Culture
Kindling Curiosity on a Low-Tech Urban Scavenger Hunt
By winding through the city on a mission, our kids learned to look closely—and to trust themselves and others.
How did my family start training our kids to talk to strangers on neighborhood scavenger hunts? The same way people find their way in cities—with one idea flowing into another, and with help from strangers.
The hunts began four years ago, on Christmas Eve, when our kids were seven and three and my wife and I decided we would all do well to get some walk-around time before heading up to Grand Central to visit my parents in the northern suburbs. While we normally case parks, carousels, museums, and what have you, it seemed clumsy to lug overnight bags anywhere crowded.