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List of Ideas for an Around Town Scavenger Hunt

If you are trying to plan yet another birthday party, bridal shower or girls night out and want activities beyond the usual party games, try organizing a scavenger hunt around your city or town. Usually, the guests are split into teams, given clues or a list of items to collect, and the game is over either after a designated period of time or when the first group finishes. The game can be as simple or as elaborate as you want. Involve as many or as few participants as you want, and this is a great activity for youth groups -- assuming they have safe transportation around town -- bachelorette parties or relatives visiting from out of town.

Photo Scavenger Hunts
- In some scavenger hunts, participants gather items from certain locations and head back to the starting point once they've found the objects needed. An alternative to this method is to equip each group with a digital camera. Include a reminder to bring cameras in the invitations when you send them out. Once everyone arrives, give instructions regarding what they need to take photographs of in order to win the scavenger hunt. For example, instruct them to take a picture of as many of their team members as will fit in a phone booth and tell them bonus points will be given if all of their team members are in the shot. Other ideas include a picture of at least one team member getting her feet wet in the bay or a picture of two different park sculptures. They will have a great time taking the photos and an even better time laughing at them once everyone gets back together. Set a time frame and make sure to have more "assignments" than there is time to complete.
Get to Know theTown
- Send your friends on a chase around town to bump up the excitement of regular sightseeing. Choose stops along the way for which your city or region is famous. If you're in Philadelphia, make them stop for a cheese steak sandwich. If you're in farm country, see who can bring back the cheapest ear of corn. Every town has restaurants, shops and landmarks that its locals love or loath, so send your hunters to as many of these places as they can reasonably attend. Is there an ugly statue in your town square? Have them take their picture with it. Do residents have a favorite hole-in-the-wall Chinese take-out joint? Have them grab a menu to bring back with them.
Get Everyone in on the Action
- Enlist some community members and organizations in your hunt; most people are glad to have some excitement in their day and will be eager to help. This method involves the most planning though, so be on the ball and set everything up ahead of time. The week before your event, or at least a day or two before, go to several hot spots around town and talk with the employees about what they could contribute to your daughter's 18th birthday or your best friend's engagement celebration.Chances are that they'll have plenty of ideas of their own, but if not, come prepared with a small request. Ask if your groups could have their pictures taken with the chef at an Italian restaurant or if they could each take a pair of the wooden chopsticks from a sushi restaurant. Stop in at the library and ask if they could keep a certain book behind the counter, maybe with a special quote bookmarked, that your groups would have to ask the librarians to show them. Be polite, emphasize what a fun activity you are organizing and you will be surprised at the cooperation and generosity of the community.

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