How To

How To: Plan a scavenger hunt

Looking for a way to keep the kids entertained for hours without a big investment of your own time?

Perhaps a scavenger hunt at home is the answer. A scavenger hunt is an inexpensive weekend or holiday activity which can be as simple or as complicated as you make it. Either way it can provide hours of challenging fun for children of all ages.

If the weather’s bad, keep the hunt indoors, but on a fine spring day, it is a great way to organise some outdoor fun in the backyard or neighbourhood. And with a little thought, it can be a learning experience.

A simple, stay-home scavenger hunt can be as easy as making a list of items to find around the home. These can be specific (a red cushion, Mum’s phone, the cat) or more interpretive (something that turns on and off, something to look through, something shiny). Give each child a list to check things off and let them loose.

This basic idea can be adapted and expanded into any number of variations. Try a colour hunt where each participant gets a sheet of colour swatches and must find and collect something that matches each hue.

Older children will enjoy a hunt that requires them to solve a succession of cryptic clues to work their way around the garden, or a hunt where they are given clues about where to find different elements which they have to put together to reveal a secret message.

Other hunt ideas can centre on finding things on a particular theme, for example, letters and numbers or “things I love”.

Embracing the challenge of organising a hunt for your children and their friends can be as much fun as it is for them to take part. Happy hunting!

You can find more information and ideas here.