When is National Scavenger Hunt Day?
National Scavenger Hunt Day is always May 24.
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Scavenger Hunts for young and old alike.
Scavenger Hunts have got to be one of the most popular games at Halloween but are played all year round. Scavenger Hunts can be set up for adults or children either one and all ages have a blast at playing this game. The game itself can be played by going to neighbors houses and asking for items from a scavenger list or it can be played by hiding the items in your yard and having the teams try to find the items they need. The team that finds everything first is the winner.
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The Scarecrow Scavenger Hunt Game
This has got to be my all time favorite scavenger hunt games that I came up with many years ago! This game has a scarecrow theme and not only are you trying to locate items to build a scarecrow but your team actually has to build the scarecrow as well. It's a two race game where your racing to find the items and then your racing to build the scarecrow completely. The first team to find all the items on the list; build the scarecrow and actually get the scarecrow completed and standing; would be the winner. This game is perfect for adults and young adults and even those people on the sidelines get a big laugh at watching the teams try and figure out how to assemble the scarecrows.
Scarecrow Scavenger List ideas
- straw, hay or anything that would work for stuffing.
- head (imagination is needed here) It could be a stuffed head or you could use a pumpkin, cord or pot.
- the wood should be provided and ready for framing if you plan to have your teams actually stand the scarecrow up. If this is to involved for your scavenger hunt, then just have your team build the scarecrow and sit them in chairs, on the door steps or against a bale of hay once they get them finished.
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Setting up the game
- Pick a theme or pick a list: Be inventive and pick a theme for your scavenger hunt. Theme ideas could be scarecrows, pirates, vampires, elf, Santa etc. You get the idea. If picking a theme would be to hard for your guests then you can simply make a scavenger list of things for them to find that are related to the party that you are having. Example: Halloween Party, Christmas Party, Easter Party.
- If your having a Halloween party....put items on the list such as: pumpkin, spider, bone, fangs, witches hat, candy, candle, skull, bat, ghost, cape, black cat, black pot, spell, frog, eyeball, finger, bug etc.
- Pick your teams: Make sure that each team has the same # of team members. Such as 7 and 7.
- Using the Neighborhood: If you live in a housing community where you can go house to house then make sure you alert all the neighbors that your going to be playing a scavenger hunt game. You don't want to make the neighbors mad by having people constantly ringing their door bell.
- Using your yard or inside the house: If you are setting up a scavenger hunt for children you may want to hide the items on the list in your yard and let the teams find the items that way. This would be similar to hiding and finding Easter eggs. If it's raining outside then just simply hide the items inside the house or on the porch and patio areas that are protected from the rain.
- Play it safe: If you are planning on having your scavenger game after dark.... make sure that you provide flashlights for your friends or ask them to bring their own. You don't want your fun party spoiled by someone falling and getting hurt.
- Make Memories: Make sure you document your fun game. Take pictures of the teams racing to finish their game or project so your friends can remember the fun they had for years to come.
- Make the game a yearly tradition: Give your family and friends something to look forward to each and every year. Make a scavenger hunt a fun tradition.
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Other Game Ideas
Soup/Stew Scavenger Hunt
Would you like to make your guests work for their supper??
I have to tell you that this game came about by desperation. Years ago I was always known for my Halloween costume parties and my guests were always ready to play any game that I came up with. This one particular year I had to go out of town unexpectedly but returned back in town... what I thought was the day before my party. I wasn't worried because I already had the costume I was going to wear and the house had been decorated for the whole month of October already. I knew I could go to the grocery store and get what I needed the very next morning as far as food was concerned.
