Scavenger Hunt List Ideas for Kids

Hometown Scavenger Hunt

• Allow children to learn more about the town they live in. Name businesses, schools and parks from which to get images or items. Find brochures about tourist attractions or a list of upcoming festivals. Allow children to search the Internet to find information about the population of their town or city, a picture of the mayor, and phone numbers of the local police and fire station.

School Days Scavenger Hunt

• Assign children to look for items around their houses or on the Internet that relate to school. If the game is at school, children can look within their classroom for items, too. Items to look for can include school supplies such as watercolor paints, pencil sharpener or a subject folder. Ask children to look for specific printed material such as a math book, flashcards, a social studies book, a map or a science book. For children to learn more about their geography, assign them to search for certain countries or states on a world map.

Holidays Scavenger Hunts

• Have fun exploring the holidays throughout the year, and let children search the home or classroom to find items that represent a specific holiday such as Christmas or Valentine's Day. Also plan hunts that focus, for example, on Presidents Day or Martin Luther King Jr's birthday so that children learn more about important role models throughout history.

At Home Scavenger Hunt

• Stuck indoors because of weather? Make a list of items for children to look for around the house. Items they can search for can include a favorite book, a ball of yarn, paper napkins, crayons, a mixing spoon, a pair of socks, toothpaste, a favorite family photo and a canned food item. The list of possibilities is endless. Create different lists to mix up the scavenger hunt game at home.