Scavenger Hunts for Teens

We would send each kid out with a quarter (or a dime or something) and ask them to go to a house and trade it for something the homeowner didn't want. Usually they would get a canned good or something for their quarter, then they would go to the next house and trade whatever they got for something else. It was a neat way to do it, and you wouldn't believe the stuff the kids came back with. One time one group came back with a chair! Just a suggestion. Have fun!

here are some scavenger ideas:
the team with most of these wins:
1. have your picture taken with group on a tractor.
2. have a picture taken with your group making a pyramid.
3. have your picture taken w/ group in a convertible.
4. find a wedding picture of a couple from the 70's.
5. have picture taken with 3 different pets.
6. have picture taken with a police officer.
7. have your picture taken with your group all hanging from the monkey bars.

you can do pictures or have the kids find items like....a rubiks cube, certain movies, etc depending on if there's a theme. be creative and have fun....keep the kids moving by expecting them to take digital pictures. that's always FUN!!

We used to do these all the time growing up. We used to get a list and an area to start out. We did them in groups. Like 5 groups of 3 or 4 people. That way, they have to use strategic planning to get all the items in the least amount of time. Don't tell them that though. Let them figure that out. Start out with like they need college ruled notbook paper no spriral. They have to go from house to house asking neighbors if they have it. tell them they have to be polite when asking for it and always thank the person. they have to tell the people what they are doing....or send an advance notice to the neigborhood.

Hi J.,
I planned a scavenger hunt for the kids on our block at one of our block parties and it turned out to be a blast. The children were split up in 2 groups with about 8 in each group with varying age levels. (You can split into as many groups as you want.) I made both of the lists the same so that it would be fair. I love the picture ideas you already received, that sounds like a hoot. I don't think I was that clever. The winning team got to pick some grab bag gifts I bought at the local salvation army. I think that part was the most fun.
Another year, I organized a watermelon hunt. There were 2 teams again with different clues to finally end them up at a waiting watermelon. The clues were like "go to the stop sign at the SW corner and read on to find the next clue." Of course, the night before I was out taping clues to stop sings and neighbor's porches and potted plants. The watermelon hunt definitely required more thought and time. For the teens, you can make it even harder and go off the block, but you don't need to. This year I am going to do bowling in the street. I collected 24 pins from bowling alleys for free and purchased a ball at a garage sale and we will have bowling for the teens and adults. There's a book called "Block Parties and Poker Nights" that you may get some other ideas, but I just looked and no scavenger ideas. Darn. Good Luck!!

talk to the homeowners etc in the area that you want to do this and come up with some small stuff/maybe odd things that they need to find. you could even supply the homeowners with the oddity. the main thing is to make sure that you let the homeowners know that these kids will be coming to their doors!
have a list of25 things or so for them to find. and set a time limit. first back with all items in the time limit wins. if no one comes back with all, the one with the most!
should be fun!

J.,

How about having a video scavenger hunt where you break up into two teams each led by an adult. Each team video tapes themselves doing different things around the neighborhood that they are assigned. For example, singing the star spangled banner to a stranger, doing a victory dance in front of a stop sign.... and then they can all come back and watch the video. My sister did this with her daughter and friends. Each of the lead adults drove the kids around town and the teams did funny things for example proposing to the gas station attendant at the local gas station, but I think driving would not even be necessary and that they could do it on foot.

Good Luck
Kerstin

Play "I Spy". It takes prep time, but it is an interesting way to make the everyday scenery new. Take close up pictures of things in your neighborhood. Make the image abstract by really zooming in on the subject. Give the kids clues as to what it is. When they find it they write down the address where it can be located.

J.,

Scavenger hunts are really fun and they can be as silly as you want them to be. But, I just wanted to give you another idea for the teens just in case you still want to explore your options. I just read this in my Family Fun magazine. It's called a "Fitness Party." Of course the activities for teens is not the only focus of your event so maybe you can copy this idea but do an obstacle course type game in one of the backyards or in the street. You can do things like potato sack races, water balloon toss, etc. The article even has a game called "Knock'em Down, Stand'em Up" This is a game where you place cones (those orange football cones from like Target or Walmart-enexpensive) some are standing up right and some are knocked over on their sides. Get 2 teams. 1 team is the Stand'em Up team and the other is the Knock'em down team. When the whistle blows the Up team has to stand all the fallen cones. The Down team has to knock down the standing ones. Each play lasts 3 minutes and the team with the most cones in the correct position wins.
These type of events are great ways to get kids active while challenging them. You can even pick prizes for the winning team of the entire event.
I'm sure whatever you decide will be a great success. Great job for gathering your neighbors together! What a nice thing to do! Have fun!
JJ

When I was a teenager we used to have scavenger hunts using Polaroid Instant cameras. We would have to take pictures of ourselves completing various tasks. We had to go to neighborhood homes and ask for help. The more creative our pictures were, the better. We had do get pictures doing something like, "blowing bubbles in a shower" - so we took a picture of our group in a neighbor's shower (clothed!) blowing bubbles with bubble gum. Or we had to get a picture with a member of the high school football team. You can be creative and come up with lots of fun ideas. Instead of Polaroid pictures you could use digital cameras and then print out the pictures on regular paper for people to see. It was a lot of fun and always interesting to see what people came up with.