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How to plan a scavenger hunt for grownups in 2019 [UPDATED]

8/14/2019

25 Comments

 
adult scavenger hunt
As a dyed-in-the-wool adventurer, I LOVE scavenger hunts. The camaraderie, the competition, the crazy photos and videos — it's one of the best ways to bring people together and have a ton of fun, especially strangers or almost-strangers.

I've always wondered why people don't do them more often, but then I realized after putting my own hunt together for my birthday that they can be intimidating to plan.

So to encourage more people to get out there and design mind-blowing scavenger hunts for adults (there seems to be plenty out there about kids' scavenger hunts) I've put together this handy quick-reference guide.

Choose a theme
For my birthday hunt, I chose myself as a theme. Self serving? Yes — but it's my birthday and I'll do what I want to. Other theme ideas include a nature-themed scavenger hunt (you'd look for items out on the trail — though be sure to be considerate), a food-based scavenger hunt, or a bachelorette/girls night out party.

Having a theme will not only tie everything together in one appealing package, it will help you come up with better clues and items to include in the hunt. Also, with themes you can have participants to dress up in crazy costumes (and if Halloween has taught us anything, it's that dressing up = instant party enhancer).


Send the invite
It's best to schedule the event AT LEAST two weeks beforehand, though a month or more is better. Pick a location that works best for your group size and theme; personally, I think it's more fun (and safer) if you can do everything on foot and not have to drive anywhere (unlike the University of Chicago's scavenger hunt , which is perhaps the world's craziest, most difficult scavenger hunt ever invented — it spans several states and even goes into Canada).

​Then decide how long you want the hunt to last — pick an end time and place, and deduct points for every minute a team is late.


Weather can be a factor in scheduling your scavenger hunt, so make sure people know to dress appropriately, especially when it comes to comfortable shoes. This may seem obvious, but at my birthday scavenger hunt, one of my friends wore flats (shoes), which made racing around the city difficult (and she ultimately ended up just quitting).

People should also know to bring their cell phone with a camera. Seems pretty obvious, but again, it's nice to give folks a heads up, in case their phone isn't fully charged or some other unforeseen issue.

Create the clue list
This is the most fun, if the most intimidating. Create a list that's long enough so that not everyone can get every item and they have to prioritize which items to get first. Assign points to each clue, awarding more points for more difficult items.

(I assigned a crazy amount of points to items that I knew no one would get, but still wanted to see if anyone had the cajones to do it — like getting a tattoo. You'd be surprised at the lengths people will go to in order to win cheesy prizes & bragging rights! Plus the pictures are hilarious.)

Keep the list secret until the day of the hunt — you don't want folks cheating ahead of time. 


Some photo challenge ideas:
  • Create your own awkward family photo.
  • Find a bald stranger & kiss his head.
  • How many swings are at _________________ Park? 
  • What is tonight’s featured pizza at [PIZZA JOINT]?
  • Your entire team wearing hats.
  • Catch the bus! Photo of your team jumping in the air in front of public transportation.
  • Ride a bicycle
  • Teach a stranger how to Floss (or Dab, or whatever the latest dance craze is)
  • Everyone under an umbrella
  • Tell a joke & have a stranger rate it by holding up 1-5 fingers (five = best)  
  • Create a DIY sculpture with a tampon
  • Photo of a team member doing something they've never done before
  • Graffiti in a local business' washroom
  • High five a local town official
I'm sure you can come up with others that are specific to your theme and your location. Be creative! 

How to plan a scavenger hunt for grownups
Tips for adding complexity to the hunt
To make things interesting, here are some ways to add complexities to your clues:
  • Hide a clue in a book at the library, giving participants only the call number (or even trickier, the ISBN number)
  • Require participants to sing or perform in order to get a clue
  • Have participants build an item from scratch, or possibly complete a craft before they get the next clue
  • Divide clues up into a puzzle (i.e. puzzle pieces or popsicle sticks with a message written across them when they're all lined up) and have participants collect pieces to figure out the final clue. 
  • Snap a picture of a clue from either close up or an odd angle where a clue can be found.
  • Hot potato, hot potato, hot potato, hot! No team member can refuse the hot potato when tagged with it, but the team remaining with the hot potato will lose out on

The pre-hunt meetup
Have everyone meet at a pre-determined location. For me, I had everyone meet at our big library downtown, since 1) I love books, and I was the theme of the hunt and 2) it was a public location that had lots of parking.

It's a good idea to tell everyone to be on time, since one late person can hold up the entire hunt - so deduct points for people who are late to the kickoff!.


Once everyone arrives, give the rules of the hunt: time limits, rendezvous points, and remind people not to break any laws or otherwise be obnoxious to business owners or civilians (i.e. people who aren't part of the hunt).

