Ho!Ho!Ho! Intentional Grandparenting

As we countdown until Christmas, we are beginning to see festive decorations lining the streets of our towns and neighborhoods. Stores are filled with healthy and smiling shoppers, and there are shoppers loaded down with bags filled with goodies anywhere you look. Of course, the other holiday experience is the parking lot crunch when finding a parking spot during the holiday season is not for the faint of heart. These exterior experiences are only a piece of the magic and memories of Christmas.

We all have had a few unique Christmas' of late, and be it virtual or face-to-face, the opportunity is now to create some memories with your loved ones, have some fun and of course, find meaningful ways to let your grandkids learn that having fun happens regardless of our age.

This is the time of year that gives us a unique opportunity to build “new “or build “on “old family traditions. It is these traditions that make it "our" Christmas. These special memories, activities, and stories are the true meaning of Christmas to you, to them, and for generations to come. There are some "tried and true activities that we all participate in, almost a global definition of Christmas activities, like baking cookies, decorating the tree, and writing that all-important letter to Santa. These are unique, memorialized, and individualized to the family participating.

You can always Google search ways to connect with your grandkids or try searching Pinterest. Each has many ideas, but today's blog is one attempted and true Christmas activity that can be played regardless of age. It doesn't matter if the child is between 3-5 years old, pre-teen, or even a young adult; there is something special for everyone. Within minutes this Christmas activity can be customized to your part of the country, the age of the children, or you can change nothing at all year over year.

What is it, you may be asking? What could be that interesting, that powerful, that memorial? A simple tried and true adventure…a Christmas Scavenger Hunt! A Christmas Scavenger Hunt with a twist. No matter how you structure the hunt, having the participants take a selfie with each item brings the next level of competition into the game. Selfie’s may not be something that we think of when we are looking to take a picture, but this isn’t about us. Our kids and grandkids are very comfortable taking selfies and will grab the smartphones and go. The sillier selfie, the better; you can set up the rules of engagement that will give additional points for that! The more inspired and innovative, the better. The only rule is to be creative and have fun…that is an ageless activity.

The reason why the selfie component is essential is that you will have priceless pictures, everyone knows how to take them, and those pictures will go down in crazy fun history. If your grandkids are not yet smartphone users because of age, take the opportunity to partner with an older sibling, an aunt/uncle, or grandparent. This will give everyone a chance to play.

Having played this hunt for years, we have found most, if not all, of the pitfalls of a scavenger hunt is having an honor system only. As siblings "playing to win," and no pictures as proof sure makes for liberal interpretations… Need I say more! Not that our kids and grandkids can't be honest, but evidence that they found the items listed and didn't do a random computer search to find the thing identified keeps everyone "playing nice in the Christmas sandbox." So, a selfie is a device to capture genuine activity. Make sure you tell them to be creative and have fun with their poses, and these pictures will be treasured for years to come.

Also, we, the planner, can be creative too…let's change it up! We can give out the list in advance, over an entire weekend, or a specific tight timeframe. If giving the list in advance is your plan, that works and doesn't change the chances to win. Yes, some staging might occur, or pre-pictures, but look at that not as "cheating" but rather players being excited about the hunt. I will tell you that one year we told everyone participating that they had a weekend to complete the hunt. The only rule was submission was by 3pm on Sunday. Four groups were constantly searching, laughing, and taking selfies. One team decided to wait until the 11th hour and came up with some great shots. The only lesson here is that let everyone complete the contest their way.

Whatever you decide, when you say "go," everyone takes the "texted" or physical scavenger hunt list and searches their own home, their neighborhoods, their community. Whichever player, or team, successfully earns the most points win. Keep in mind that safety is vitally important to remind everyone and reinforce the family rules on partnering and traveling outside the home for the game.

 Below is a copy of a Christmas Scavenger Hunt we have used. A downloadable version can also be found in the resource section on our website. Feel free to use it or use it as a guide to create your own.

If you are looking for some logistics ideas to plan your Christmas Scavenger Hunt, here are a few:

1- THEME

1.   Decide if you want to make it Christmas-specific, kid-friendly, funny, or pictures of family members doing silly things.

2- TIMING

1.   What do you want the result to be? A hunt that is timed? A weekend event with a start and stop day and time? Free-form?

3- WINNING

1.   Are you using a point system? If so, how are the points determined?

2.   Who is the judge or judges? With selfies, someone will have to gather them, vote, and then share winners.

Here is one possible way to determine winners:

1 point for a selfie with each of the items listed.

THEN, the participants submit for judging what they think is their best selfie picture in each of these categories:

1.   Most Creative

2.   Best Representation of Christmas

3.   Most whimsical

4.   Most Scenic

5.   Best Representation of your state or neighborhood

1 point for 3rd place, 2 points for 2nd place, and 3 points for 1st place as judged by the organizer. Note: You must assign your picture to a category to qualify.

The winner is the individual or team with the most points.

A very successful and powerful way for everyone to enjoy the crazy shots is to show the winning pictures and prizes at a final event. Maybe the entire family meets on Christmas eve with other cousins, etc. Keep the winners a secret until then. If you want to get creative, upload the categories and winners into a PowerPoint and share with the family at a main event. Another option is to announce in a text and provide the winning pictures sometime after the hunt.

4- PRIZE

1.   A prize is always a great way to end the event. Small, inexpensive, and memorable. It is not necessary to be extravagant. Maybe even wrap it like a Christmas present.

The nice thing about a scavenger hunt is you can make it as easy or as challenging as you'd like. Host a party to celebrate the end of the Christmas scavenger hunt and make sure to celebrate all the participation.

Would love to see your favorite Christmas Scavenger Hunt selfies. Happy hunting!