Best Scavenger Hunt Ideas Your Kids Will Love

Scavenger hunts are a tradition that has been enjoyed by families and friends for decades and they are always fun for everyone. From Easter Egg Hunts to Find Waldo, there’s a scavenger hunt ideas for every child and every family and they are a fun way to bring a party to life and a great team-building activity.

What is a Scavenger Hunt?

A scavenger hunt is an event or game where items are hidden around an area and guests and participants have to find them. The most commonly known is the Easter egg hunt which is traditional in many families and communities at Easter. There are several ways to do a scavenger hunt, and they are suitable for any age as well as easily adaptable.

How to Organize a Scavenger Hunt

While the hunt is the most fun part of the experience, planning a scavenger hunt kids will love can be really fun as well. There are many ideas and they can range from a large space to a small area, and even be done as a picture or painting, stickers on a large poster, or other ideas.

First determine the space that you will use, and then determine if you want a full active hunt if you want there to be clues or riddles or just a list of things to find, and if you want them to be pictures or images or objects. Then simply gather the items that you want to hide, create a list of items to give to your players, and start hiding them!

You can even have prizes organized for your scavenger hunt winners.

Click here to read about: Party Games for Kids (26 fun party games for children)

Where to have a Scavenger Hunt?

One of the most popular places is in your backyard, but take inspiration from your local areas. You can have a Scavenger Hunt almost anywhere, the beach, woodland, park, playground, city, the list is endless.

