Self-Sufficiency Scavenger Hunt

Last year, as part of our food-storage program, we decided to store some emergency supplies. Using a suggested list, I slowly started to buy items as our budget permitted.

One of the first things I bought was a thirty-gallon plastic garbage pail in which to store everything. I didn’t want to haphazardly place the supplies in the pail as I bought them, and I didn’t want to have to repack the pail after I had gathered everything. I decided to put the supplies where I would normally store that type of item: bandages in the medicine cabinet, food in the pantry, blankets in the linen closet, and so on. I would assemble the items after I had purchased all of them.

After a few months, I determined I had all the supplies we needed. At our next home evening, I cut a copy of my list in half and told the family we were going on a scavenger hunt. I divided the children into two teams and gave each team half of the list. I told them to find each item, check it off, and bring it to the kitchen table. The first team to find all of their items would win.

Within half an hour, we had gathered everything. My husband and I explained why we might need each item and we all helped pack the garbage pail neatly, placing the perishables that needed to be rotated on top.

We turned what could have been a tedious job into a fun evening. And now each family member knows what supplies we have and how to use them.—Viemarie Knouse, Bismarck, North Dakota