Scavenger Hunts: A World of Adventure

By Debbie Kerman, Assistant Director, NIU STEAM

With the weather warming up, many families are looking for fun activities to do together outdoors. On May 24, take some time to celebrate National Scavenger Hunt Day with an activity that’s both entertaining and educational for all ages. Scavenger hunts provide opportunities for kids to explore and engage with the world around them in a game-like setting that’s hands-on and interactive.

Scavenger hunts are popular with a variety of audiences because they are a lot of fun while encouraging the development of valuable skills. For example, participants can gain team building skills when they work together towards a common goal of finding all the items on a list as quickly as possible. Teams who collaborate and communicate well together find it easier and more efficient to achieve success by sharing ideas and knowledge while planning and making decisions.

Scavenger hunts can also promote problem solving and critical thinking in participants. One way they accomplish this is by helping to promote observation skills. Observant people notice the world around them, encouraging greater curiosity about why things work the way they do and how they might become more efficient or function better, leading to thinking critically about solutions. Scavenger hunt facilitators can further foster problem solving and critical thinking by adding constraints such as time limits or assigning different point values (i.e. more obscure or difficult to find items carry higher point values). Another outcome of participating in scavenger hunts is increased growth and persistence. As participants try a strategy unsuccessfully, they must then reflect, regroup and brainstorm new ways to approach a solution.

Another benefit of scavenger hunts is the physical activity they naturally provide participants. Natural movement is a part of the process of locating the various items on the list. Additional physical activity can easily be incorporated into a scavenger hunt by building in an activity to do each time participants locate an object on the list (i.e. find a log on the ground and do 20 hops back and forth over it). As an alternative, if you’re not able to be mobile and active with your hunt, you can still participate by searching for items while watching a movie, driving in a car or reading a book together.

Scavenger hunts can be inexpensive and simple to plan and facilitate, and they can offer flexibility to engage a variety of audiences. They can incorporate simple themes like letters or shapes or more difficult challenges like the poem written by Forrest Fenn, an art dealer from New Mexico, which led tens of thousands of people on a decade long search for a real treasure chest hidden by Fenn which was filled with gold and gems estimated at $2 million.

To plan a scavenger hunt for your family, first consider the location you will use. Scavenger hunts can be held in any size space, indoors or outdoors. From a room in your home to a larger grocery store, local museum, neighborhood, or park, scavenger hunts can be planned to fit any environment.

Next, think about who you want to invite to participate, the format and the amount of time you want it to take. Scavenger hunts can be run individually or in teams and include many or few people. They can be competitive, offering a prize to the first to complete the challenge or non-competitive where participants simply work towards completing the task of finding all the listed items. The list of items to find can be lengthy or short, depending upon the amount of time for the activity. You’ll want to provide each team or individual with a checklist of items to find, along with a clipboard and pencil. One way to include kids in the planning is by having them brainstorm items for everyone to find on the scavenger hunt.

You’ll also want to consider what evidence participants will use to demonstrate they found an item. If participating in larger groups, cameras or smart phones work well for capturing an image or video of their find. If participants will demonstrate their evidence by gathering or collecting the items on their list, you’ll want to ensure there’s nothing on the list that’s too heavy or unsafe to carry around with them or would damage the environment if removed. You’ll also want to be sure to provide a bag or container in which they can carry their items.

Finally, be sure to review rules and boundaries with participants. For example, one rule in most scavenger hunts is items may only be “found,” no purchasing of items allowed. Other items to consider when setting rules include outlining the space parameters where participants are able to go, specifying any time limits, whether teams must stay together or if they’re permitted to divide and conquer, and some general courtesy expectations for communicating with strangers and other people within the space.

For decades, teams and individuals have come together to compete in the challenge to be the first to collect all the items on a list. Scavenger hunts offer a wonderful learning experience that is both fun and educational. They promote exploration, observation and physical movement leading to valuable skills in problem solving and teamwork. Make plans today to celebrate National Scavenger Hunt Day on May 24 with your own scavenger hunt!