Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt Game Guide

Table of Contents

Scavenger hunts are always a great time, and with Thanksgiving coming up, why not plan a Thanksgiving scavenger hunt? Everyone will have fun playing this game as they do whatever they can to check off all of the items down their list!

How To Play

For a Thanksgiving scavenger hunt, you will want to set a few ground rules for the unruly. First, you will need to determine teams which you need at least two teams. Once teams are established, go over the rules. Here’s a few basic Thanksgiving scavenger hunt rules; tweak them as you see fit:

  • Teams must stick together: Teams may not split up in an effort to find more items, or for any other reason.
  • Items must be found: You may not purchase any of the items from a store. The only exception to this rule is borrowing items from people with their permission, in which it becomes your responsibility to return the items to their rightful owners.
  • Boundaries: If boundaries are set, you may not go outside of the parameter.
  • Be respectful: Play fair. You must remain respectful to teammates, other teams, and anyone else you come in contact with.
  • Pictures: There may be items you cannot just take with you, so be sure to have a camera to take pictures for proof that you found them!
  • Scoring: Each item has a point value listed. The winner is not determined by the number of items found, rather whoever ends up with the most points. The harder the items is to find, the higher the point value.
  • Bonus points: 10 bonus points are awarded when a team completes their list. An additional 10 bonus points are awarded to the first team to finish the list.
  • Time limit: Set a time for everyone to return. 1 point is deducted for each minute a team is late.
  • Creativity: 5 bonus points are awarded for each incident of creativity. Example: Corn is on the list and your team brings back a piece of candy corn rather than regular corn.

Any broken rules will result in automatic disqualification!

The List

Now that you are aware of the rules of the game, you might need a list for your Thanksgiving scavenger hunt. Before you actually hand the list out to the teams, make sure that the items you have on the list are ones that can actually be found in the area. Although it would be nice to find a list online, print it out, and use it, it’s not always realistic.

Read through this example and take from it the items that can be found in the area:

  • Pinecone
  • Feather
  • Scarecrow
  • Crow
  • Corn
  • Red leaf
  • Yellow leaf
  • Orange leaf
  • Brown leaf
  • Bird nest
  • Pumpkin seed
  • Scary pumpkin face
  • Silly pumpkin face
  • Rotting pumpkin
  • Whole pumpkin
  • Basket
  • Apple off a tree
  • Potato
  • Hay straw
  • Wagon wheel
  • Sheep wool
  • Sunflower
  • Sunflower seed
  • Gourd
  • A live turkey

The amount of items you will include on your list will all depend on how much time you plan to allow for the game. No matter how many items there is to be found in the Thanksgiving scavenger hunt, everyone will remember this Thanksgiving forever!

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