This week, I experimented with an app that lets you create your own scavenger hunts. The app is called GooseChase. It’s available for iOS and Android. I found out about the app from AASL’s 2018 Best Apps for Teaching and Learning. I thought this would be a fun app to try to write about, because nowadays, tension is running high in my house. Creating a scavenger hunt for people in my house could be fun. In school, scavenger hunts in the library could be really engaging for students.
So I downloaded the app on my phone and created my account. The homepage allowed me to search and join a game, but I couldn’t create a game from the app. To create my game, I needed to login to the website. So I created a game on the actual website from my laptop, but I can see someone using the website from the phone as well.
Creating a scavenger hunt is easy. GooseChase provides spaces to create a Scavenger Hunt name, description, location, and password. If a creator only wants select people to do their scavenger hunt, a password is really helpful. You can also upload a photo for your hunt. I chose to upload a picture of my dog, since it is a home scavenger hunt. Even after, creating the hunt’s directions was really easy. From the websites tool bar, I selected “Mission.” Here I could upload the title and directions of what I wanted participants to find. These are the different locations, objects, or clues that scavenger hunt participants have to find. For example, I created a mission to pet the dog. I titled the mission, “Find the Dog!” The description instructed participants to take a picture of themselves petting the dog. For this, participants would be able to upload a picture. In another, participants can write an answer. I asked for participants to tell me the title of the third book on the top shelf of my bookshelf. I could also write acceptable answers, and add multiple answers. There are also templates to use for more general scavengers hunts. These are really great to bring something new to a scavenger hunt and to help develop ideas.
Ordering the scavenger hunt is also easy. Each mission is worth points. You decide how many points. So you can order the scavenger hunt from its lowest to highest point missions, alphabetically, or in any order you’d like. From the website, you can also decide when the scavenger hunt stops and starts, and its duration. You can create player profiles and add players. Teams or individuals can play the scavenger hunts. Plus, the creator can view submissions, and can even create a twitter hashtag for users to tweet their photos. This is an easy and fun tool to use.
In a library, this app would be so fun for students. Many middle school and high school libraries have library orientation, and utilize scavenger hunts. I remember I had to fill out a written sheet where I looked for a non-fiction books and searched through an atlas. Using library’s devices or their own, it could be interesting if teams of students had to answer questions on the scavenger hunt or take pictures of themselves completing library tasks. Maybe the library even organizes a scavenger hunt to get freshman students acquainted with the school. They can take pictures in the gymnasium, the art classrooms, and complete activities. This could also work for escape rooms in the library, or activities that can relate to a read-aloud in K-4 libraries. Using technology would motivate students and also make the activity fun for them. In elementary libraries, this can help young students go on a scavenger hunt to find different sections of the library, like finding their favorite non-fiction book, or graphic novel.
This could also work in classrooms. A student project could involve students creating their own scavenger hunts. Even if someone doesn’t perform them, they could study settings in a book or events in a book by creating scavenger hunts related to them. It would be really fun for social studies students to complete scavenger hunts that relate to ancient Egypt, or the Titanic, or another period in time. Maybe there are fake artifacts for students to find, or questions relate to recalling facts, or thinking critically about an event or object. This can really engage and immerse students in their learning.
This is definitely an exciting app. One downfall, however, is libraries limited by technology. I work in a K-4 library with Chromebooks. I’m not expecting or requiring students to come with phones or their own technology. So without iPad’s, we wouldn’t be able to use this app. And not every school is going to have the budget for compatible devices or students with devices. If there’s a chance, I encourage educators to take advantage of this. Mixing scavenger hunts with technology could really interest students.
Gabrielle Weiss Blog 