Youth Group Scavenger Hunt (Free Printable for Leaders)
Print a free youth group scavenger hunt with 32 finds and challenges for 10 to 25 kids aged 6 to 12 at a church hall, community center or camp. Teams search indoors and out, do a few things together and finish with some kind acts.
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The hunt list
All 32 lines are loaded above: finds, team tasks and kind acts, with points after the bar. Cross out anything your building lacks and add the landmarks your group knows, like the mural or the squeaky door.
- A room where the chairs are stacked (1 pts)
- A door that is propped open (1 pts)
- The exit sign closest to the kitchen (2 pts)
- Something older than everyone on your team (3 pts)
- A bulletin board with a flyer on it (1 pts)
- A coat hook with a coat on it (1 pts)
- A clock that shows the wrong time (3 pts)
- Three different kinds of chair (1 pts)
- A window you can see a tree through (1 pts)
- A stack of cups taller than your shoe (2 pts)
- A sign with the word welcome on it (2 pts)
- A plant, real or fake (1 pts)
- A piano, guitar or drum (2 pts)
- A map or globe (2 pts)
- A game or puzzle box (1 pts)
- A picture with water in it (2 pts)
- A leaf shaped like a heart (2 pts)
- A rock bigger than your fist (1 pts)
- A feather (2 pts)
- A bug going about its business (look only) (2 pts)
- A fence post or railing (1 pts)
- A bird, flying or sitting (2 pts)
- Something that was once part of a tree (1 pts)
- Team task: everyone's shoes in one straight line (2 pts)
- Team task: a tower of five things that stands for ten seconds (3 pts)
- Team task: a team cheer with a name and a move (3 pts)
- Team task: sit down in a circle holding hands without letting go (3 pts)
- Kind act: thank a leader by name (2 pts)
- Kind act: pick up three pieces of litter and bin them (3 pts)
- Kind act: tell someone on another team one thing they did well (3 pts)
- Kind act: hold a door for a whole group (2 pts)
- Kind act: leave a room tidier than you found it (3 pts)
How to run it with a group of 10 to 25
A hunt for a youth group has two jobs: burn off energy in the first twenty minutes of a meeting, and turn children who arrived as strangers into a team. The list mixes things to find with things to do, so a team that cannot find a feather is still scoring.
- Walk the building and grounds beforehand and decide where the hunt stops. Mark off any rooms that are in use.
- Make teams of four or five with a mix of ages, and pair each early reader with an older child who reads the sheet aloud.
- Give each team a sheet, a pencil and a team name of their choice, then read the rules together: walking only, stay with your team, every find gets checked by a leader.
- Set 20 minutes on a visible timer. Leaders roam rather than run a team, so they can check finds and keep an eye on the doors.
- Gather for scoring and let each team show off its cheer. Kind acts count only if a leader saw them or the person thanked confirms it.
Variations for halls, camps and clubs
- Camp version. Move the whole list outdoors, replace the indoor items with cabin, trail and campfire finds and let teams hunt between activities.
- Service edition. Turn every item into a kind act: tidy a shelf, set out chairs, write a thank-you card for the caretaker, pick up litter around the entrance.
- Buddy hunt. Pair a six-year-old with an eleven-year-old and play in pairs instead of teams. The older child reads, the younger one carries the pencil.
- Any setting. The list has no religious items, so one sheet works for a church youth group, a community center club and an outdoor club alike.
Tips for leaders
Spread the leaders out: one by the exit, one outdoors, one floating. With 25 kids and three adults, that is the whole supervision plan.
Have a plan for the team that finishes early, such as a bonus item on the whiteboard.
Keep the prize equal for everyone, like a sticker or first choice of snack. At this age the team cheer is the real reward.
Younger kids love the kind acts more than the finds. If your group is mostly six to eight, double those points.
Boundaries and supervision
Agree the boundaries out loud before anyone moves: which doors are off limits, how far outside the hunt goes, and that the parking lot and any water are out of bounds. Children stay with their team at all times, and a team that loses a member stops and finds a leader.
Nothing is climbed, nothing in the kitchen is touched, and the bug on the list is looked at, never caught. Keep every gate or exit in sight of an adult.
Printing for a weekly group
The team score sheet gives each team one page with a points column, a found box and a total, and the shuffle option scatters teams across the building instead of all heading for the piano at once. Five copies are loaded for a group of about 20. Print on plain paper, or laminate a set if your group meets weekly and reuse it with dry erase markers.
FAQ
How many leaders do we need for 25 kids?
Three adults is comfortable: one at the exit, one outdoors, one roaming. Many organizations already require a ratio like that, so check your own policy first.
Is this hunt tied to any religion?
No. It is written for any hall or camp. A church youth group can add items from its own building, and a community center group can use it as is.
What if we have no outdoor space?
Cross out the leaf, rock, feather and bird items and add indoor swaps such as a picture of an animal or a book with a blue cover. The team tasks and kind acts need no outdoors at all.