Christmas Scavenger Hunt Ideas

A Christmas scavenger hunt is a fun holiday idea for any event from office parties to family gatherings. Whether you are sending someone on a search for their Christmas gift or a treasure hunt around the neighborhood, scavenger hunts can add excitement to all your festivities.

Christmas Scene Scavenger Hunt

Hide each piece of the nativity or another Christmas scene and have guests hunt for all the objects.The first person/team to reassemble the entire scene wins.

For a location scavenger hunt, you can add an interesting twist by sending teams to a local park or public area and have them “recruit” people to pose in their real-life nativity or Christmas scene. You might even want to take a video camera so you can permanently archive the antics that your guests will use to call upon the “good will” and “Christmas spirit” of complete strangers.

Twelve Days Of Christmas Treasure Hunt

This is a fun way to create holiday spirit and build the excitement as Christmas approaches. You can even customize it to use in the workplace or classroom.

Each day, give a co-worker, student, or family member a clue to see if they can guess where their gift is hidden. The clue or gift (or both) will be related to the “Twelve Days of Christmas”. For example, you could leave a card with the saying:

“Today will start the Christmas fun
If you just think for a bit
You can find gift number one
Where the partridge likes to sit.”

The gift can then be hidden in a nearby pear tree – or any tree if a pear tree isn't available – or in a potted plant around the office, school, or home. As a variation, you can leave a clue that leads to a “Twelve Days of Christmas” gift such as a pear tree seedling or Christmas plant with an ornamental partridge.

You can also do a “Twelve Days Of Christmas” scavenger hunt all in one evening by having teams look for items that represent each day of the song.

Christmas Light Scavenger Hunt

Send teams on a quest to find particular lawn ornaments or light displays such as Santa on a roof, Christmas carollers, three Wisemen, red flood lights, or electric candles in the windows. Each person/team will need a camera or phone to take a picture, and a pen and paper to record the address or location of each find.

Christmas Mall Scavenger Hunt

Send each person/team out with a list of items that they need to find such as a tree with blue lights, candy canes, someone sitting on Santa's knee, or a husband buying a gift for his wife.

Of course, they will have to take a picture of each thing on the list or have a salesperson sign the paper to prove that the task was completed.

Christmas Carol Hunt

Decorating the Christmas tree is one of the best parts of the holiday season. So, why not add to the excitement by making it a scavenger hunt.

Buy each member of the family a new ornament and use popular Christmas Carols as clues to help them find their “treasure”.

For a Christmas party, you could hide small gifts or favors instead of ornaments and give each guest a different clue to finding their own special treat.

Sample Christmas Carol Clues

The first treasure rests on an uncomfortable bed
Where the little Lord Jesus also laid his sweet head

(Gift or ornament can be hidden in the manger of a nativity scene, either inside or outside)

When you find your treasure, you'll shout with glee
Just like these characters who made history

(Gift/ornament can be hidden on a Rudolph lawn ornament or decoration)

Your treasure is hiding where magic is found
You will laugh and play and dance around

(Gift/ornament can be hidden in a “Frosty” hat – or any hat that you have available).