Parents often see camping trips as a way to get their kids away from their phones and engaging in hiking and other fun outdoor recreation activities.
But campgrounds are increasingly complementing their traditional recreational offerings with digital scavenger hunts, which allow kids to use their phones in outdoor recreational activities.
The Brattleboro North KOA Journey in East Drummerstone, Vermont offers a scavenger hunt in which little kids can work from a physical list of objects to find in the campground, while older kids can virtually tick off the list by taking photos with their digital phone or camera.
Meanwhile, more than 70 campgrounds affiliated with the Jellystone Park franchise network now have the ability to provide their guests with up to six different digital scavenger hunt games, which they can download using the Jellystone Park app.
“The augmented reality games feature for the app is a fun way for guests to find themed-based clues around the Jellystone Park location, depending on which game they are playing,” said Alex Reed, marketing manager for Southfield, Michigan-based Camp Jellystone. “Once a guests selects which game they want to play, they explore the park and look for clues to scan — most games have 12 clues — and (after they find) all the clues they will receive a virtual ‘badge’ that they have finished the game.”
The six digital scavenger hunt games being offered at Jellystone Park locations include a “Pic-a-nic Basket Hunt,” a s’mores hunt, a “wet and wild hunt,” an Easter egg hunt, a Halloween pumpkind hunt, and a holiday hunt.
Reed noted that the games at each Jellystone Park location are different and it’s up to each campground to determine which games they want to offer to their guests. He added that the technology is so new that not every park has fully implemented these digital games.
“The game is set up completely by the park, meaning the park chooses where the clues will be. It is not based on any GPS or geofencing technology. Also, only games that the park has turned on in the app will show. So if the park doesn’t have any turned on, nothing will be playable by a guest.”
You can contact Jellystone Park locations directly to inquire about their digital scavenger hunt capabilities by visiting JellystonePark.com.
