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Small Challenges Help

The banner on the City of Burlington's Parks and Recreation website read Outdoor Winter Play Challenge. The idea was to form a team and participate in a variety of challenges based on a scavenger hunt. I thought it would be a great way to pass the Winter season during the pandemic. I followed the instructions, downloaded the GooseChase app and created my team...tdal (a nickname my daughter gave me!) I emailed my friend Heather, who agreed to be on my team.

We were ready to compete.

Initially there were about 100 challenges to choose from. For example, Doing a Good Deed, Paint a Rock and Visit a Free Library, that earned us 400 points for each one completed. The idea was to find the location, visit and take a photograph through the app as evidence, that was then submitted immediately. There were others that could earn us 500 points, choosing a favourite display at the Festival of Lights, playing outdoor Pickleball and Donating to a Food Drive. As we completed the challenges, we could see our score and and track our progress against other teams, there were about 40, via an ongoing feed of posts on the app.

Over the six weeks of the program new challenges were frequently added. Some of these were worth 600 points, Geocaching, A Long Walk at the R.G.B and Building a Winter Fort. The program was primarily designed for families and Heather and I made the decision not to do some of the challenges, for example Making Nature Inspired Valentines, a Snow Maze and Flashlight Tag. Heather's 18-month-old granddaughter did participate in the Make Some Music and Snowman challenges. The one that got away was to Find Three Cardinals Together we could find one or even two, but never three!

The challenges took us all over this wonderful city showcasing it's parks, conservation areas and many attractions. We visited places for the first time, one of the leash free parks and discovered things we weren't aware of, the Singing Tree downtown and the Story Walk at Central Park. We were even introduced to the Play Equipment Lending Library, using it to borrow a set of discs to play Disc Golf at Tyandaga Golf Club...in the snow! There certainly was something for everyone.

Participating in this Outdoor Winter Play Challenge kept us engaged and occupied all Winter. We embraced the weather because as one of the challenges stated, there is Never Bad Weather, Only Bad Clothing. Our mental health benefitted too, being outside frequently and planning which activity to complete next. We placed 9th with 33,100 points, completing 77 challenges. The winners amassed 53,500 points!

We participated in 2 of the 3 Spring programs, winning the 14 Days of Fitness Challenge. These small challenges helped us to get through the Pandemic Winter, we truly appreciate this great City of Burlington and the staff that made these programs possible.

Thank you.

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