Materials
You don’t need a list of people to find, but if you want to make it easier for youth, give them a list

Scavenger Hunt Objective
Find the Teachers, counselors, or church members

How to Play
1. All the teachers are assigned a point value. Including negative numbers! Make them crazy numbers and they can be randomly assigned. You may wish to assign the highest value to someone in a very difficult to find location and the highest negative number to someone in a very obvious location (in the open).
2. Choose a crowded mall, or a local park for the scavenger hunt
3. The teachers / councelors / or church members then go hide. Some might may even be disguised.
4. The youth then go in search of the counselors with a piece of paper and a pen. They work best in groups of 4 or 5. They must write the name of the person they found and the location they found them. If you want to ensure the youth actually found the person, have the person autograph the paper. Of course in the process of autographing a group’s sheet, the hidden person may accidentally reveal themselves to another group.
5. After the game, you tally up the points and give out a crazy prize for the winners.

Variation
Teachers can assign the group a wild and wacky task before signing the piece of paper.

See Conducting Scavenger Hunts for help, Hints, Safety Considerations, Rules, and other useful information to make your scavenger hunt a wild success!

is a 160 page e-book that explains everything you need to know to easily plan your very own scavenger hunt: Item Lists, Rules, Riddles, Safety Tips, Guidelines, Scoring, Tips for Facilitators and MORE! There are more than 50 complete ideas (scavenger hunts, photo hunts, video hunts, amazing race, etc.) to use at home, around the neighborhood, at the mall, in the park, on the beach, at church, and around town!

=> Tell me more about the Creative Scavenger Hunts

Materials
1. handheld camcorder / video camera for each team
or
2. Digital or traditional 35mm camera for each team

Scavenger Hunt Objective
This is merely a photo scavenger hunt with a special title and a couple of items related to the popular “Where’s Waldo” books. Another key factor is that the entire group must be seen in each picture. Teams are awarded bonuses for non-group members they are able to persuade to be in the pictures. When choosing your list be aware of the sensitivities of your youth and their adult sponsors. The intention is not to offend but to have fun. Don’t use all the suggestions in one outing. Save some for a future repeat as this ativity is sure to be a hit. You can use slide film and have a slide show at the end or use regular photos and have special bulletin boards. You can even make a little money if you decide to auction off the pictures or print reprints. For digital photos upload them to a website so everyone can access them.

The List
(Assign points to these based on the difficulty to accomplish each)
* Picture of your team drinking a coke out of one glass with straws
* Picture of your team with a Where’s Waldo Book!
* Picture of a crowd scene. Your team among a large crowd of people, but with everyone’s faces visible. The team with the largest crowd recieves an extra 5000 points.
* Picture of your team standing on their heads.
* Picture of your team holding cereal boxes.
* Picture of your team in front of a fire station.
* Picture of your team on an escalator.
* Picture of your team all licking the same ice-cream cone.
* Picture of your team with the guys on their knees, holding the hands of the girls in the team.
* Picture of your team with (local landmark) in the background.
* Picture of your team with a Police station in the background.
* Picture of your team behind bars (Hint: You don’t have to break the law to do this)
* Picture of your team’s funniest faces
* Picture of your team playing in a playground
* Picture of your team with the parent’s of someone on your team.
* Picture of your team in a mirror
* Picture of your team holding hands stretched across a residential street (be safe)
* Picture of your team with a guy on the team in a dress
* Picture of your team ALL on the same bench in a park
* Picture of your team on a bus
* Picture of your team with a boat in the background
* Picture of your team with a church staff member
* Picture of your team’s bare feet only
* Picture of your team with a museum in the background
* Picture of your team with the guys kissing the girls
* Picture of your team with panyhose over everyone’s heads. (NOT in a PUBLIC place or near a bank)
* Picture of your team with everyone wearing shaving cream beards.
* Picture of your team with one member dressed up like WALLY!
* Picture of your team all in a phone booth
* Picture of your team on a glass elevator
* Picture of your team in a bathtub
* Picture of your team illustrating the classical monkey statues of “I hear nothing, see nothing, say nothing” poses
* Picture of your team’s saddest faces
* Picture of your team with the girls holding frying pans, and rolling pins and threatening the guys with them
* Picture of your team with all the younger brothers/ sisters of someone on your team.
* Picture of your team with a church in the background
* Picture of your team all hugging each other
* Picture of your team all wearing sunglasses
* Picture of your team with everyone blowing bubbles
* Picture of your team with one of the guys wearing a wig
* Picture of your team eating popcorn
* Picture of your team with someone in curlers
* Picture of your team picking each other’s noses – (don’t eat it!)
* Picture of your entire team standing up in one tree. (Double points for each stranger)
* Picture of your team modeling bibs from a local dining establishment. Please ask manager first.
* Picture of your entire team standing on a fire engine. Thank the firemen.
* Picture of your team standing in front of a large public clock that reads exactly 7:15 PM.
* Picture of your of one of your team members kissing a mannequin in a clothes store while the rest of the team looks on. Get permission first!
* Picture of your entire team with their feet immersed in a body of water (creek, pool, etc.).
* Picture of your team with a live amphibian or reptile.
* Picture of your team standing with a pregnant woman
* Picture of your team in front of a school spelling out the letters of the school name using your bodies.
* Picture of your team in front of the church spelling out the letters of your church name using your bodies.
* Picture of your team forming a Christian symbol
* Picture of your team in front of cemetary

