Twenty things to find, printed in two columns with a tick box against each and a name and date field at the top. The indoor list sends children round the house: a bauble you can see your own face in, a pine needle on the carpet, a string of lights with one bulb out. The out and about list works on a high street instead.
Two different hunts
Indoors is for a house in December and assumes nothing beyond a decorated room: something that smells of oranges, a tin with a lid that will not come off, three different greens in one room, a crumb on somebody's chin.
Out and about is written for a walk into town: a wreath on a front door, a letterbox with a card sticking out, somebody carrying a tree, a dog in a coat, a windscreen somebody has scraped. The Both setting prints the two lists on separate sheets.
Why the items are worded the way they are
Every one is something a child can decide for themselves, with no adult needed to adjudicate. A dog in a coat either walked past or it did not. That matters, because a hunt stalls the moment two children disagree about whether something counts.
The printed instruction under the title says no climbing and no opening presents, which covers the two things that otherwise happen within ten minutes of handing the sheet over.
Settings and printing
The items control sets sixteen, eighteen or twenty. Twenty is what it opens on and fills the sheet. Sixteen is the one to use for a younger child or a shorter walk, and it leaves more space between the lines for a wobbly tick.
Print one per child rather than one per family. The whole appeal is a sheet of your own with your own ticks on it, and sharing a single list turns it into an argument in about four minutes.
Questions
- How many things are on the Christmas scavenger hunt?
- Twenty as it opens, with sixteen and eighteen also available above the sheet. They print in two columns with a tick box against each and a name and date field at the top.
- Is there an outdoor version?
- Yes. The hunt control switches between Indoors, Out and about, and Both. The outdoor list is written for a walk into town and the Both setting prints the two lists on separate sheets.
- What age is it for?
- Roughly four to ten. Nothing on either list needs reading skill beyond a short phrase, and every item is something a child can judge for themselves without asking an adult whether it counts.
- Can I use it for a class or a party?
- Yes, and printing is free and unlimited. Print one sheet per child rather than one per group, because the point of the game is ticking your own list rather than watching somebody else tick theirs.