Creating a scavenger hunt birthday for my youngest son helped learn several ways to make your scavenger hunt locations even better.
Here are my top three tips.
Call the Business
When I created the scavenger hunt for my youngest son’s birthday several years ago, it was my first one. I made a lot of mistakes. For one thing, I made a simple birthday party about three hours long! Yikes!
But I also did some things that worked really well. One thing I did was call each business ahead of time. I called the local coffee shop that served all kinds of pastries and let them know we were coming by. When we arrived, they not only had fresh cookies ready, they also had the staff ready to sing a song.
I also called the local library so everyone could check out a book. It’s a good thing I did because they were able to let me know they weren’t open that day. It was just one of the ways I realized that calling ahead is a great way to make your scavenger hunt locations even better.
Have Special Visitors
Another thing you can do is have special visitors. When we made our stop at Toys R Us (remember those?), to pick up Evan’s gift, it was hand delivered by Geoffrey the Giraffe with special gift bags for all the other guests. It added another layer to a fantastic event.
Not only that, the scavenger hunt was built much like an AweVenture where there was a video of an adventure guide leading you from place to place. For Evan’s adventure, I had my family members dress up as heroes and villains leading him from location to location. Having special visitors is a great way to make your scavenger hunt locations even better.
Hide Key Items
Finally, you can hide items along the way. This could be a treasure you want people to find, a part of a clue they have to solve, a note they need to decode, or something else.
When Even went on his scavenger hunt, part of the event had a small chest he had to find. At this point in his life he was enamored with “potions” and mixing things together. A little memory of high school chemistry gave me an idea.
I secured some phenolphthalein off the internet and put a little with some water in one tiny glass jar. Then I put some baking soda dissolved in water in another tiny glass jar. Both liquids were clear, but when they mixed, they turned purple (be sure to use some wipes or wash hands afterward if you try this yourself). It was a cool little trick like any number of things you can do to make your scavenger hunt locations even better.
Make Your Scavenger Hunt Locations Even Better
There are all kinds of ways you can make your scavenger hunt locations better which will make your scavenger hunt unforgettable. These are just a few ways to turn them up a notch. Hopefully they will spark other ideas that you can use to make each location even more fun.
The best way I’ve found is to check with the businesses or people involved ahead of time, include special visitors, and hide key items for lots of fun. Whatever way you choose, I hope you have a blast with your scavenger hunt as you find where your adventure will take you.
