Virtual Classroom Scavenger Hunts

While scavenger hunts are usually meant to be played in person, who says we can’t enjoy a Virtual Scavenger Hunt with our friends?

GooseChase EDU recently launched our very first Ambassador Program! GooseChase Ambassadors are teachers and instructional coaches just like many of you.

We reached out to a few of them, as well as other GooseChase users, to see how they have been using the platform to keep students connected!

Adapting a classroom experience to the home environment

After 20 years teaching in the classroom, EDU Ambassador Dacia Jones, is now an International STEM Consultant. She is passionate and driven to inform students of the different ways they can integrate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics into their everyday lives! Dacia first learned about GooseChase back in 2016 while in Chicago. You can catch Dacia’s alter ego “Dr. Drizzle” sharing all things STEM, GooseChase, and education related by following her on Twitter, @dacia92.

Recently, Dacia sent her students on a virtual scavenger hunt titled, #InThisTogether! After using GooseChase multiple times in her classroom with students and teachers, Dacia knew it would be a great way to engage families in fun activities. Dacia had such a great turnout with tons of families joining from all over. When asked if she had any tips for educators starting out, Dacia said, “Use the missions that are already in the GooseChase bank and adapt them for your needs. Send daily messages to the whole group so they feel connected and get permission to use their photos and videos so you can build community with everyone!”

We Are Family: Stage a family photo that describes you the best.

Copper Column: Make a tower of pennies at least 30 pennies high.

Using GooseChase as a Creative Outlet

Twitter user Angela Abend is what you would call a veteran in the education world! After spending 30 years with the Oceanside District School in New York, Angela is set to retire. Most recently, Angela served as the district's gifted/enrichment teacher for the elementary division. She was first introduced to GooseChase by another twitter user. Since then, she has also been rocking the Virtual GooseChase Scavenger Hunt game!

Facilitating virtual games for families was Angela’s way of bringing “a sense of joy, connection, and community” to her students during this time! She had a great turnout of 10 families in her first game and has already completed a second game. Many of her participants had some great things to say about Angela and her GooseChase Game!

Participant Feedback

Our family had fun participating in GooseChase! It was great to see how creative we could all be and how we worked together as a team. Would love to do it again! - The Crossan Family

GooseChase activities became a welcome escape from grimm TV news updates during COVID Quarantine. As a family, we became actively engaged in planning our pictures, costumes, practicing lines and taking videos. Watching and enjoying the other team’s talent made us so proud to be a part of. Thank YOU Mrs. Abend for introducing us to a wonderful family oriented game that brought us so much joy. - The Patney Family

I think it was more than a distraction from the obvious, but rather something we all became invested in, and collaborated on. Our daughter said that no matter how we collaborated and planned everything out it always ended with someone screaming “where’s the iPad??” We miss it this week. - The Carter Family

GooseChase for more than just Academics

Seasoned GooseChase user and EDU Ambassador Randy Seldomridge, has been in the education setting for 23 years with the Caldwell County School District. This past year, Randy spent his time in 3 seperate elementary schools as their Instructional Facilitator. Randy first learned about GooseChase a few years ago at his state technology conference, NCTIES, and has been familiar with the platform ever since!

Randy has always loved the concept of a controlled and manageable scavenger hunt. He wanted to give students a break from their screens and complete activities outdoors with their families. Randy’s top tip for virtual scavenger hunts is to make them fun and educational - but not too challenging! Check out Randy’s Twitter, @rseldy to see what he’s been up to lately!

Obstacle Course: Create an obstacle course either inside or outside! Take a video of you doing it!

In the Stars: Star Gaze or look for shapes in the clouds.

Top Tips from Educators who use GooseChase:

1. Dive In & Give it a Go - Sometimes the best way to test something out is to dive right in! Create a test game, play around with the missions, see what works best for you!
2. Start Simple - Leave the bells and whistles to when you are comfortable with the basics of creating a game! Introduce these more intricate features for your next game!
3. Use the Game Library - There are lots of example games in the library that you can try out first! Get the hang of how to run the game as the Game Manager and see your students having a great time.
4. Vary your mission types - Include lots of different missions types, Photo/Video, Text, GPS! Remember, not all your missions need to be academic, throw in a few fun and silly missions for your students to complete!
5. Try with Family Members - Worried about your missions being too hard or too easy? Have your family read over your missions before you play your game!

What is GooseChase?

GooseChase is an online platform that helps educators create and run digital scavenger hunt learning experiences in their classroom and beyond. Sign up and try creating a game, or contact us to learn more about our school and district-wide solutions!