Scavenger Hunt Generator

Quick answer: pick the place (nature, the beach, camping, a road trip, a city, the zoo, a park, a museum, the airport or the Christmas lights), who is hunting and how many finds, and the tool makes a different sheet for each child, or photo prompts for teens and grown-ups. Tick them on screen or print one per page.

How to use it

Choose where you are going and who is playing. Little kids get a picture and a word for every find, readers get the words, and older kids get challenges: “a leaf with jagged edges”, “three different kinds of shells”, “a license plate with your initials”. Teens and grown-ups get photo prompts for a phone camera, the same at any place: “a reflection”, “something older than 100 years”, “your team copying a statue”. Pick 10, 15, 20 or 25 finds and up to eight children, then tap a find when it is spotted, or print. Every sheet has a line for a name and says how many are found; when a sheet is done it says so. “New hunt” makes a fresh set, and the link brings back the same set, so a printed sheet can be checked later.

How the sheets are made

Each place has its own list of things a child can find there. A set of sheets is drawn from those lists by a number (the “set” on each sheet): the same number always gives the same sheets, and no two sheets in a set are the same list in the same order. With “same finds, different order”, every child hunts for the same things, so the race is fair; with “different finds”, every child gets their own. The pictures are emoji, drawn by your own phone or computer. Nothing on a sheet asks a child to pick or take anything alive: the ones that need it say “look, don’t touch”.

How many finds each place has

The photo hunt has 40 prompts, for any of the ten places.

Worked examples

Three children at the beach. Beach, readers, 15 finds, 3 children, same finds: three sheets with the same 15 finds in three different orders. The first to tick all 15 wins, and nobody can follow a sibling down the list.

A camping trip with a 4-year-old and a 10-year-old. Make two sets: Campground, little kids, 10 finds, 1 child, for the youngest (a tent, the moon, a squirrel, with pictures); then older kids, 20 finds, for the eldest (“a trail marker”, “your campsite number”, “a sound you cannot see”). Print both.

A morning at the zoo. Zoo, readers, 15 finds, 2 children, different finds: one hunts a penguin, a giraffe and the zoo train, the other a flamingo, a koala and the ice cream stand. The older one can take challenges instead: “an animal that is sleeping”, “a bird that cannot fly”, “an endangered animal (read the sign)”.

A long layover. Airport, older kids, 20 finds: “a plane from another country (look at the tail)”, “a gate number bigger than 30”, “a moving walkway”. The grown-ups can play too, with the photo hunt.

A December evening. Christmas lights, little kids, 10 finds, 2 children: Santa, a reindeer, a snowman and a house playing music, ticked from the back seat. The Christmas Lights Scavenger Hunt has the same lists on a page of their own.

A long drive. Road trip, older kids, 25 finds, different finds, 2 children: each gets 25 of the 26 road-trip challenges, from “a water tower” to “a license plate from another state”.

Tips for a good hunt

• Fewer finds for little ones: 10 with pictures for children who do not read yet; 25 challenges for a long afternoon.
• Look, don’t touch: take a photo or tick the box, and leave flowers, shells with animals in them, nests and bugs where they are.
• Stay together, and set a boundary and a time limit before anyone starts.
• On a road trip, the spotter must say it out loud before it is gone.
• At the zoo, the animals are seen, never fed; at a museum, nothing is touched. For a photo hunt, ask before you photograph people or their pets.

More for the trip

Heading out with little ones? Read how to camp with toddlers, pack from the camping packing list, and try these beginner hiking tips. For the beach, see the best Gulf-side beaches with kids; for the drive, the road trip essentials.

FAQ

What are good things for a nature scavenger hunt?

Things every walk has: a fallen leaf, an acorn, a smooth rock, a feather, a bird, a bug, a flower, a cloud shape, animal tracks. For older kids make them harder: a leaf bigger than your hand, bark that peels, a Y-shaped stick, something older than you.

What can you find on a beach scavenger hunt?

A shell, a crab, seaweed, a seagull, driftwood, a sailboat, a kite, a footprint. Older kids can look for a spiral shell, sea glass, a crab hole or a shell smaller than a fingernail, and pick up a piece of litter for the bin.

What are some road trip scavenger hunt ideas?

For little ones: a cow, a tractor, a bridge, a big truck, a rainbow. For older kids: a license plate from another state, a water tower, a tunnel, a wind turbine, a “Welcome to” state sign, a mile marker ending in 0.

What are good photo scavenger hunt ideas?

Prompts anyone can shoot with a phone, anywhere: a reflection, your shadow, something older than 100 years, a face in an object, three things the same color, the view from up high and from down low, your team copying a statue. The tool draws 10 to 25 of its 40 for each team.

What can you find on a zoo scavenger hunt?

For little ones: a lion, a giraffe, a penguin, a flamingo, a turtle, the zoo train. For older kids: an animal that is sleeping, a baby animal, a bird that cannot fly, an animal from Australia (read the sign), an animal with a pouch.

How do you make a scavenger hunt for kids?

Pick the place and the age, choose how many finds, and give each child a sheet with the same finds in a different order. This tool does it in a click, with a different sheet for every child, and prints one per page.

How many items should a scavenger hunt have?

Enough to finish before the fun runs out: about 10 for children who do not read yet, 15 to 20 for readers, 25 for an afternoon with older kids. The tool makes 10, 15, 20 or 25.

Is this scavenger hunt printable?

Yes, free: print puts one sheet on each page with a line for the child’s name, and nothing else from the page. You can also tick finds on a phone.