Why scavenger hunts are so exciting!

I was very upset to have missed the annual Easter Egg hunt this year at home and even more upset that I was unable to get my hands on any form of easter egg! So instead I did the best I could and settled for a delightful bar of Toblerone chocolate! However, the idea of a treasure hunt or scavenger hunt seemed too good to pass up! :)

It is wonderful how as a teacher one has the flexibility to manipulate any lesson to do what you want! (insert evil laugh) So, for a class on "getting around" focusing mainly on transportation and directions I created a marvellous game called "GUIDE THE FOREIGNER". The "foreigner" -the poor student designated to be blindfolded- was led by the others around the school to all the "tourist sites of Seoul". Cryptic clues in basic English soon turned the school cafeteria into a famous dakgalbi restaurant or the school benches into the exquisite Seoul gardens. Teams competed against one another and policemen on each team were assigned jobs of fining any English spoken or physically helping of the foreigner. The winning team completed the tour with the least faults. Despite a few stubbed toes with students forgetting about their "foreigner" heading straight for walls,fun was had by all!

So,why is it that scavenger hunts or easter egg hunts are such fun?! Even on big screen, adventure films have characters looking for lost treasure hidden in a secret location or secret expeditions using ancient scrolls in Eygpt to find jewellery of some bygone pharoah. Is it the mind that loves to analyse, decipher, decode the very basic elements of the clues? Is it the adrenalin or the thrill of finding the treasure that makes it fascinating? Or is it in the very essential evolutionary sense- the scavenger coming out in us?! Searching in the unknown for something! Guess the caveman's idea of a treasure hunt was less appealing-following tracks or rummaging through plants to find the surprise to cook up for dinner can't be fun everyday!

Maybe we just need the excitement in our lives! Whether it is a chest of treasure, figuring out the directions to a party, planning a trip and trying to find the most cost-effective deal or even finding delight in shopping for new products- we all need a bit of a scavenger hunt now and then-even if just to pretend we are 5 again!