[email protected]

In a message dated 11/19/2003 1:51:49 PM Eastern Standard Time,
jrossedd@... writes:
>>I have a dd who is intensely into Harry Potter, and I understand that
> there are all kinds of literature from various countries woven throughout
> the Harry Potter books. Some are Norse legends. So, I was curious what
> your children are reading. My daughter is 9, and I'm looking for content
> that would be appropriate for a 9yo's sensibilities although lately she
> seems to be able to handle scary stuff, which most of history seems to
> be.<<
***********************************
We love the Redwall series. Kinda a mix between Beatrix Potter and Knights
of the Roundtable. Great stories, many in the series.

Nancy B. in WV


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Julie Solich

:
>>I have a dd who is intensely into Harry Potter, and I understand that
there are all kinds of literature from various countries woven throughout
the Harry Potter books. Some are Norse legends. So, I was curious what
your children are reading. My daughter is 9, and I'm looking for content
that would be appropriate for a 9yo's sensibilities although lately she
seems to be able to handle scary stuff, which most of history seems to be.<<

We have been at a loss since we finished the Order of the Phoenix. We've
started three different books and finished none of them. I asked the boys
what they wanted last night and Jess (also 9) said he wanted "a book with
action, thrills and spills".

Any suggestions?

Julie, the Aussie one



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Fetteroll

on 11/20/03 2:39 AM, Julie Solich at mjsolich@... wrote:

> I asked the boys
> what they wanted last night and Jess (also 9) said he wanted "a book with
> action, thrills and spills".
>
> Any suggestions?

Artemis Fowl. It's a series. Supposedly there's a movie coming out next
year.

Artemis Fowl is a 12 yo wealthy technical super genius master criminal. And
he's on the search for the book of the magical folk (elves, dwarves and so
on) who have been driven underground.

It starts out very slow. The main character isn't very likeable (at the
beginning) so it feels like the book is going to be about this arrogant
unpleasant person you don't like. But Holly, a elven member of the Special
Forces police team is introduced who doesn't like him either and gives him
back what he deserves and it turns into a lot of fun :-) The magic folk are
also more technologically advanced than humans and it turns into a race to
see who can outwit who.

Joyce

zenmomma2kids

>> We have been at a loss since we finished the Order of the Phoenix.
We've started three different books and finished none of them. I
asked the boys what they wanted last night and Jess (also 9) said he
wanted "a book with action, thrills and spills".
>
> Any suggestions?>>

The Redwall suggestion was a good one. Lots of action there. My kids
also like the Artemis Fowl, Series of Unfortunate Events, and His
Dark Materials series.

Also, someone asked for some recommendations for a 9 yog. My dd Casey
(9) is loving anything by Sharon Creech or Lois Lowry right now.

Life is good.
~Mary

Danielle E. Conger

Looking for some ideas or expertise in scavenger hunts. I've been searching
online, and all the scavenger hunts read more like quizzes than fun
activities. Like the whole point is to get kids to answer quiz questions by
having them compete with each other. There is very little mystery or
creativity in these activities, not a big surprise, I suppose.

When I think of a scavenger hunt, I think of something fun, mysterious,
exciting, with puzzles or brainteasers to solve. Not "how many corners does
a colonial hat have?" Am I mis-remembering the whole scavenger hunt thing?
Does competition with other teams have to come into play in order to make
them fun and exciting?

I have 3 small children (6g, 4g and 3b), and I wanted to make up a
scavenger hunt for some trips that we're taking to Boston and Williamsburg
next month. I want to make things fun, so we're not just wandering around
looking at boring buildings, know what I mean? I'm not going to be able to
hide clues, but I was thinking of making up some rhymed riddles or
something like that? The primary purpose should be to have fun not to learn
13 facts about the 13 colonies like all these teacherly hunts do.

Any inspired ideas?

