Games secretly disguised....or "Discovering YOUR village"

All you moms out there can relate to this, I'm certain:  beautiful, sunshiny, warm day and the kids are draped over the couch like blankets, complaining to each other about "who" killed "what" on mine craft!  (Or some variation of that argument!)  So, clever mom and clever 15 year old create a game.  Not just any game, but one that is secretly disguised as "get the kids out of the house, no matter what, but must not involve the wasteful use of water in the street!"

(drum roll...) Village Photo Scavenger Hunt!

It's likely already been invented, but we've never played.  So here's what we did to not only get out of the house, but also get a better scope of the little details in our village.  We took pictures of the quaint little things you probably wouldn't really photograph, since they aren't a national monument or castle or something, BUT, photos that reminded us of the PLACE we live.  At the end of the day, the photo scavenger hunt becomes another documented memory for the family to recall when we've moved on to yet another base, another land, another village.

The object of the game is to find the places where the opposing team took their photos.

1.  Divide into teams --1 parent per team

2.  Choose a boundary for the game (we used our street all the way to the bus stop - about 4-6 blocks)

3.  Team 1 has 30 minutes to walk around outside and take 5 unique photos:   photos must have stationary objects--something that doesn't move, so the chickens across the street don't count.  Unless you ask them to please stand still for the next hour.  So far, these chickens don't listen to anyone.

4.  Team 2 takes their turn at getting their 5 photos.

5.  Trade cameras (or iPhones, ipads, etc) and start scavenging for the places the opposing team took their photos.  **You must take a new photo with one of your teammates in the picture to prove you actually found the photo spot.

6.  Winner is the team with the most photos correctly identified (best of 5)  Time limit is 45 minutes.

Enjoy the time well spent with your family and take the opportunity to really "see" where you live!  One variation:  go to a city/village you've never been to, mark the boundaries and see what you discover there. I'm thinking this would be fun in a big city square like the Grand Platz in Bruxelles or the Altstaat in  Innsbruck.

This one was actually easier to find than we thought --and both teams photographed it!

Our neighbors down the street have the only patch of purple tulips...
these are the front yards we walk past everyday to the bus stop.

I'm curious to find out if any readers try this...let me know!

Lonely tree from afar, pigeons in an old house, horses in a car garage

old wall, gardens from above and down the street

Happy Scavenging!

Tschuss!

Linda