I barely had time to unpack when a knock came at my door and low and behold it was friends in costume. I knew I was introuble and had to think fast. In my panic..... I realized that I had to feed all these guests and I didn't have a game ready for them either! As fast as I could run to the kitchen, I pulled out my black book of Halloween Recipes and found a soup that I called "Witches Black Brew Stew." I cooked this soup for a dinner party once upon a time so I quickly took the simple recipe and made 4 copies of it. I knew that the only way I could feed all the people that were going to come was to have a food scavenger hunt with a spooky theme and cook up some soup for everyone to eat. It was a cold night so soup was the perfect choice. As the teams were going house to house I was mixing up cornbread and baking it while they were gone. Since I was from the South.... cornmeal was one ingredient that I always had in my kitchen and cornbread was the perfect bread to serve with a soup. So..... that's how I saved the day. I had my black dress on, black witches hat, black boots and stocking (which was coincidental by the way) and they all thought it was all planned! The witch was brewing up a witches brew. hahaha! The teams had a blast and I never did tell them the real truth. Talk about making your guest work for their supper!!! Everyone has loved it ever since.
Fun Soup Scavenger game
It's played the same way as a item scavenger game except you use food instead. First you pick what type of soup that you want your teams to get. It can be any type of soup as long as you have a recipe list. Beef Stew, Chili and Chicken Noodle Soup is some easy ideas but the one listed below is a theme soup for Halloween.
For Example: Witches Black Brew Stew
This would be your item list for each team
1 can of mushrooms
1 can of black beans
1 can of pinto beans
1 can of turnip greens
1 head of cabbage
1 can of tomatoes
1 can beef broth
1 can of meat
1 whole or can of potatoes
1 purple onion
(you can also add pumpkin and okra to this soup)
This soup will cook up very dark and almost black in color. It will look bad and it will smell bad too! Hey.... we all know how bad cabbage smells when it cooks. This is what makes it fun. Use all the dark and ugly veggies that you can to make the Witches Stew ugly, but tasty.
Atmosphere Ideas for Stew
You may add or take away from these ingredients but keep in the stringie turnip greens. (bat wings). This makes the guests wonder what in the world is it plus it adds a green color to the gravy. Keep in the mushrooms and try using whole button mushrooms. Whole button mushrooms look like eyeballs floating in the stew. You can tell everyone that it's eyeballs too! Giggle~ Keep in the black beans for sure. This gives a great black color to the stew. Try using purple onions or purple potatoes because the purple color will help darken the juice as well. These are all foods that will turn the pot juice dark in color. If the stew is not dark enough for you... sneak in a few drops of dark food coloring. The idea is to get the soup as dark and ugly as you can. Keep in mind that this soup may not be pretty to look at but it is absolutely delicious!
Here's what we do to really make this one fun for Halloween..... try building a fire outside after dark and go ahead and put a tripods up with nice black pots just ready for all the team witches to build and cook their Black Brew Soup. You need to provide a can opener, spices and spoons for the team as well. Let each team use the fire to cook up their scavenger soup. When the soup is done.... you all eat. This is one way to make your guests work for their supper and it's a bubbling black brew for sure. hahaha!
This game works great for kids or adults. If kids are playing.... make sure that the adults are doing all the cooking by the fire and just let the kids do the scavenging.
Note: You can pick any soup recipe that you want as long as you list all the ingredients that the teams will have to search for.
Popular Pick: Vegetable Soup- any time of the year- any Holiday
Serving Suggestions for Witches Black Brew Stew:
Serve this soup in black bowls to get the full effect of Halloween. Cornbread is the bread of choice for this soup and tastes great with it. Ghost shape cake molds can be found at craft stores and cooking stores and this is perfect for baking cornbread in as well. You can even buy food bugs, worms and small snakes that can float on the top of each bowl right before serving.
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Halloween Birthday Party
If you have a child who's birthday falls in the month of October, having a "witches brew scavenger hunt" would be great fun for them. Have all the children come dressed as witches and warlocks. Kids love to use their imaginations so let them imagine they are searching up items for a brewing potion they are going to make. The kids will jump right into the game and you will get a big kick out of watching them stir up the food as you hear them ask for the bat wings and eyeballs.
written by: Pamela Price Svoboda
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Scavenger Hunt Books