--danielle

Lori

Susan Cooper has some good ones... The Dark is Rising is one of them,
Phillip Pullman, The Golden Compass is excellent, as are the following
two books in the series, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass (aka
His Dark Materials mentioned previously)

On Thursday, November 20, 2003, at 08:13 AM, zenmomma2kids wrote:

>>> We have been at a loss since we finished the Order of the Phoenix.
> We've started three different books and finished none of them. I
> asked the boys what they wanted last night and Jess (also 9) said he
> wanted "a book with action, thrills and spills".
>>
>> Any suggestions?>>
>
> The Redwall suggestion was a good one. Lots of action there. My kids
> also like the Artemis Fowl, Series of Unfortunate Events, and His
> Dark Materials series.
>
> Also, someone asked for some recommendations for a 9 yog. My dd Casey
> (9) is loving anything by Sharon Creech or Lois Lowry right now.
>
> Life is good.
> ~Mary
>
>
>
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Mary

From: "Danielle E. Conger" <danielle.conger@...>

<<Any inspired ideas?>>



Well this isn't a scavenger hunt but great fun for kids and adults. Even the
little ones like this. Have you ever heard of or done letterboxing?

http://www.letterboxing.org/


There are stamps hidden in parks and you have to follow the directions to
find them. When you do, you place the stamp you found in a book of yours to
keep and stamp the book you found with a stamp of your own. I didn't get
into making my own stamps, just bought a couple for each of my kids and me.
Pretty easy and cheap and cute for us. I'm a farmer and the kids are all
farm animals! Most you don't need a compass for but those are easy enough to
get for cheap. Lots of fun and my kids can't wait until new ones get placed
in our area. Pass the word around to all your friends. Since we started
doing that here, letterboxes are appearing every week. Let me know how you
like it. Hopefully there are some in your area or where you are going.


Mary B.
http://www.homeschoolingtshirts.com

Kelli Thode

Danielle,
Are you familiar with the GPS systems at all? There is something
called "geocaching" where you use your GPS to find locations and
hidden 'treasures' (boxes). They are located in countries all over
the world.
Check out the website: www.geocaching.com Look up some local
sites in your city/state and get an idea for what this about.
You'll be able to look up Boston and Williamsburg as well. They'll
have clues and coded hints that you can print out (for example, once
you get to the location, the coded clue might tell you to look under
some old railroad ties).
We took a weekend trip to Idaho (from Washington) and I printed
out a bunch of 'caches' (my kids call them 'treasure hunts') that
were on our way. We stopped at rest stops and funny locations,
found the box, signed our names in the notebook, left a little
trinket, took a trinket (kids love this part) and we were back on
our way.
That was our first time doing it on a trip. Usually we just do it
here locally and on day trips to Seattle. There are so many local
caches, it is going to take us a while to find them all. Plus, new
ones are added (by anyone who takes the initiative) all the time.
It is very simple. Kids automatically learned about longitude
and latitude. Good for tracking, street smarts, adventure and FUN!!

Does anyone else do this? Kelli in Stanwood, WA

> Looking for some ideas or expertise in scavenger hunts.
>
> When I think of a scavenger hunt, I think of something fun,
mysterious,
> exciting, with puzzles or brainteasers to solve. Not "how many
corners does
> a colonial hat have?" Am I mis-remembering the whole scavenger
hunt thing?
> Does competition with other teams have to come into play in order
to make
> them fun and exciting?
>
> I have 3 small children (6g, 4g and 3b), and I wanted to make up a
> scavenger hunt for some trips that we're taking to Boston and
Williamsburg
> next month. I want to make things fun, so we're not just wandering
around
> looking at boring buildings, know what I mean? I'm not going to be
able to
> hide clues, but I was thinking of making up some rhymed riddles or
> something like that? The primary purpose should be to have fun not
to learn
> 13 facts about the 13 colonies like all these teacherly hunts do.
>
> Any inspired ideas?
>
> --danielle

[email protected]

In a message dated 11/20/03 7:59:38 AM, danielle.conger@... writes:

<< When I think of a scavenger hunt, I think of something fun, mysterious,
exciting, with puzzles or brainteasers to solve. Not "how many corners does
a colonial hat have?" Am I mis-remembering the whole scavenger hunt thing? >>

Scavenger hunts are traditionally physical free-for-all gathering
competitions. We did one when we were broken down in a teeny town in South Dakota once.
Two teams looked for things like a piece of a car, a dead animal, a gum
wrapper (three days by a freeway exit with one book and some crayons and paper--it
was bad <g>).

This Halloween Kirby and Marty were at a Halloween party in a rural area and
there was a scavenger hunt. The hostess had made three teams and assigned
people to them so that each team had someone old enough to drive others around,
and at least one kid local to that area, and one kid very brave. Some of the
things on the list were two rolls of toilet paper, four McDonald's french fri
es, a sock (extra points if it's orange), a carrot, a raw egg (Marty
trick-or-treated for those--asked the guy if they could please have a carrot and an egg
instead of candy), and a rubbing of a tombstone (they had been given paper and
crayon--one team went to the pet cemetary and got a German Shepherd's that
died in the 70's, and one team found the grave of a woman who had lived to be
102 or so).

