I had the same problem but was able to get my tribe through so good luck to you! I paused when I was away and hunted mushrooms constantly. I didn't do this because I didn't know about it until recently but you can drop three kids on mushrooms and collectibles by pausing then drop the first kid, unpause and quickly drop 2nd kid, pause again and then repeat with a 3rd kid. If you're fast enough, maybe you could do 4.