Scavenger Hunts: The 1930s Manhattan Craze, Rules and 60 Ideas for Kids and Adults
Scavenger hunts were popularised by New York socialite Elsa Maxwell in the early 1930s. The history, how they differ from treasure hunts, rules that work, and item ideas for indoor, outdoor, classroom, birthday and photo hunts.
A scavenger hunt turns any house, garden or classroom into a game board. The rules fit on one line — find these things before time runs out — and the list can be tuned for toddlers, teenagers or a corporate away day.
Where do scavenger hunts come from?
Hunting games with lists are as old as village fairs, but the modern scavenger hunt has a surprisingly glamorous origin. In the early 1930s the New York gossip columnist and party-giver Elsa Maxwell sent Manhattan's richest guests out into the city with lists of absurd items to bring back. The craze was famous enough to be satirised in the 1936 film My Man Godfrey, in which socialites at a scavenger hunt try to collect a "forgotten man" from the city dump. Maxwell wrote in 1944 that at her treasure hunts "intellectual men were paired off with great beauties, glamor with talent" — the pairing of strangers into teams is still the secret of a good hunt.
Children's parties adopted the format after the war, schools use it for orientation days and vocabulary practice, and photo hunts on phones have made it a favourite for hen parties, office socials and family reunions.
What you need
- A list. Our Scavenger Hunt builds one for the age, location and theme you pick, shows one item at a time with a countdown, and keeps the team scores.
- A defined area and a time limit.
- A phone camera for photo hunts.
How to run a scavenger hunt
- Choose the area and split the players into teams of two to four.
- Give every team the same list — or show one item at a time on the screen so nobody can plan ahead.
- Start the timer. Teams race to find, photograph or bring back each item.
- A found item scores a point; hard items score two or three.
- When time is up, count the points. Ties are settled by a lightning round of one final item.
60 ideas
Indoor: something red, a spoon, a sock without a pair, a book with a blue cover, something older than you, a key, a coin, something that smells nice, a ticket, a photo of a pet, something soft, a battery, a paperclip, a rubber band, a hat.
Outdoor: a feather, a smooth stone, a Y-shaped stick, a leaf bigger than your hand, something yellow, a seed, a flower petal (fallen), a pine cone, an insect (photo only), a cloud shaped like an animal (photo), a bird, a puddle, something man-made in nature, a footprint, a dandelion.
Classroom: a word with three syllables, something that measures, a map, a book by an author whose name starts with S, a triangle, a fact about your teacher, a prime number, a word in another language, a right angle, a synonym for "big", a fossil (picture), a coin from another country, a stapler, chalk, an eraser.
Photo hunt: your team doing a pyramid, a stranger high-fiving you, a reflection, a selfie with a statue, something purple, everyone jumping, a shadow puppet, a team letter spelled with bodies, a sign with a number 7, a duck-face, a hidden face, someone reading, a bicycle, a bench, a rainbow (any).
Variations
- Birthday hunt — each item earns one piece of the cake reveal or a clue to the present.
- Reverse hunt — one team hides the items first.
- Alphabet hunt — find something for every letter.
- Sound hunt — record five sounds instead of collecting objects.
Tips for hosts
- Set boundaries first: which rooms, which streets, which hedges are off limits.
- Mix easy and hard items so every team scores something.
- Have a "no item, take a photo instead" rule for anything fragile or living.
- End with the reveal of the strangest find — that is the story everyone tells.
Play Scavenger Hunt now — free, no sign-up
Play a Scavenger Hunt online: the screen calls out what to find — "something BLUE!", "a leaf bigger than your hand!" — with a countdown for each challenge. Age groups from 3–5 to adults, home, outdoor, classroom, birthday and office hunts.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a scavenger hunt and a treasure hunt?
A treasure hunt follows clues to one hidden prize. A scavenger hunt gives everyone a list of items to find or tasks to do, and the winner is whoever completes the most in the time.
How long should a scavenger hunt last?
Fifteen to twenty minutes for young children, thirty to forty-five for older kids and adults. A per-item countdown keeps the energy up.
What is a photo scavenger hunt?
Instead of bringing items back, players photograph them: "a photo of something older than you", "a photo of your whole team jumping". It works anywhere and the photos are the souvenir.