There's another thing I first encountered in Girl Scouts but we do it in the
SCA too sometimes, and in the SCA they call the quests. (They might have in
scouts too.)

There are stations, with someone at each station having a question or puzzle
for the questers. They might have to answer a riddle, or know something
historical. I remember in girl scouts we had to set up a campfire with stuff that
was nearby, and one of the tricks was to put the bucket near enough and say
"bucket of water or dirt" or whatever. We had to put lay scout pins and
patches out in the right order on a sash. In the SCA, there have been chess
puzzles (one move to checkmate) and tell a period joke or sing a period song, name
five kings of France before 1600; stuff like that.

-=-I have 3 small children (6g, 4g and 3b), and I wanted to make up a
scavenger hunt for some trips that we're taking to Boston and Williamsburg
next month. I want to make things fun, so we're not just wandering around
looking at boring buildings, know what I mean? I'm not going to be able to
hide clues, but I was thinking of making up some rhymed riddles or
something like that? The primary purpose should be to have fun not to learn
13 facts about the 13 colonies like all these teacherly hunts do.
-=-

That's not a good situation for competition. Maybe you could look through
tour guides and make a list of things you think you will easily come by (and if
you're getting tired it could inspire you to keep going.

Kids that young are not going to care about lots of things. Maybe you could
list things like three bells, a church older than 1800, an old boat, a new
boat, a ferry (if you're going to see one), a mile marker, a horse... Then they
could scan for things they know the names of, by name rather than riddle.

Sandra

[email protected]

Pam S. who's involved with girl scouts says the thing I called "quest" is
called in Girl Scouts "Wide Games."

Sandra

Nora or Devereaux Cannon

I like Bingo games for that. Given the age range, simple
pictures in the 25 squares would be best. Kids have fun slowing
down and really looking at stuff when they are searching for a
bingo.

Let's see - Williamsburg and Boston... A lemon, an apple, a baby
in a simple house outline (a house where a baby was born), a
cat, a shell, a horseshoe, Texas (from toast to license plates),
an outhouse, a candle, a boat/ship, a brick building, a log
building, a stone building, a 12 up/12 down lights window, a
hand pump, a stile, litter, fungus, a quill pen, a wreath, a
widow's walk, a horse, an anachronism (use a pic of a broken
clock), a churn, a shovel. You might prefer a different 25 of
course.

Give them all the same sheet, with pics from clip art or your
own head. Even after somebody bingo's it is fun to keep going -
and maybe a prize for each when he or she gets a bingo.
Explanations of the actual item and how it fulfills the clue are
great.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Danielle E. Conger" <danielle.conger@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2003 8:32 AM
Subject: [UnschoolingDiscussion] Scavenger Hunts


| Looking for some ideas or expertise in scavenger hunts. I've
been searching
| online, and all the scavenger hunts read more like quizzes
than fun
| activities. Like the whole point is to get kids to answer quiz
questions by
| having them compete with each other. There is very little
mystery or
| creativity in these activities, not a big surprise, I suppose.
|
| When I think of a scavenger hunt, I think of something fun,
mysterious,
| exciting, with puzzles or brainteasers to solve. Not "how many
corners does
| a colonial hat have?" Am I mis-remembering the whole scavenger
hunt thing?
| Does competition with other teams have to come into play in
order to make
| them fun and exciting?
|
| I have 3 small children (6g, 4g and 3b), and I wanted to make
up a
| scavenger hunt for some trips that we're taking to Boston and
Williamsburg
| next month. I want to make things fun, so we're not just
wandering around
| looking at boring buildings, know what I mean? I'm not going
to be able to
| hide clues, but I was thinking of making up some rhymed
riddles or
| something like that? The primary purpose should be to have fun
not to learn
| 13 facts about the 13 colonies like all these teacherly hunts
do.
|
| Any inspired ideas?
|
| --danielle
|
|
| ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups
Sponsor ---------------------~-->
| Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or
Lexmark
| Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the
US & Canada.
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| --------------------------------------------------------------
-------~->
|
| "List Posting Policies" are provided in the files area of this
group.
|
| To unsubscribe from this send an email to:
| [email protected]
|
| Visit the Unschooling website and message boards:
http://www.unschooling.com
|
| Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
|
|
|

Elizabeth Roberts

Have you looked into Geocaching or Letterboxing? with Geocaching, you pretty much need a hand-held GPS system, but you take a treasure with you to leave in the box, as well as take one from the box. With letterboxing, it's stamps (rubber, not postal).

