I started doing scavenger hunts in the library back in October and they are such a cheap, easy, and FUN thing for kids to do! I have had families tell me that they get excited to come to the library because of them. The class visits race to finish them after they check out their books. I also love making them.
How My Scavenger Hunts Work
I make eight items out of construction paper and I make a set for all five of our library locations. I like doing themed ones, but not directly holiday related. We hide the pictures around the youth section of the library and vary their difficulty. There is a checklist with an image of each item that they can mark as they find them. When they finish, they get a sticker as a prize.
I move the images around each week so my regulars can do it every time they come to the library and they love that!
How I Make Them
I like finding clipart or freehanding an initial drawing of what I want and then tracing it onto colored construction paper. When I use clipart, it is easy to make them all match and then I can use that same image for the checklist. I love layering different construction papers too because it gives them such a cute effect. You can also just print out pictures and put them around the library.
Amanda Roberson wrote a post about their scavenger hunts in the library on the ALSC blog and it has some great ideas!
If you want them to last longer, you can laminate them. Sometimes, they do get pulled off of their spots or colored on. I don’t mind that though!
Getting Feedback
In addition to the stats of how many kids completed the scavenger hunt, I love getting feedback. I ask the kids if it was too easy or too hard and then I move them around each week keeping their opinions in mind.
My Scavenger Hunts So Far
I started with a spooky scavenger hunt in October. That was followed up by a winter one that ran December through January. I had kids ask me to make a Thanksgiving one so I plan on doing that for them next year! Most recently, I made a Valentine’s Day one for February and I will start working on a spring one for March and April soon.
There are also tons of ideas for different types of scavenger hunts on Pinterest. So far, my patrons prefer the simplicity of finding images, but maybe in the future, I will do one with clues.
Have you done a scavenger hunt in your library? How did it go?