Looking for a fun way to connect with your new college student now that they are settled at school but without ‘hovering’?
As parents, it is understandably hard to leave our 18 year olds at school. We are really good worriers after 18 years of practice, so we just need a little reassurance that all is ok, right?
These first few weeks manifest in so many ways. Homesick students might be spending too much in their dorm room. Carefree students might be spending too much time out with their new found freedom. Some students feel like they made a mistake and want to come home. Others don’t answer texts from parents for days. It is all normal albeit a bit unsettling for the parents at home.
Enter the college photo scavenger hunt, also known as a college selfie challenge. This is an easy way to turn new student jitters or unanswered texts into a fun campus outing for college freshmen. Simply send them a photo challenge with a list of prompts such as posing in the laundry room with folded laundry, checking out the tutoring center, having a salad in the dining hall or riding the campus bus.
When they complete the task, they send you photo proof, and you send back the ‘reward’. It’s a great way to explore the campus, meet new people, and have fun while doing it! (And it gets them texting you!)
1) Read through our list of challenges below and/or make up some of your own.
2) Put the list together in a document or use our fun Canva templates (see below). It doesn’t have to be ‘pretty’, it can just be a shared via an iPhone Note document if you prefer.
3) Include some simple ‘rules’ and of course, the potential reward(s).
4) Save this as a one-pager and send to your student via text and ask “Are you up for the challenge?”.
5) When you receive a photo, send the indicated reward or check it off their list to earn a reward!
Encouraging students to explore their campus will help them meet people and hopefully start feeling more at home soon.
Here is a long list of ideas to get you started. Simply pick and choose your favorites, customize as desired and add your own.
Don’t forget to include rules to keep things on the up and up!
Proof format: One photo or a 3–5 second video per task. A one-line caption helps!
The rewards can be whatever you choose, and you may choose to reward for each task or for groups of tasks – completely up to you. You know what will motivate your student.
Do what is most comfortable for you and your family! Sending homemade food, funny photos of the dog or even a “I promise not to ask you questions on our next phone call IOU” are fun.
Small amounts of cash via Venmo or other cash app is always appreciated by college students!
Gift cards are also an option for Food, Uber, Door Dash, Gas, etc.
Customize our ready-made Canva template to create your own task list challenge page.
You’ll need a free Canva account, and then you can access our Canva file.
The first page is a basic black & white version that you can completely customize for your use.
As my son is at Auburn and Jessica’s daughter is at the University of South Carolina, we included 2 more pages we created specific to their schools. You’re welcome to use these or just use them as an example.
Please share other ideas in the comments, and we can add them to this guide as we go!
Now that move-in is complete, it’s a great time to shift gears and be thinking about how to connect with your student in a different way and prepare for what’s next!
We’d also love to stay in touch in our After The Drop Off: Parenting Through The College Years Facebook group. Join us there as we all adjust to having a college student, supporting our kids through their new adventures, discussing their challeng
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