We were surprised at how helpful people will be when you're nice and explain what you're doing, but there are others who will not want to participate. That's fine; don't hassle them because they don't want to play. Also, you may want to stipulate that team members cannot pay for any of the items (though that's up to you; in my hunt, the teams didn't have to buy anything to win, but a couple of teams did end up spending nominal amounts to buy a drink or get a 
receipt for exactly $1).

Once you've gone over the basic rules, hand out the clue list, bags to carry items and pens/pencils for each team.

NOTE: At this point, everyone may stop listening to you and start pouring over the list and strategizing with their team members, so make sure you get the most important points across BEFORE you hand out the list. Or not, and make it that much harder for them.


To wrap up the pre-hunt instructions, encourage everyone to think outside the box! For example, one of my clues was to find & take a picture of a Bill. I allowed a couple of teams to take a picture with a dollar bill for half points. 

Warnings & other ideas
Here are some other ideas that will help your hunt go more smoothly:
  • Organize participants into teams before the official start time. It's nice to pair up people who don't know each other very well, but that have similar personalities or interests, but other times it's good to pair up friends to create an uber-competitive hunt.
  • Make sure you have a backup copy(ies) of the clues/challenges.
  • Send texts to everyone during the team offering bonus challenges.
  • Have the teams cross off the challenges that they get. You'll have to go back through and double check that they really did what they said, but it will make it much easier to tally points if you have a starting place.
  • Offer prizes, but understand that people mostly play because it's fun. I gave out pictures of myself in frames with inspirational messages (because I'm weird like that). I also gave away a cheap bottle of wine.
  • Make sure everyone has a bag to carry their items in. You might even want to provide a "home base" where teams can drop off their items early, though most people won't want to waste the time.
  • Don't serve alcohol before the scavenger hunt; you'll have plenty of time to imbibe afterwards.

Post-hunt meetup
After you send out everyone to chase down their challenges, it's time for you to relax — or at least head to the final rendezvous point to start setting up. I went to a local bar, ordered a beer and watched all the crazy pictures starting to come in on my laptop (I used iMessage, which makes it WAY more easy).

One thing I wish I would have done was set up a projector (or brought an HDMI cord) to display all the pictures for the after party, which would have gotten everyone in the mood. Make sure to watch the clock as the end time draws near; remember, you'll need to dock points for every minute a team/participant is late. 

It helps if you can have someone as an assistant —someone to run interference with you and the teams, and they can help tally the points (the most time-consuming portion of the hunt — it really is much easier to have the teams tally as they go, and you simply confirm at the end).

​Then comes the announcement of the winners, the bestowing of the awards, and finally, where everyone comes up to you and gives you a hug because they had such a great time and want to know when the next one is. 


So that's it — how to have an adult scavenger hunt. If you have any tips, ideas or thoughts I'd love to hear them in the comments below. Maybe you'll get invited to my next epic scavenger hunt (or me to yours)!


Want an easier option? It's just $8 to download a pdf of 36 fun, creative challenges (plus points & rules) for any downtown area.

DOWNLOAD NOW
Finally, I'll take the opportunity to plug GO Scavenger Hunts — which make it SO MUCH EASIER to run these hunts for team building or even bachelorette parties. We design the challenges, tally the points via our app, create an easy-to-use slideshow and just basically doing everything hard for you.

Like this post? Do me a solid and share it: 
25 Comments
Missy link
1/13/2015 07:00:54 am

I was one of the lucky ones invited to Jill's awesome birthday scavenger hunt. It was a great time! One more word of advice - wear comfy shoes!

Reply
Raluca
4/22/2015 08:47:46 pm

Hey! I plan on doing a scavenger hunt for my birthday, too, and your ideas and tips are GOLD!! Thank you so much! Keep up the good work! :)

Reply
Christina
6/24/2015 03:38:06 pm

I'm just began planning my scavenger hunt for a camping trip a month from now - 2 of them actually..one for the kids & one for the adults, and your article an awesome find. Thanks!

Reply
Jill link
6/25/2015 02:23:15 am

They are SO much fun Christina — good luck, and let me know how it goes!

Reply
Susan
7/22/2018 09:25:16 am

How many people would be too many? How long are people out hunting? How many items do they look for? That’s it for now:)

Dina
11/14/2020 02:27:00 pm

I’m planning a hunt for thanksgiving with adult family and friends. Do you have any good things I should have them do? I need some ideas

Sherri
6/29/2015 12:45:14 pm

I LOVE scavenger hunts! I have wanted to have one for adults for a long time but was concerned about safety since everyone would be in cars speeding to get back first. I'm thinking if everyone started out at a mall or somewhere like that, instead of driving places, that might work! Great ideas!

Reply
Jill link
6/30/2015 06:37:01 am

Glad you liked it Sherri! It's definitely more fun (and better for your health) to do scavenger hunts on foot. Good luck on your own scavenger hunt!

