Planning a scavenger hunt can be overwhelming. How will the teams be divided? Where will it take place? What will the teams do? How much time to you want to take for planning the scavenger hunt? Here are some fundamentals to help get you started.

1. Having the scavenger hunt take place at one location is far simpler than driving to various spots. If you choose to go to different sites, drive along the route you have selected at least twice during the planning phase. Perform another test run one or two days before the actual hunt takes place so that you have an opportunity to make adjustments if any are needed.

2. Decide what you want the teams to do. Take into consideration the age levels of those participating in the scavenger hunt. Collecting items is easiest. Following clues will take more time to plan.

Make clues for the teams to follow. You can keep it simple or get creative. Examples: use sentences, rhymes, riddles

During the hunt, have the teams collect items from a list. Examples: takeout menu, feather, dog treat

Come up with questions that could be answered during the drive. Examples: What time does vacation bible school start? What is the town’s population? How many kids are pictured on the billboard advertising a daycare?

Assign the teams tasks. Examples: Get five cars to beep their horns. Buy a specific item at the grocery store. Have your picture taken at the park.

Have challenges for everyone to compete in. Examples: beanbag toss, food challenge, tug of war

Do a combination of these activities.

3. The planner can choose who will be on each team or have a random drawing to pick teams.

4. Go over any ground rules before the scavenger hunt begins. Tell the contestants that only one item can be collected at each location. You might want to set a time limit, so you will need to tell them . Hand out instructions, supplies and the first clue. Make sure that each team has a cell phone and your number in case they need help.

5. To determine the champion you can go with the team that finished first or you use a point system. Award points for finishing first, each item collected, questions answered correctly, each beanbag that landed in the hula hoop, etc. Deduct a point if a team needed to call you for assistance.

Try not to get stressed out if there are glitches during the hunt. It is a simple fact of life that things do not always go as planned. Keep it in perspective and have a good time.