Are you looking for fun activities that you can do with your kids that will get them up off the couch for a few hours? Scavenger hunts are the perfect activity that can also be a rewarding experience for your kids.
We have included scavenger hunts that are fun, educational, creative and so much more. We know that every kid is different, so we wanted to make sure that we included a variety of scavenger hunts that will create memories that will last a lifetime.
1. Movie Scavenger Hunt
This is a fun scavenger hunt that you can do with any of your children’s favorite movies. All you need to do is make up a list of things for your kids to watch out for while they watch. If they are able to find all of the things on the list they win a prize.
2.Treasure Map Scavenger Hunt
This is a classic idea that your children are going to love. Draw up a pirate’s map and put a red X on the spot where you put the treasure. You can do this inside or outside and the possibilities are endless.
3. Riddle Scavenger Hunt
This is also a very classic scavenger hunt idea, but you can find all kinds of fun riddles if you click on this link. You can make this scavenger hunt be as long as you want. These riddles will encourage your children to use their critical thinking skills while they have fun at the same time.
4. Plastic Egg Scavenger Hunt
This is a fun way to reuse your plastic eggs for another fun activity with the whole family. You can put all kinds of treats and prizes inside of the eggs and hide them all around the yard.
5. Chore Scavenger Hunt
This is an easy way to make chores fun. Your children will start with one chore card and then once it is completed you give them the next chore until they are done. You can do this in one day or over several days. Check out these awesome printable chore cards.
6. Map Scavenger Hunt
This is an awesome way to teach your children about the world. You can print out a picture of a map and let your children circle each country that you have put on a list. You can give a prize to the one that finds all of the countries the quickest wins a prize.
7. Alphabet Scavenger Hunt
The goal is to find one object around the house that starts with each letter of the alphabet. You can see who completes it the fastest or give everyone a certain amount of time and see who can collect the most items.
8. Compass Treasure Hunt
This scavenger hunt will teach your children about following directions and reading a compass. An example is look north and take 3 steps, then look west and walk 7 steps. You write a list of directions and if this is completed correctly your child will end up at a specific point. This will help teach your children about following directions and reading a compass.
9. Tag Scavenger Hunt
This game is a lot like flag football. Tape items on each of your children’s backs. Someone will be it and they will have to pull an item off of someone else’s shirt in 30 seconds. Whoever can collect the most items in 10 rounds wins.
10. Neighborhood Scavenger Hunt
This is a great scavenger hunt for older children. All you have to do is write down different clues and have your children go to special locations that mean something to the whole family. You can hide a prize at the final destination.
11. Nature Scavenger Hunt
This is the perfect way to get everyone in the family outside and away from their screens. Your children will have fun finding different items that are native to where they live. This could be a fun way for them to research and learn more about the nature around them.
12. Color Scavenger Hunt
This is a fun scavenger hunt that you can do with younger children that are starting to learn their colors. All you need to do is make a list of colors and have each of your children go around and find an item of that color.
13. Puzzle Treasure Hunt
Print out a different picture for each child and cut it up into different puzzle shapes. Each child will start with one piece with a clue on the back to where they will find the next piece. The possibilities are endless with this creative idea.
14. Hiking Scavenger Hunt
This could be used as motivation to get your kids excited to go on hikes with the whole family. As you go on the walk have your kids find landmarks or unique locations that they will see along the way.
15. Hunt and Tally Scavenger Hunt
For this scavenger hunt is to help children learn how to count. All you need to do is pour out some buttons on a table. Let your little ones make a tally mark for each color to keep track.
16. Shopping Scavenger Hunt
It’s never fun when the kids have to tag along to the store. One way to make it fun is for each kid to have a list of items that they need to find. This will help them understand where items are located, and it can teach them about different ingredients that are used to make some of their favorite recipes.
17. Paint Chip Color Hunt
For this scavenger hunt, all you need to do is go to your local hardware store and pick up some paint chips. Then go through and make a list of some of the crazy names. Each child will then need to match the name to the color and whoever gets the most correct wins a prize.
18. Picture Scavenger Hunt
You give each kid a picture and have them find different objects in that picture. You can buy an I SPY book full of these kinds of pictures or you can print them out online.
19. Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt
This scavenger hunt is designed like bingo. The idea is that everyone is given their own bingo card with riddles found in each square. Whoever can go around and complete a row of clues first wins. You can find printable bingo cards here.
20. Road Trip Scavenger Hunt
This is a great activity to do on a long road trip. Make a list of things to find and your children can mark them off as they spot them. This will keep everyone entertained for hours.
21. Secret Codes Scavenger Hunt
This is a very classic scavenger hunt where you make a secret code with numbers or letters. Translate sentences using the code and see if your children can figure out what each sentence means in English.
22. Playground Scavenger Hunt
This scavenger hunt gets your kids out of the house. You can hide different objects, or you can have them spot different objects that are already on the playground.
23. Emotions Scavenger Hunt
The idea of this one is to help younger children identify different emotions. You can ask them to show you the “happy” person and have them point to the right one. You can check out some awesome ideas for this scavenger hunt here.
24. Sensory Box Hunt
You can hide different objects inside of a box that is filled up with shredded paper and have your younger kids dig through and find each hidden object. They will have so much fun discovering the different items that are hidden inside the box.
