The first thing to consider for any
scavenger hunt is the age of the participants. Children are smart and
can be demanding sometimes, so tasks, hints and other assignments need
to be challenging, fun, exciting and entertaining for their age group.
However, if puzzles and riddles are too difficult, kids might give up
when they get stymied or confused while doing their assignments. So it
is important to balance challenge and level of difficulty.
For pre school children, pictograms,
pictures, drawings or tasks that can easily be done can be included as
hints or assignments that they have to be do in order to proceed to the
next item on the list. An easy example would be to draw or take a
photograph a picture of a toy hidden inside a toy box or any where
inside or outside the home. The toy would have a simple task like sing a
song or hop like a bunny taped to it. Once the task is finished the
moderator can now give the next clue that would lead your player to
another item on the list. Another easy idea would be to scatter 100 gold
chocolate coins around the house for the kids to look for. Once all 100
are collected you can give the kids the chocolate gold coins as prize.
If your guests are teen or pre teen
other inventive ways to solve riddles and do tasks should be employed to
lead them to the items on the scavenger hunt. A cryptogram is a good
brain teaser for the kids to do. Instead of writing your clues the
normal way make a cryptogram of the items on the list. Provide the kids
with the key to the puzzle or have them do a task like an apple eating
contest and give the key only after they have completed the task. An
alternative to the cryptogram is a word search. Make a word search
puzzle of all the items included in the scavenger hunt. Have your teams
or players encircle the words of the items for the hunt. The things that
can be included in the scavenger hunt will also have to be age
appropriate for the players involved. A three year old for example might
not know what a Frisbee or Maple tree leaf is.
If you are still having a hard time
coming up with the clues, try doing the scavenger hunt backwards. Start
with the last item on the list and work your way down. You can also fine
tune your scavenger hunt by playing the game yourself. The trial and
error method is a good way to work out the bugs and kinks that might be
there. All items on the list do not have to be found. Younger children
may not want to continue with the hunt or have a hard time finishing the
game, so in case of a tie, come up with a back-up clue or item that can
easily be found.