Variation
1. Use the standard rules, but add “For each non-group member in a picture, a bonus of 50 points is added.”
2. Print out invitations and have your youth invite every person they involve in their photos to your church.

Awards
In addition to awarding an overall winner, also award prizes for funniest, best dressed, most unlikely Bible character, etc.

See Conducting Scavenger Hunts for help, Hints, Safety Considerations, Rules, and other useful information to make your scavenger hunt a wild success!

is a 160 page e-book that explains everything you need to know to easily plan your very own scavenger hunt: Item Lists, Rules, Riddles, Safety Tips, Guidelines, Scoring, Tips for Facilitators and MORE! There are more than 50 complete ideas (scavenger hunts, photo hunts, video hunts, amazing race, etc.) to use at home, around the neighborhood, at the mall, in the park, on the beach, at church, and around town!

=> Tell me more about the Creative Scavenger Hunts

Materials
1. handheld camcorder / video camera for each team
or
2. Digital or traditional 35mm camera for each team

Scavenger Hunt Objective
Youth must go to church members homes and video tape those church members acting out Bible scenes on their front yards.

The List
Make a list of Bible scenes and allow them to do each scene at one home only. Photograph or videotape it.
Examples: Creation, Adam and Eve and the apple, Noah’s ark, David and Goliath, Samson, Jesus, Balaam, Moses parting the Red Sea, Conquering Jericho, Ezra rebuilding the temple, Daniel in the lion’s den, Jonah and the whale, Joseph cast in a well, The plagues of Egypt, Baptism of Christ, Healing the paralytic, healing the blind man, Miracles of Jesus, Scenes from a specific book of the Bible, The angel visits the shepherd, the birth of Christ, the Wisemen, The cross, the resurrection, Easter events, Christmas events, Paul and Silas in prison, Paul’s shipwreck, Scenes from Revelation, Jesus walking on water, Jesus calms the seas, Feeding the 5000, and so many more you can choose from…

Variation
For video, they may also choose to sing the praise and worship choruses with the family watching. Give them extra points if that can get the family to participate.

Awards
In addition to awarding an overall winner, also award prizes for funniest, best dressed, most unlikely Bible character, etc.

See Conducting Scavenger Hunts for help, Hints, Safety Considerations, Rules, and other useful information to make your scavenger hunt a wild success!

is a 160 page e-book that explains everything you need to know to easily plan your very own scavenger hunt: Item Lists, Rules, Riddles, Safety Tips, Guidelines, Scoring, Tips for Facilitators and MORE! There are more than 50 complete ideas (scavenger hunts, photo hunts, video hunts, amazing race, etc.) to use at home, around the neighborhood, at the mall, in the park, on the beach, at church, and around town!

=> Tell me more about the Creative Scavenger Hunts

Purpose

The primary goal of a scavenger hunt is to send participants out with a list of things to find, obtain, photograph, videotape, audio record, etc. The hope is that while they are working together as a team, relationships will be developed.

Publicity Opportunity

Make invitations to your church, business, or organization and give them to everyone who participates or that interacts with the groups in some way. Or create a small thank you card with your contact information. Participants can give a thank you card to everyone who helps them. Even better, invite them to a party or slideshow where the results will be displayed.

Preparing Item Lists

Lists can be as creative and wild as you want them to be. Design your list around a theme or concept:
Ecological, Bible Objects, Occupations, Food, Canned Goods, Prices of items, Animal Tracks, footprints, Photos at History Locations, People, sounds, clothing, church members, Camp Supplies, Items for the needy, recycled materials, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, New Year, Halloween, Noah’s Ark Party, old family photos, fruits, vegetables, widgets, Posed Photos, Video, etc.

