How to Make Your Own Scavenger Hunt Game

Classic Scavenger Hunt

• 1

  Determine a location for the hunt. This may be your house, yard, a certain area of your neighborhood or a public place like a park or shopping mall.

• 2

  Make a list of objects that players have to find, which includes items commonly found in that location, hard-to-find items and longshots. For example, in a shopping mall hunt, common items would be food court menus and restaurant napkins, and hard-to-find items might be a green gum ball or 50-cent piece. Longshots would be items they would be unusually lucky to come across in a mall, such as an autograph from a local celebrity or a leaf from a live plant.

• 3

  Assign points for each item on the list depending on the difficulty. For items that are very easy, such as restaurant napkins, require them to collect more than one from different locations.

• 4

  List bonus points for teams to strive for, such as first team to make it to the location, first team to make it back or for the team who found the most creative objects.

• 5

  Set a time limit and designate a meeting place for when the hunt is complete. Split your group into small teams of two to six people, hand out the lists, and let the games begin.

Photo Scavenger Hunt

• 6

  Arrange to have at least one digital camera per team, or ask guests to bring their own cameras. Decide on a location you will be sending teams to hunt.

• 7

  Provide teams with a list of things they have to take photos of, mixing common with uncommon items.

• 8

  Include stunts that they can photograph themselves doing. For a park scavenger hunt, require the team to have a photo taken of all of them hanging upside-down from the jungle gym, or require one member to take a photo holding hands with a cute guy or pretty woman. In a museum, they might have to find a security guard named "Bob" and take his picture with him pointing to a name tag. Think of things that would be funny, a little embarrassing even, but legal and safe.

• 9

  Decide on a time limit for the hunt. You may wish to include time for teams to go to a drug store photo counter and get their pictures printed.

• 10

  Assign points for teams getting photos for each item on the list. Assign additional points for things like being the first team to arrive, the most daring, most creative or award points for excellence in photography. Penalize teams that don't show up on time or for blurry photos by knocking off a few points.