50 Fun Scavenger Hunt Ideas

Teddy Bear Hunt: use stuffed teddy bears, or small gummy bears, and hide them around the room to be found.
Wall of Waldo: blow up a Where’s Waldo image, or a few of them, and hang them on the wall for kids to search and see who can find the most items on the list, and who finds the most Waldos
Newspaper Hunt: grab each person a newspaper or portion of the paper and see who can find the most catchphrases, funny images, or keywords.
License Plate Bingo: when traveling look for a license plate from as many states as you can.
Eye Spy: one person picks something they see and describes it while everyone else tries to guess what it is.
Grocery List Shopping: hand out parts of your grocery list to older kids, while you help younger ones, and seek out all the items on the list.
Photograph Hunts: pick something that is often in your family photos and have kids walk around the house or open photo albums to look for specific people, places, or things.
Pool Scavenger Hunt: this is also a great way to practice swimming and for older kids diving. Place items that float in the pool and call out which they should look for. For older kids use items that sink and they can dive down to get them.
Library Book Hunt: create a list of books then head to the library to find them all.
Kitchen Round-Up: grab a recipe you want to make and see who can find the most ingredients and supplies around the kitchen.
Alphabet Hunt: hide letters of the alphabet, either cutouts or magnets, around the room and have them find the whole alphabet.
Beginning Letters: provide a letter and have each child bring back an item from the room that starts with that letter.
Work of Art: hide copies of famous works of art and have the kids find them, then discuss each one as it is located.
Tales Through History: hide images from old fairy tales or from different times in history and discuss them when each one is found.
Riddle Me This: create a simple riddle that can be answered with an object in the room. See who can find the objects based on the clue provided.
Color Hunt: prepare a list of colors and have kids bring back one item of each color.
Follow the Clues: create a clue that will lead to a toy or book, then put another clue there, with the hunt leading to a snack or fun activity when they solve all clues.
Nature Scavenger Hunt: create a small booklet with pictures of animals, birds, and plants then go for a walk outside, at a park, or around town, marking down each one that you find.
Around the House: list out important features and items around the house, like the fire extinguisher, the vacuum, emergency escape route, and have the kids show you each of them.
Missing Socks: offer a piece of candy or a bit of TV time for each sock they bring back that matches one of the mismatched ones you have in the basket.
Favorite Foods: learn the favorite foods of each family member, call out the person’s name, and see which child can bring back that person’s favorite food from the kitchen.
Safari Round-Up: put small toy animals or pictures of them around the room, or around the house, then give each child a list and have them bring back one of each animal.
Color Scavenger Hunt: put a block of each color onto a piece of paper then have kids bring back an item to match each color, or glue it to the paper.
Number Hunt: put a number beside each item, such as one pillow, two movies, or three coins, and have kids find the correct number of each item.
Insect Hunt: head out to the backyard or local park and look for a list of common insects in your area.
Match the Leaves: grab photographs of some common leaves then have the kids go outside and bring back one of each of the leaves you show them.
Word Hunt: hide words around the house, in magnets on the fridge or taped to the TV, and send the kids out to find them.
People in the Neighbourhood: get to know your neighbor by finding someone with a pet dog, someone with a cat, a fire station, a police car, a senior, or someone walking with a stroller. Describe household items, like “something squishy” or “something I sleep with” and pass a rainy day having them find each.
Building Words: print out several letters or hide Scrabble tiles, then have kids hunt them down and create words with the letters that they find.
Senses Scavenger Hunt: list the senses on a piece of paper then have them search for an item they hear, an item they see, one they feel, etc.
Obstacle Hunt: search for items that you have to move around in a specific way such as jump over, crawl under, walk around, dance through, etc.
Shape Hunt: provide a sheet with a picture of each shape and have them find an object that is that shape and draw it inside the shape on the paper.
Reading Scavenger Hunt: find things within books, such as finding all the toys in a book, finding each color mentioned in a book, copying each person’s name, or other prompts suitable by age.
Take a Photo: grab your phone or your camera and a list of common things to find around the neighborhood, then go out and take a picture of each of them.
Zoo Hunt: when at the zoo have kids mark off each animal they see on their scavenger hunt sheet.
Winter Hunt: go outside for this winter version of a nature walk, look for snowmen, animals, pinecones, footprints or animal tracks, and other winter items.
Sports Hunt: drive or walk around your community and find all the sporting locations and what sport is played there, or any games that are going on.
Halloween Decoration Scavenger Hunt: while out looking at all the decorations check off each one you find on the list.
Christmas Decoration Hunt: great to keep children focused and busy when looking at all the stunning Christmas decorations, create a list of characters, animals, and decorations for them to look for.
Road Trip Animal Bingo: print out a card with an image of each of the popular animals along your next road trip and see who can find them all first.
Easter Egg Hunt: have a traditional one or fill plastic eggs with clues, candy, and game ideas to keep children busy for hours.
Beach Scavenger Hunt: select beach-themed items including umbrellas, bathing suits, babies, floaties, etc, and mark off each one you see.
Star Hunt: print out images of the major stars and their shapes to help find the little dipper and his friends in the night sky.
Doctor’s Office: list common things to see in a doctor’s office to keep children distracted and calm before their appointment.
Things I Love: list things that each child loves or what they like about it and then have them find each item.
Movies: during a movie have kids look out for common themes, someone helping someone else, an action that is kind, a red shirt, anything will do.
Back to School: make back-to-school more fun by hiding their back-to-school items around the house and having them find them a week before school. You’ll know where it all is and they’ll love the mystery.
Glow in the Dark: hide glow sticks, stickers, and clothing that glow in the dark, turn off the lights, and let the fun begin!
Magazines: think of pictures, images, clothing or phrases you may find in a magazine and have them search for each.
Photo scavenger hunt: In this game, players follow the traditional scavenger hunt rules but take photos of the items as they are out and about searching.

What is a treasure hunt?

A treasure hunt is similar to a scavenger hunt in that the players work in teams or individually to find something, but for a treasure hunt, they are usually following clues to find some kind of treasure.

Scavenger Hunt Ideas Final Note

When planning a scavenger hunt there are no rules that you can’t change and no limits to what you can do. Consider the age of the children participating and the time and size of the space that you will have available to determine how many items you will find. Then simply go find them.

About Author

Jane Sheriff is the founder, creative director, party planner and mom of three. She started Darling Celebrations back in 2012 to share easy and beautiful ideas for celebrating the special events in life.