25. Gratitude Scavenger Hunt
This is a good one to do around Thanksgiving. You can have each of your kids go around the house and find things that they are most thankful for. This will be a great opportunity for everyone to sit down and really show their gratitude for everything that they have been given.
26. Follow the Yarn Scavenger Hunt
You can tie string to different points and have your kids follow the trail. You can make some lead to a dead-end and others lead to small prizes. This could be fun at birthday parties or other small gatherings.
27. Photography Scavenger Hunt
Make a list of items for your kids to take pictures of. Once they return to you with all of the pictures they can win a prize. This is an awesome way to capture memories and have fun exploring at the same time.
28. Five Senses Nature Scavenger Hunt
This will help younger children learn about the five senses. You can have them look through a book or print pictures out and have them identify which of the five senses the person in the picture is using.
29. Sandbox hunt
This one is fun for the playground or you can do it on the beach on vacation. All you need to do is hide items in the sand and have your children sift through and identify them.
30. Music Scavenger Hunt
This scavenger hunt is perfect for children that love music. They will need to have access to a computer to complete it but it will be good practice to help them identify different instruments that they hear in a song. Click here to get the worksheet.
31. Winter Scavenger Hunt
It can be hard to find things to do with the kids when it’s cold outside we’ve got you covered with this super fun scavenger hunt. Make a list and have everyone go out and find all of the winter-based items. You can print out a list of things to look for here.
32. Spring Scavenger Hunt
Spring is a beautiful time of year to get your family outside. You can find all kinds of beautiful flowers that are native to where you live. This is a great opportunity to help your kids learn more about nature. Click here for a worksheet.
33. Summer Scavenger Hunt
It can be hard to keep your kids entertained all summer long. This scavenger hunt is one that they can complete all summer long. There are all kinds of summer items to keep an eye out for when they play outside. Click here for a worksheet.
34. Fall Scavenger Hunt
This scavenger hunt would be fun to do at a pumpkin patch or at a park on a nice fall day. All you have to do is walk around and see how many of the objects you can cross off the list. You can print out this list here.
35. Airport Scavenger Hunt
Airports can be pretty stressful with children but this list from The Game Gal can help. The idea is that they look around and see which items they can cross off of the list. You can also walk around and look to help burn off extra energy before the flight. You can print out the list here.
36. Minecraft Scavenger Hunt
Make a list of objects found in Minecraft. Give them a certain amount of time to find the items and whoever finds the most in the allotted amount of time wins a prize.
37. Sticky Note Scavenger Hunt
All you need to do is write clues on sticky notes and have your kids find where you hid them. This could be fun to do with the “big gift” on a birthday or Christmas. Check out some ideas here.
38. Restaurant Scavenger Hunt
It can be hard to entertain younger children at restaurants, but we’ve got you covered. Write different kinds of food down on notecards and have them look around and see which foods they can spot.
39. Zoo Scavenger Hunt
Make a list of the different continents and you can have your kids read through the different signs and find animals from each continent. This is a fun way for your children to learn about animals and where they come from.
40. Book Scavenger Hunt
This could be a fun way to make summer reading more enjoyable. Write down some quotes for your children to find as they read. They can make a note of the page numbers each quote is found on.
41. Camping Scavenger Hunt
If you have a family that loves spending time camping this is the scavenger hunt for you. You can make up a list of clues and have your kids solve each one that leads to a beautiful view. Check out these awesome ideas here.
42. Dollar Store Scavenger Hunt
All you need to do is put a bunch of dollar amounts in a dish and have each of your kids reach in and pick an amount. Make a trip to your local dollar store and have them find one item for that amount of money. This could be fun for a birthday or around Christmas.
43. Flashlight Scavenger Hunt
This is a fun scavenger hunt to do at night. Turn off all the lights in the house and give each child a flashlight. They have to go around each room and find each object on a list.
44. Recycling Scavenger Hunt
Visit a local park and have each of your kids go around and pick up trash that can be recycled. This will teach them that littering is bad for the environment and that they need to dispose of it properly.
45. Follow the Line Scavenger Hunt
Make different tape outlines on the floor in different colors and shapes and have your kids follow each path all over the house. You can make them lead anywhere so it’s really up to you.
46. Art Gallery Scavenger Hunt
It is important to introduce your children to culture when they are young, so this scavenger hunt will have your children walk around an art museum and find different pieces of art that are on a list. This will keep them interested and get them excited to look around.
47. Halloween Scavenger Hunt
This would be a fun thing to do at a Halloween party to get everyone in the Halloween spirit. You can decorate the house and hide different objects all over. Make a list of things that you want everyone to find and then whoever finds everything first wins a prize.
48. Presidents Day Scavenger Hunt
This scavenger hunt is for older children. You can print off a worksheet online and have them find the answers in a book or online. It’s a fun way to help them learn more about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
49. Word Search Scavenger Hunt
Word searches are always fun to complete. They come in a range of difficulties, so they are good for almost any age group. You can buy a book of these and save them for a rainy day.
50. Sports Scavenger Hunt
Sometimes younger children can lose interest in the game, so you need a way to keep them entertained until it’s over. You can give them a list of things to keep an eye out for. Click here to see an example of a baseball game scavenger hunt.
