programming in our youth Lodge, but because we already graduated 5th grade to the Lodge, and they did have programming, we decided they could have The Lodge all to themselves. Since it was their 3rd week in, the leaders thought a scavenger hunt would be awesome. Well, if you know me, then you know I’m not just gonna hand a kid a checklist.

The directions:  

1. I asked students with Instagram and their cell phones on them (I ended up letting a group use mine……whoops) to be group leaders. I told them to take their accounts off private just for a little while.
2. I counted off the group to split off. We had about 20 5th graders, so we had 5 groups. Having more than 4 or 5 per group makes cramped selfies.
3. I told them to come up with a group name and use it in every photo that they hashtag, as well as “selfiesundayJH.”
4. Then I gave them a list of selfies to make and 20 minutes. The energy was WILD.
5. On the screen I had InstafeedLive. Every time they used our hashtag, the photo would show up on the screen. Again, accounts need to be off private in order for this to work.
6. When they came back, they looked at the pictures on the screen while I counted up the votes. Honestly, they loved looking at them so I could take my time. #TeamSwagalicious won.

The List of Selfies: Here’s my list!

Because the purpose was to introduce them to The Lodge and let them truly own it for a day, I put some Lodge-specific activities on there. I also put some things for them to “find,” like my St. Louis Cardinals hat that a volunteer was wearing the entire time.

I also let them venture out slightly into the parking lot–a selfie by the Basketball hoop, a selfie in the Recycling Dumpster, a yellow car that they couldn’t find because apparently the people at my church don’t drive those, and more!

Then there’s the “generic selfies”–the photobomb (“sneak selfie”), hair mustaches, a stranger, and of course a most creative selfie.

If you did this with older students or had more time, you could have adults drive them and do fun selfies off-campus. Because of the vibe I was trying to create, I wanted to keep them close.

The product: Amazingness. Our adult leaders were obsessed. Our students were excited. Even when selfies weren’t coming on the screen “fast enough,” they were still eating it up. I received an email from a parent saying it was the best part of her daughter’s day (Happy Mother’s Day!). Kids were commenting on the students’ photos asking what “JH” stood for (one asked if it meant “just hanging”–to which I responded that they could “just hang” with us ANYTIME. I may have embarrassed my student). It was a fun vibe and the students couldn’t stop talking about it. I got approximately 23048 hugs before they left.

Basically–DO IT. IT’S SO MUCH FUN. I CAN’T EVEN.