Protecting Participants

1. Don’t let any youth drive – put adults in charge and don’t allow horseplay on the roads like “Chinese fire drills”. Make sure everyone wears seatbelts or take major points away if they are caught on film without them on. You could also conduct the scavenger hunt on foot. You don’t want a participant killed while speeding during your scavenger hunts.
2. Participants must obey all laws and instructions from sponsors
3. Limit the play area and place people at strategic locations if needed to insure the safety of participants.
4. Make sure each group has a mobile phone and contact numbers for emergency.

Points

1. Set a specific point value for each item on the list.
2. Have a point penalty for each minute late to the final destination or to report back with the items.
3. For Video or photo scavenger hunts, give extra points to groups for having a company, organization, or church logo in every picture. You could also require a Bible, a mascot, or some other object in each picture. Some groups have even been known to have to carry a large teddy bear or other object ( a couch) around to be in each picture.
4. Award extra points for having everyone in the group as part of the photo or video.

Planning the Scavenger Hunt – 10 Steps

1. PURPOSE: What is the purpose of your scavenger hunt.
   (Is it an icebreaker? For team building? Just for fun?)
2. TYPE: What type of scavenger hunt is it?
   (Is it to collect objects? a photo scavenger hunt? A video scavenger hunt? A sound scavenger hunt? Others?)
3. THEME: What is the theme?
   (Is it a Pirate’s Treasure Hunt? a Superhero Hunt? Aladin’s Magic Carpet Hunt? Others?)
4. LOCATION: Where will the hunt take place? What are the boundaries?
   (Is it limited to a school or church building? The downtown area? Walking distance? Reconnoiter the location to determine potential problems. Get permission in advance from affected businesses and individuals.)
5. ITEM LIST: What items do participants need to collect?
   (Based on your purpose, type of hunt, and theme, make a list of items that can be found in the specified boundaries. Are subsitutions allowed?)
6. SCORING: How will points be allocated?
   (Are some items worth more than others? Are there points for creativity and quality?)
7. INVITATIONS: Who will be invited to the join in the Scavenger Hunt?
   (What do they need to bring? What do they need to wear? Tailor the invitations to your theme.)
8. TEAMS: How will participants be divided into teams?
9. RULES: What are the rules?
   (Take into consideration the safety of participants as well as minimizing potential problems.)
10. AWARDS: Determine the location and the time for the awards party.
    (How will teams present their items to the judges?)

Hints

1. For a photo or video scavenger hunt, do it early enough in the day so you can see the videotape or photos on the screen (if you don’t all you’ll see is a dark screen and hear them)
2. Give points to the most creative group per category with a prize at the end
3. Give youth enough time to go out and do these things. You can get great footage if they have enough time and aren’t rushed and you could make an end of the year video with some of the shots.
4. Have fun and reward all of the participants at the end.

is a 160 page e-book that explains everything you need to know to easily plan your very own scavenger hunt: Item Lists, Rules, Riddles, Safety Tips, Guidelines, Scoring, Tips for Facilitators and MORE! There are more than 50 complete ideas (scavenger hunts, photo hunts, video hunts, amazing race, etc.) to use at home, around the neighborhood, at the mall, in the park, on the beach, at church, and around town!

=> Tell me more about the Creative Scavenger Hunts

Game Materials
Newsprint, or two whiteboards and markers
Youth Create a wacky love letter, one word at a time.

Game Play
1. Tell the groups that they as a team will be writing the best love letter they know how.
2. Line each team up in a single file line and one at a time write one word of their letter on a large piece of paper you have taped up onto the wall in front of each group.
3. Start both teams out with the same line such as “Honey, I love you so much that…”
4. One at a time team members will go to the board and add a word to their team’s letter.
5. Tell them ahead of time that they will be disqualified if they write anything inappropriate. Make sure your leaders are watching this as well.
6. When one person is done writing one word he/she will go to the end of their line and the next person will write a word.
7. They cannot talk with one another or share ideas with one another.
8. Give them four minutes to complete the letter.
9. Pick on student from each team to read their letter out loud to the rest of the group and have a panel of leaders vote on the best letter.

Replay
You can do it again, this time writing a break-up letter. This time start the letter, Honey I know we’ve had good times but…

Holiday Collection

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween or Fall Festival, and Thanksgiving event. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for all these holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

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Game Materials
Chairs for youth arranged in a circle.

Game Objective
Can you get someone of the opposite sex to smile?

Game Play
1. This is a “lose when you smile” game.
2. Everyone sits in a circle and one person is “it” in the center.
3. The goal of the person in the center is to get someone of the opposite sex to smile.
4. He/ she does this by going up to a person of the opposite sex and saying in whatever manner desired to get a smile, “Honey, if you love me would you please, please, smile.”
5. The person chosen must then say, making eye contact, without a smile, “Honey, I love you, but I just can’t smile.”
6. If he/she smiles, then he/she becomes “it.”

