How to Write a Scavenger Hunt

Walk around the area where the scavenger hunt will take place. If the hunt is for younger children, be sure to keep an eye out for any potential hazards such as busy roads or canals and consider whether it would be safer to pick another route for participants.

Take a note of how long it takes you to complete the route so you have a guide for how long the hunt itself should take.

Look out for collectible objects or things and places that can be easily photographed. Make sure your list of objects or photos includes a good mix of things that are easy to find and those you expect just one or two participants to be able to track down. Tourist information can be a good source of ideas.

Compose your hunt list, which should be a mixture of straightforward objects to be found, such as "a pelican feather," and more cryptic hints alluding to the object involved -- such as "a phone number that might have once let you speak to the President" if you want participants to come back with the business card of a nearby hotel where famous clients including a former president once stayed.

List all clues and objects to be found in the scavenger hunt on separate lines on a sheet of paper so participants can check them off as they find them. Keep this list in the same order that you spotted things while compiling it so that participants will follow roughly the same route.

Copy the completed list and give it to each participant or team leader and tell them when they must return and bring with them as many objects or photographs as they've been able to collect. The winner is whoever has collected the most objects from the list in the allotted time.