Reply
Elizabeth
8/23/2015 04:45:19 pm

Love these ideas! Planning a scavenger hunt for my husbands 50 birthday and have never planned or participated in one before. Can you see it being possible for me to actually participate in the hunt, and big just hang back waiting for the teams to come in? I was hoping to break the groups up by couples and I don't know if my husband would want to do it without me. Thanks again for your terrific ideas!

Reply
tasha
11/7/2015 01:23:27 am

I'm actually planning a hunt, do you think it's a good idea to join the hunt? Or stay out of it?

Reply
Bob
9/28/2019 09:46:21 pm

IDK

Reply
Dawn
8/28/2017 10:46:27 pm

I'm hosting a scavenger hunt for my birthday. Mine will be photos only, no riddles and is about as cheap as I could make it. I organized my lists into categories that help them narrow it down by what they want to do- stay at the mall, go to a park, drive around or walk in a neighborhood. I wanted it to be open to all age groups, abilities and disabilities and work for different personalities. I think the hardest thing to plan is keeping score as photos come in- especially the ones that have options for more points. I printed off many lists and then marked which ideas I liked before typing up my list. Good luck to everyone planning a hunt!

Reply
Rhonda
11/3/2018 03:03:46 pm

I’m planning one for my family. Can you share the details? Where, clues, etc.? TIA

Reply
Claudia
1/17/2018 04:38:15 pm

Hi Jill,

Thanks for the awesome tips! I'm planning a scavenger hunt for my sisters bachelorette party and am pretty new to the whole scavenger hunt for grown ups idea! So I have a couple of questions regarding the clues. How are some of the things on your list clues, e.g. the job application, or asking people about their favourite books? Do you get points for bringing those items, or are they like - time consuming - tasks that you get points for later on?

Sorry, a bit late to the party, but all feedback is really appreciated!

Reply
Debbie S link
6/2/2018 11:11:08 am

Jill-
Love all your ideas. What do i do though , if i want to participate in the hunt also?

Thanks !

Reply
Julie
9/24/2018 08:59:13 pm

This sounds like a lot of fun! I'm planning on giving a scary scavenger hunt for the halloween times. Do you have any suggestions on how to place things over a town and leave clues? It's gotta be scary, so I can't be there to supervise.

Reply
TAMEKA
1/18/2019 12:17:48 pm

This is awesome! Last year I did a bar hop bingo, and loved the originality of the event! This year a scavenger hunt just seemed like the only way to take it up a notch!

Reply
Victoria Tegg link
8/9/2019 12:54:42 am

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Reply
Susan N
8/28/2019 01:05:41 pm

Planning our second Road Rally and looking for some Prize Category suggestions such as Overall Champion, slowest team, a compass for the team that got lost, Any other ideas? Any fun category names?

Reply
Bob
9/28/2019 09:52:31 pm

Planning to make one for my family. Gimme tips plez.

Reply
Sue Altop
10/25/2019 12:24:30 pm

I am planning a Christmas theme scavenger hunt. A few activity type tasks, and pictures. If anyone has cute ideas, please do share. My is in five weeks and I want to have it all planned in the next two weeks.

Thanks for any ideas you have. Our end point will be at our church for a group picture.

Reply
Chris Damianakos link
11/28/2019 10:39:22 am

We have hosting scavenger hunts for years, and stumbled onto your blog. Very nice breakdown! Enjoy!

Reply
rohit aggarwal link
12/31/2019 04:16:50 am

thank you for giving me wonderful information

Reply
Rena
1/2/2020 09:44:49 pm

Is there anyway I could have a scavenger hunt in a school for the teachers during school? They could do it on the down time. I run the sunshine committee and I want to do something fun. Please give me some ideas. Rena

Reply
Owen Carpenter link
12/29/2020 03:44:23 am

I enjoyed reeading your post

Reply



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    Jill Hinton Wolfe,

    Chief Heroine

    I love helping women discover their inner heroines.

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    Jill's books

    Kindle Bestseller Publishing: Write a Bestseller in 30 Days!
    Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us
    Dumplin'
    Playing Big: Find Your Voice, Your Mission, Your Message
    News of the World
    The Power of Meaning: Crafting a Life That Matters
    Summary of Essentialism: by Greg McKeown | Includes Key Takeaways and Analysis
    Dolores Claiborne
    An American Marriage
    The Shining
    Advice for Future Corpses (and Those Who Love Them): A Practical Perspective on Death and Dying
    Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows
    Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
    Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
    Intermittent Fasting: Lose Weight, Heal Your Body, and Live a Healthy Life!
    Exit West
    This Naked Mind: Control Alcohol, Find Freedom, Discover Happiness & Change Your Life
    Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel
    Educated
    Summary of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: by Mark Manson | Includes Key Takeaways & Analysis


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