Game Application
Conclude this activity by saying that we often place conditions on our love. “I will love you if…” “If you love me you will…” “I love you because..” True love is unconditional.

Cautions
You may want to set specific rules, such as “no body contact” to keep this from getting out of hand.

Holiday Collection

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween or Fall Festival, and Thanksgiving event. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for all these holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

=> Tell me more about the Holiday Collection

Game Materials
1. A cheap, rubber-tipped bow and arrow or dart gun for each team.
2. Heart shaped or red balloons
3. Straight pins
4. Slips of paper

Game Objective
Youth must pop balloons with cupid’s arrows and correctly piece together a love poem or scripture verse.

Game Preparation
1. Stick a straight pin carefully through the rubber tip so that the arrow or dart is “loaded.”
2. Create a corny love poem such as: “Roses are red, violets are blue; if you kiss me, you’ll come down with the flu.”
3. Write each word of the poem on a slip of paper and place it in a balloon.
4. Inflate the balloons and tape them to a wall. Have a different color or balloon designation for each team. Red, White, Pink, pastels are nice.
5. Mark a tape line on the floor at least 10 feet from the targets and line up each team single file behind the tape.
6. Have a responsible assistant handle the “ammo.” To avoid dangerous crossfire, ammo should only be collected once all teams have shot all thier arrows.

Game Play
1. Each person gets one shot at the balloons, then moves to the back of the line.
2. When a balloon pops and after all shooting ceases, retrieve the word-clue from any balloon that popped and give it to the team of that color (It is possible that another team may pop the balloon for you if their aim is off)
3. The first team to figure out the poem wins!

Variation
Instead of love poems, use Bible Verses related to love or relationships.

Holiday Collection

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween or Fall Festival, and Thanksgiving event. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for all these holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

=> Tell me more about the Holiday Collection

Game Materials
Valentine’s Day candy conversation hearts (BE MINE, COOL KID, LOVER BOY, KISS ME, MY GAL, etc.)

Game Objective
Play a game of charades using candy conversation hearts as the messages.

Game Preparation
1. For this game to be effective, there must be quite a number of different conversation hearts to choose from.
2. Put all the candy in a bowl.

Game Play
1. One person from a group picks out one of the candies from the bowl and, using the regular rules for Charades, tries to pantomime the message.
2. The person who correctly guesses the saying gets to eat that piece of candy.
3. It’s fun to watch the participants try to do phrases like LOVER BOY, KISS ME, and all the other crazy sayings found on the candy.

Game Variation
Use Valentine Cards instead of Valentine candy.

Game Variation
Use different emotions for the items to be pantomimed. The person who guesses the emotion gets a point. Emotions that can be used are: anger, fear, happy, nervous, bored, bitter, overwhlemed, depressed, at peace, embarassed, loved, proud, detached, shocked, hate, and finally, love

Game Variation
In larger groups you might give each person one of the above emotions. There should be at least two people that have each emotion. The objective will be to display the emotion until you find the other members of your group. When you think you have your partners/group have a seat. Continue until all groups are seated. Then have each group strike a pose of their emotion ending finally with that of love. What does love look like? What actions show love? How did you find your group? How do we find love?

Holiday Collection

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween or Fall Festival, and Thanksgiving event. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for all these holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

=> Tell me more about the Holiday Collection

Game Materials
A Valentine Design

Game Objective
Create random Valentine’s from youth responses.

Game Preparation
Before the party, design a crazy-looking valentine, listing four parts to the message: (Be sure to leave plenty of space between the lines. You’ll want to experiment with different valentine designs and choose the one that works best. See the following example.)
1. Dear
2. I want you to be my valentine because
3. The thing I like most about you is
4. Love,

Game Play
1. At the party. hand out the blank valentines and instruct everyone to write his or her name in blank 1.
2. Then fold and tape the top over his or her name. It is important that no one sees the names.
3. Valentines are then gathered and randomly redistributed.
4. Everyone fills in blank 2 with a funny message. Fold down the top to cover blank 2.
5. Gather and randomly redistribute again
6. Everyone then fills in blank 3 and signs his or her name in blank 4.
7. Gather all valentines.
8. Read the valentines aloud to the group. Be alert to edit any portions of the valentine that might be embarrassing or inappropriate to the receiver.

Holiday Collection

Creative Holiday Ideas has over 300 pages of ideas to help you plan your next New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween or Fall Festival, and Thanksgiving event. If you’ve ever wondered what you’re going to do for all these holidays and how you’re going to do it, this resource is for you.

=> Tell me more about the Holiday Collection