35 Creative Scavenger Hunt Ideas for Kids
Families will get a kick out of all of these different scavenger hunt themes!
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Of all the boredom-busting activities for kids, scavenger hunts may be the most versatile. You can adapt them to pretty much any situation: They can be an indoor activity or an outdoor activity. You can incorporate art, movement, STEM or just about any of their interests. You can turn them into stealth learning exercises, where they have to hunt for facts or put together clues. And you can tailor them to the skill level of your kids, which makes scavenger hunts something you can do with toddlers or something you can do with tweens.
But, with all those possibilities, it can be hard to figure out where to start. This list of creative scavenger hunt ideas should offer some inspiration to get you going. A good rule of thumb is to start with the location: Are you using this as a rainy-day inside activity, or are you trying to layer an activity on top of another outing, like a hike through the woods or a trip to the beach? From there, you can figure out what themes are most appropriate, be it colors, or items that can be found in nature, or certain seasonal items or decorations. Make your list, tell your kids to sharpen their observational skills and happy hunting!
Indoor Scavenger Hunt
Don't fear the next rainy day. Instead, keep this on hand, which challenges kids to find objects that are probably already around the house. The list is flexible, with categories like something "squishy" or something "that lights up," so they can do it over and over again and never have it be the same twice.
Road Trip Scavenger Hunt
Keep fresh copies of this one in the car for those long car rides — it's full of things that kids can see out the window, which will keep them occupied during your next road trips.
Backyard Insect Scavenger Hunt
Arm them with a magnifying glass and send them out into nature to find the not-so-creepy crawlies living around them. Turn it into a STEM activity by having them count the legs, wings or dots.
Word Scavenger Hunt
Forget about the flash cards and work sheets — this scavenger hunt is a fun way to get them to practice their phonics. For this activity, kids hunt the letters and use them at the end to create words.
Number Hunt
Set up a grid of 10 boxes, and challenge kids to find objects that come solo, in pairs, in a group of three, in a group of four and so on. Not only does this reinforce early math concepts, it's easy and can be done basically anywhere.
Art Scavenger Hunt
Usually, a scavenger hunt list comes with a set of pictures printed on it already. Little artists will love this one because they have to fill in the pictures themselves, inspired by what they see around them.
Secret Code Scavenger Hunt
This scavenger hunt is really two activities in one. First, hunters have to look about to find the secret clues. Then, they have to use the symbol decoder to put the clues together and unlock a hidden message!
Alphabet Bug Scavenger Hunt
Little ones will get a kick out of this bug-themed scavenger hunt —and learn to tell the difference between their upper and lowercase letters in the process.
Color Scavenger Hunt
This fun color-themed scavenger hunt can help toddlers learn their colors, while older kids discover all the different hues that can be found all around them.
Five Senses Scavenger Hunt
Kids will get the chance to touch, smell and even hear nature in this creative outdoor sensory scavenger hunt, which includes clues like whistling with grass and cloud-watching.
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RELATED: The Best Sensory Toys for Exploring Different Textures, Sights and Sounds
Movement Scavenger Hunt
For another take on a sensory hunt, add some additional movement, like in this version, which features fun — and active — to-dos, like looking for objects to jump over, crawl under, or roll across the ground. It was created by an occupational and physical therapist.
Shape Scavenger Hunt
Kids will love pointing out the circles, triangles, squares and lots of other fun shapes they find while on an outdoor walk, thanks to this shape-themed scavenger hunt. On rainy days, you can easily modify this to do indoors.
Reading Scavenger Hunt
Take your child’s love of reading up a notch with this book-themed scavenger hunt, which includes 25 diverse prompts, including finding out friends’ favorites or trying different genres.
Flashlight Scavenger Hunt
Break out those flashlights and headlamps for this at-home scavenger hunt — and see what kids can, well, see at night as they search for rocks, leaves and other backyard staples.
Nature Scavenger Hunt
Next time you head out on a family hike, take along this fun nature scavenger hunt and challenge your kids to spot everything from bugs to butterflies.
Photo Scavenger Hunt
This one is meant to get little shutterbugs out there with their cameras. When you take a walk around the neighborhood, see if they can get snaps of all the items on this list.
Mandala Scavenger Hunt
Forget the cupcakes! Put your muffin tin to new use with this outdoor scavenger hunt idea. Bonus: it’s a fun way to introduce kids to what a mandala is — and how to put them together.
Zoo Scavenger Hunt
Lions, and tigers, and … monkeys, oh my! Kids will get the chance to up their animal-spotting skills while at the zoo, thanks to this zoo-themed scavenger hunt, complete with adorably-designed wildlife.
Winter Scavenger Hunt
If the weather is chilly in your neck of the woods, don those hats and gloves and go on this fun winter scavenger hunt, where kids can search for cold weather favorites like pinecones and icicles.
Football Scavenger Hunt
There’s no need to wait for the Big Game to try this football-themed scavenger hunt — just cue up a game and kids can start pointing out the quarterback, a touchdown and more. It's great for little siblings who have to watch big siblings play in their games.
Marisa Iallonardo is a writer, editor, and communications pro covering health, parenting, lifestyle, and more.
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