SEARCH · LOOK · PUZZLE

Questions for a scavenger hunt

A good scavenger hunt question makes people look. Not at their phone, but at the crack in the paving stone, the little creature in the façade, the tree that stood here before anybody lived here. Below are 30 questions you can use as they are — with five tips at the bottom for writing your own.

For children — indoors and in the garden

Riddles that point to a place. Read them out loud and let the children point at the answer.

  1. I have a face and two hands, but I never wave back.Answer: the clock
  2. I am cold inside, I hum softly, and I only open when somebody is hungry.Answer: the fridge
  3. I carry the coats of the whole house, yet I am always cold myself.Answer: the coat rack
  4. I am the only window in the house you never look through.Answer: the washing machine
  5. I hang in the garden and have a roof but no door. Whoever eats at my place has wings.Answer: the bird house
  6. By day I lie flat and nobody thinks of me. In the evening you are glad I am here.Answer: your bed

Through the city — look up for once

Questions that can only be answered on the spot. That is exactly why they work so well.

  1. Look up. How many floors does the tallest house in this street have, and is there anything written on the façade?
  2. Find a façade stone with a year on it. Add the four digits together — that number is your next house number.
  3. Somewhere in the decoration of this building an animal is hiding. Which animal is it, and how many legs does it have?
  4. Who is this street named after? And what would that person make of your hunt?
  5. How many different doorbells can you find on this block? Do not ring a single one.
  6. Stand with your back to the largest building you can see. What is the first thing that moves?

In the woods or the park — going quiet for a moment

These questions ask for attention instead of pace. Ideal halfway, when everybody wants to run again.

  1. Stand completely still for half a minute and count the sounds. How many are there — and which sound does not come from nature?
  2. Find the thickest tree nearby. How many pairs of arms does it take to get all the way round it?
  3. Collect three different leaves. Which leaf is the softest, and which one smells of something?
  4. Find something smaller than your little finger and older than your grandfather.Answer: a stone
  5. Which direction is the wind coming from? Look at the tops of the trees, not at the grass.
  6. Somewhere here lies wood that was once a branch and will soon be soil. Find it — and leave it where it is.

For a team outing — looking together

Questions where the answer matters less than the conversation that follows.

  1. Find the oldest object here that is still used every day. Who knows the story behind it?
  2. Which colleague made the longest journey to be here today?
  3. Name three things that were not here five years ago.
  4. Find the place where you think the best ideas come from. Explain why in one sentence.
  5. Take one photo together in which exactly one hand of everybody is visible.
  6. Which word appears most often on a door in this building?

Riddles that point the way

Classics you can use anywhere: the answer is immediately the next place.

  1. I go from top to bottom and from bottom to top, and yet I never move.Answer: the stairs
  2. I have keys but open no door, I have space but no room.Answer: the keyboard
  3. The more you take away from me, the bigger I get.Answer: a hole
  4. I am made of wood, I stand still, and yet everybody gathers at my place.Answer: the table
  5. I always tell the truth, even when you would rather not hear it. Look me straight in the eye.Answer: the mirror
  6. I have a spine but no bones, and leaves but no branch.Answer: the book

How to write a question that sticks

1
Make people look, not google.

The best question can only be answered on the spot. Ask for the year on the façade, not the year the church was built.

2
One answer, no debate.

“How many windows does the front have?” works. “Which is the prettiest house?” only causes arguments — unless that is what you want.

3
Vary it.

A riddle, then a counting question, then something to do. Six of the same kind of question is five too many.

4
Write for the youngest participant.

If they can read and understand it, everybody can join in. The rest will enjoy it anyway.

5
Let the answer point the way.

If the number from question three is the house number in question four, your hunt runs on by itself.

These questions in a real hunt?

Set them up as steps and let visitors unlock them with a QR code, their location or a PIN. Photos, videos and a leaderboard come with it — in your own house style.

See how that worksPricing & plans

Type to search · Esc closes