20 of The Most Unusual Scavenger Hunt Themes You Must Try

As the warm weather fast approaches, it’s a great time to get out and have some fun with the family.

Here are 20 of the best scavenger hunt themes for you to try.

1. Glow-In-The-Dark

Arm teams with flashlights and send them from point to point, using glow-in-the-dark balloons, stickers, and bracelets to mark the way.

2. Graveyard Hunt

Teams set out at dusk to search a cemetery for a list of items, such as a tombstone with an engraved flower, the grave of a baby or a headstone for a couple named Richard and Ruth.

3. A Night in Nature

This hunt has you listening and observing the nighttime world for owls hooting, cats fighting, planes flying overhead and crickets chirping.

4. Beg and Bargain

At this year’s neighborhood block party, plan a coordinating scavenger hunt where groups roam the neighborhood trying to beg or bargain for the items on their list.

5. Community Involvement

A great photo hunt opportunity where teams complete a list of tasks that involve getting people on the street to comply with unusual requests, such as impromptu piggyback rides, a game of leap frog or a splash in a fountain, all with photo evidence.

6. Door-to-Door

Knock on doors, meet people and tick things off your list as you collect items from your neighbors.

7. Recorded Evidence

This hunt uses recording devices on Smartphones to capture various sounds, such as a church bell, a siren or a barking dog.

8. One-Upmanship

Two teams compete to find the best example of each item on the list. One team heads out for the first item, and when they return, the second team goes out and tries to do one better than them. The high scorer wins the hunt.

9. Secondhand Finds

Make yard sales a little more engaging by taking along a hunt list. Take a photo of each item you find, and the one who spots the most takes the prize.

10. People Watching

While picnicking in the park, keep your eyes on the people around you for a man wearing a red shirt, a couple holding hands, someone sneezing or a baby crying.

11. Paint Colors

Using paint sample strips as your scavenger list, hunt for items of the same colors as your palette, inside or out.

12. A Pot ‘o Gold

Clues lead you to stashes of golden coins to be collected, and at the end of it all, you’ve found a pot ‘o gold.

13. Buried Treasure

Bury some items in the sandbox out back and get your little ones to dig until they unearth all the items on their list.

14. Beach Combing

Provide a list of things to look for on your walk through the surf, such as a clam shell, a solid black stone or a piece of blue sea glass.

15. Along the Trail

If you’re going hiking with the kids, print out a list of nature finds for them to search for as some added motivation.

16. Water Fight

Put rolled up, laminated word scrolls inside water balloons and as the fight ensues, the kids must collect the words and arrange them into the final clue to lead them to a prize.

17. Promotion Play

Set up a scavenger hunt with local businesses to spread fun through the community and offer some added business exposure.

18. Everything’s on YouTube

Have kids search online for videos of the funniest cat video, the best volcanic eruption or the most amazing science experiment.

19. Sightseeing

Participants solve clues and consult a map to make their way to a series of local landmarks.

20. Strung Along

Lay a confusing path of yarn, weaving and winding through the house. Then let the kids follow the trail and unravel their way to a prize.

Join us at Riddle Me to get the best of ideas for your scavenger hunt parties.