Something To Look Forward To On April 25! Join Me!

Leyna – my 9 year old daughter- cried on my bed today about how boring this whole COVID-19 social distancing is. I feel for her and the rest of our kids. It really seems like Groundhog Day around here, and it’s so hard to come up with new and exciting things for them to look forward to. We rely on pizza takeout to mark the end of the week, and we try to find something “fun” to do each weekend.

Next weekend, on April 25th, that’s going to be participating in the GISH 1-Day Play-At-Home Scavenger Hunt. And I want you to join my team!

More on that in a bit, but first, a bit more about GISH and this event, straight from Misha Collins! You may have heard of him. He’s kinda a big deal. He’s one of the stars of a little show called Supernatural. He’s also the founder of GISH.

Instagram.com/Misha

I had a chance to talk with Misha about the 1-Day Play-At-Home Scavenger Hunt this week.

So this is a family friendly event, right? Is it open to all ages?

Yes. It’s all-ages friendly. You do have to be 14 years old to sign up as an official team member, but kids of all ages can help their parents and play along. (Infants probably won’t be much help except as props, but we encourage you to get them to do some heavy lifting if you can. They’re such slackers.)

Can you give me an idea of what type of challenges we’ll be asked to complete?

It runs the gamut, so there really is something for everyone — no matter what your age or skill level. Some items will challenge you to create something crafty out of household materials, others might require you to do something kind or something on the Internet, or solve a puzzle or riddle, or even sing or dance.

How did you choose the charities that will benefit from this?

Childhood hunger is an issue that resonates with me — I grew up in poverty and while my mother always made sure we had enough to eat, we had plenty of meals from soup kitchens or scarce goods. So when I learned that low-income families were struggling to feed kids and that because schools had been closed due to the pandemic, kids were missing out on hundreds of thousands of meals, I felt like we had an obligation to step up to the plate (so to speak). No Kid Hungry and Save the Children are both fiscally responsible charities that feed kids in need, so they were logical choices. And Random Acts is a no-brainer for me.

Tell me how this is different from (and the same as) the official GISH scavenger hunt you host every year.

The thing most veteran GISH participants might notice first is that it’s much shorter — this Hunt will only last one day. But unlike the annual Hunt, it’s also a no-pressure event. We’re focusing on bringing the community together and doing some good while having some fun, and making the most of a difficult situation.

How did you even get into the business of inspiring people to help others through scavenger hunts?

Back when I was in college at University of Chicago, they ran a scavenger hunt every year that was esoteric, weird, and a bright spot in a difficult and dismal year. I always looked forward to it.

In later years, I had a long list of art projects I never got around to completing. One day, I realized I could crowd-source the projects so they would come to fruition, and maybe motivate some people to push their boundaries and do some good in the process. So I blatantly ripped off my alma mater, made some small changes, and GISH was born.

What are you doing to stay sane with your kids right now?

I’m trying to get a handle on homeschooling, but so far it’s been a real challenge. I’ve got some of their best friends co-sheltering in place with us, so we have a tight-knit group of kids that I’m trying to corral. So far, we’re mostly playing games and doing creative projects like woodworking, cooking, and arguing about what constitutes “enough” screen time on a given day.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by GISH (@gish) on Apr 15, 2020 at 12:19pm PDT

You can find all the details on the official site here, but the quick info is this:

The 1-Day Play-At-Home Scavenger Hunt will take place on Saturday, April 25th.
You have to sign up by April 21st.
It’s only $15 to join!
You only need to pay for anyone over 14 who’s participating. Younger kids can still help out with the challenges at no cost.
Each registration will also help provide 10 meals to kids who rely on schools and after-school programs to eat. As of March, kids have missed over 640,000 school meals!
You can create a team of up to 15 people (remember kids under 14 are not included in that count).
If you don’t have your own team, you can let GISH add you to one.

This is a low-stress event meant to be less about winning and more about coming together to have some fun and make a difference, while we also break up the monotony of our day-to-day right now.

So… who wants to be on my team?? I have space for 14 other adults. All you have to do is register ASAP and look for team ItsOKIfThisSucks

It’s my hope that my team fills up and then you all create other teams, too!

Tag me in your GISH adventures next weekend on Instagram (@jillkraus.e) and Twitter (@babyrabies) so I can see and share them! I don’t know about you, but I’m excited to have something to look forward to.