Picture a typical city tour. A guide at the front, a raised umbrella, thirty students at the back, half of them looking at their phones. The information is good. Very little of it sticks.
We think students learn a place best when they have to find it for themselves. That is why, on many BFC journeys, we replace the standard tour with our signature Walking Hunt.
What is a Walking Hunt?
A Walking Hunt is a gamified challenge built around your learning objectives. Students work in small teams with a set of clues, questions and tasks that take them through the streets, squares and sights they would have seen on a tour. The difference is that they are doing the looking, the asking and the deciding.
Because it is designed around what you want students to learn, no two Walking Hunts are the same. A history group might piece together a city’s past from what is written on its buildings. A language group might only crack certain clues by asking local people. A geography group might map how a neighbourhood is used and by whom.
Why it works
- Active, not passive. Students remember what they work out, not what they are told.
- Everyone has a role. Navigator, timekeeper, photographer, questioner: small teams mean no one can drift at the back.
- It builds confidence. Finding their way in an unfamiliar place, as a team, is a skill in itself.
- It connects to class. The tasks are set around your objectives, so the results feed straight into lessons.
- It is fun. A little competition goes a long way, and that energy carries through the rest of the trip.
Safe by design
A challenge that sends students into a city needs careful planning. Routes, boundaries, meeting points, check-in times and staff positions are all set out in advance and form part of the trip’s risk assessment. Group sizes and the level of independence are matched to the age and experience of your students.
Slow down and look: the Photo Marathon
Our newest signature element works alongside the Walking Hunt. In a Photo Marathon, each team gets a disposable analogue camera and a set of themes to shoot. With a limited number of frames and no screen to check, students slow down and really look before they press the shutter. The developed photos become a record of the trip, and a starting point for discussion back at school.
Where you will find them
A Walking Hunt can be built into most of our journeys, from a UK residential in York or Edinburgh to a capital city abroad. Tell us what you want students to learn, and we will design the challenge around it.
Planning a journey? Tell us what you want students to learn and we’ll design the trip around it. Start your brief.