You can find out more at http://www.letterboxing.com and oh shoot I don't recall the one for Geocaching off-hand. We're not doing that one just yet since we don't have a GPS unit, we're saving though and hoping to start it next spring!

My Brownie troop is putting together a Letterbox, and I just posted to my homeschool group asking if anyone else wants to letterbox with us. We'll see...it seems pretty fun although there are only 2 letterboxes currently that are right in our town; but there are quite a few on Cape Cod and elsewhere.

Elizabeth in MA

"Danielle E. Conger" <danielle.conger@...> wrote:
Looking for some ideas or expertise in scavenger hunts. I've been searching
online, and all the scavenger hunts read more like quizzes than fun
activities. Like the whole point is to get kids to answer quiz questions by
having them compete with each other. There is very little mystery or
creativity in these activities, not a big surprise, I suppose.

When I think of a scavenger hunt, I think of something fun, mysterious,
exciting, with puzzles or brainteasers to solve. Not "how many corners does
a colonial hat have?" Am I mis-remembering the whole scavenger hunt thing?
Does competition with other teams have to come into play in order to make
them fun and exciting?

I have 3 small children (6g, 4g and 3b), and I wanted to make up a
scavenger hunt for some trips that we're taking to Boston and Williamsburg
next month. I want to make things fun, so we're not just wandering around
looking at boring buildings, know what I mean? I'm not going to be able to
hide clues, but I was thinking of making up some rhymed riddles or
something like that? The primary purpose should be to have fun not to learn
13 facts about the 13 colonies like all these teacherly hunts do.

Any inspired ideas?

--danielle


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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Robyn Coburn

<<We have been at a loss since we finished the Order of the Phoenix. We've
started three different books and finished none of them. I asked the boys
what they wanted last night and Jess (also 9) said he wanted "a book with
action, thrills and spills".>>



I like Anne McCaffrey - her Planet Pirates series has lots of action, and
the first in the series has dinosaurs too.

"Dinosaur Planet", "Dinosaur Planet - Survivors", "The Death of Sleep" and
so on. This lot has more of the harder Sci-fi than the Pern series which is
more Sci-fantasy.

Robyn L. Coburn





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Fetteroll

on 11/20/03 9:32 AM, Danielle E. Conger at danielle.conger@...
wrote:

> When I think of a scavenger hunt, I think of something fun, mysterious,
> exciting, with puzzles or brainteasers to solve. Not "how many corners does
> a colonial hat have?" Am I mis-remembering the whole scavenger hunt thing?
> Does competition with other teams have to come into play in order to make
> them fun and exciting?

The scavenger hunts I've seen are a list of things from the mundane to
bizarre to gather.

Someone mentioned Mindware and ironically they have a scavenger hunt in a
can :-)

http://www.mindwareonline.com/mwstore/showdetl.cfm?&DID=1&User_ID=489051&off
erings_ID=644&ObjectGroup_ID=32&CATID=2

But, other than the basic premise "Grown-ups hit the streets for anything
from the soup of the day at the local diner to a mask made of processed
cheese," it won't help with the Boston idea.

Joyce

pam sorooshian

On Nov 21, 2003, at 2:14 AM, Fetteroll wrote:

> But, other than the basic premise "Grown-ups hit the streets for
> anything
> from the soup of the day at the local diner to a mask made of processed
> cheese," it won't help with the Boston idea.

Sound Scavenger hunts are popular around here. Kids go in groups - with
a tape recorder. They have a list of sounds they need to collect - a
toilet flushing is always on the list <G>. I remember - a man singing
the Star Spangled Banner, a dog barking, a baby crying, a piano
playing, .... Sometimes they do these in malls.

A bunch of unschooled teens my daughter hangs out with have done photo
scavenger hunts -- each team gets a disposable camera and a list of
things to take pictures of - someone wearing tie-dye, two people
kissing, an unusual animal, a statue, etc.

-pam
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