Part of what made our visit so fun was the interactive activities designed for kids. Mount Vernon has both an old-school, pen and paper scavenger hunt and an app-based spy adventure / scavenger hunt. We did both and loved them, and they were a great way to thoroughly explore the grounds.
We picked up the paper Adventure Map at the Ford Orientation Center. This activity consisted of 10 different puzzles. The first 9 puzzles led you to different locations on the property and asked a question which could be answered using clues from that location. For example, Puzzle #4 stated “George Washington wanted his home to be handsome and impressive. He made the outside of the Mansion look like stone. But stone was very expensive, so Washington used long wooden boards instead. The boards look and feel like stone because __ __ __ __ was put in the wet paint.” In each of the 9 puzzles, a single letter was in a box and then those letters had to be unscrambled to answer the final puzzle.
While this scavenger hunt was aimed more towards younger kids, my boys (9 and 11) still found it fun. And I liked that it took them to different places on the property and encouraged them to read the information, not just peek in the building and move on. At the end, we turned in the map and got a pressed penny as a prize. (We had to have the answers checked at Guest Services in the museum lobby and then we turned it in at the gift shop for the prize.)
We simultaneously did the spy app game, which got a little confusing at times. We definitely backtracked more than once when we realized that we had missed a clue for one while we were focusing on the other. It is doable but just be prepared to retrace your steps on occasion.
George Washington was known as Agent 711 in the famous American Revolution spy ring, the Culper Ring. The app is called Agent 711: Revolutionary Spy Adventure App and can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play. Since it utilizes iBeacon (a location-based technology) to figure out where you are on the estate grounds, the app can only be utilized while at Mount Vernon. Awareness of the app seemed to be low amongst the employees at Mount Vernon. We were supposed to pick up a code booklet and a bracelet at the Ford Orientation Center but nobody seemed to know what I was talking about. After several unsuccessful attempts asking for assistance, we gave up and headed out on our own to figure it out.
There are 8 different challenges that focus on different espionage techniques, from ciphers to decoding. The first clue told us go to the well at the edge of the 12 acre field. Once in the correct place, the app recognizes that you are there, plays a quick video story and gives you a challenge to complete. After you successfully complete the challenge, you are directed to the next location.
The app was glitchy at times. For example, if we temporarily left the app to do something else on the phone, it was hard to get back to where we left off in the game. A few times we were in the right place but it wouldn’t register us right away. But overall the app provided good directions and interesting puzzles and was more fun than frustrating. My oldest was definitely on a mission and was determined to complete all the missions. The whole challenge took about 45 minutes.
And good news – we were successful! We earned our gold spymaster bracelet, although again it was a little challenging to find a staff member familiar with the game and who knew where to get the bracelets. But it all worked out and the kids had fun. I definitely recommend both the digital and paper scavenger hunts to keep your kids engaged and entertained. And they will learn something along the way!