Hobbies And Interests
Historical Hunts
Harvest festivals often celebrate elements of a town&'s history. Organize a scavenger hunt in which participants are required to gather information about or visit local historical sites like town hall buildings, churches or gravesites. Provide teams with a list of trivia sentences missing vital information. Arrange the items in order of their point value with the one-point, simple items listed first and the more complicated or challenging items worth as many as ten points listed last. For example, the first clue worth one point may be, "Our town was founded in (year) by (name of founder)." Participants must brainstorm where the information might be located, such as a local historical society or a plaque on a monument, before traveling to the location to fill in the information. Another option may be to supply groups with Polaroid or digital cameras; clues challenge groups to take creative photos at local historical sites. For example, one clue may be, "Do a handstand in front of the Old City Hall building." At the end of the festival, participants return to the hunt organizer, who tallies the scores and awards a relevant harvest prize, such as a pie for each player, to the team with the highest score.
Harvest Hunts
The huge selection of fresh vegetables, ripe fruits and baked treats at a harvest festival provides ample fodder for a food-themed scavenger hunt. Challenge teams to collect a variety of unusual food items such as a pumpkin that weighs less than two pounds or a purple fruit or vegetable. Each item can be worth the same number of points, or more challenging items such as a vegetable shaped like a star can be worth as many as ten points. Another option is to host a scavenger hunt race; the first team to return to a designated location with all the items on the list wins a harvest-themed prize. Scavenger hunts could also include competition items; for example, the team that brings back the largest gourd or the biggest apple wins the points value for that item. Such a scavenger hunt will help participants understand the diversity of the food found in their local town or city.
Challenge Hunts
Many harvest festivals also include a number of games, activities and events; musical productions, parades, carnival games and raffle contests are common elements of a harvest festival. Arrange a scavenger hunt that encourages participants to become active players in the games festivities. Create a scavenger hunt challenge in which teams must document the completion of several harvest festival tasks. Suggestions for tasks include winning a stuffed animal prize from a carnival game, dancing on stage with a musical act or successfully dunking someone in the dunk tank. Active challenges promote physical activity, teamwork and knowledge about local vendors and community groups.The team that completes the most number of challenges and provides sufficient evidence, such as a digital photograph or signature from an official, wins a harvest prize such as a coupon book of local establishments.