On November 2, 2021, a Nebolus scavenger hunt took place in Hofheim am Taunus with a total of 60 pupils from the 8th grade of a grammar school. Nebolus was intended to provide young people with information about mental health promotion and prevention services and stakeholders in Hofheim. At the same time, building and maintaining a network was an important goal of the scavenger hunt. As part of the Nebolus scavenger hunt, the pupils explored various local services in Hofheim and engaged with staff at these services in a playful way.

The Nebolus scavenger hunt in Hofheim was coordinated by an employee of the “Addiction Prevention Centre” of the Main-Taunus district. In various meetings organised by the “Addiction Prevention Center”, all participating local services exchanged views on the story framework for the Nebolus scavenger hunt and the activities at the individual stations. The “Addiction Prevention Center” was also responsible for communicating with the school management and teachers at the participating school. Communication with the school was supported by a social education specialist from the school. The support materials provided by the Nebolus project team (presentation templates, flyer templates, etc.) were used for communication with the local services and organisations and the schools. In order to inform the pupils’ parents and guardians about Nebolus, the teachers organised a parents’ evening a few weeks before the start of the scavenger hunt. In addition, parents and guardians received a written information letter from the teachers as well as a written declaration of consent, which had to be signed in advance.

First of all, the pupils from the two participating classes received final instructions in the morning on the course of the scavenger hunt before they were divided into a total of six groups of nine to 10 people each. The young people were also given a telephone number in advance that could be contacted in the event of problems or difficulties.

The first stop of the Nebolus scavenger hunt was the school playground, with the groups starting at different times. This allowed the pupils to familiarize themselves with the logic and structure of the Nebolus app before they left the school grounds in search of the next station. The last stop took them back to their school after around 4.5 hours.

• Both teachers and pupils gave positive feedback after completing the Nebolus scavenger hunt. Teachers and school management are interested in continuing Nebolus in Hofheim. The participating local services are also very interested in actively participating in Nebolus in the future.
• A timetable is a good way of informing the participating local services in advance when the pupils will arrive.
• Participants should install the app at home in advance, enter the rally code and create a profile. The availability and quality of Wi-Fi may be limited at school.
• The groups should not be too large. Nine to ten people per group proved to be unfavorable. Groups of a maximum of five people are recommended.
• You should plan breaks or time buffers into the schedule. The pupils got something to drink or eat during the scavenger hunt or took a short break. This should be taken into account in the time planning.