When it comes to the holidays we always try to find new and alternative things to do when it comes to the annual holiday party when it comes to  family and friends or for your office party.   Did you ever think of a Christmas Scavenger Hunt?  Now obviously we are pretty familiar with the creation of scavenger hunts but I believe that the holidays really bring a new approach to this classic game, and its really easy for you to create one for yourself.  So what I am going to do is provide you with the simple task on how to approach this easy endeavor with a simple Holiday related scavenger hunt.

The first thing I would recommend is pick a location that you want to hold your scavenger hunt, I always would suggest your downtown area of your city or town.  You should have the game start at the center of it that way it provides the perfect nucleus to your game, the radius should not be more than a mile of that start location and the length of the game should be no more than 90min to 2hrs.  I would also suggest day light would be the perfect of time of day to have that game take place because it will make your photo and video challenges that much clearer, when you're sharing them with each other after your game.

Prior to your event you want to scout your location, add your surroundings into your game.  

Such as storefronts, public art, holiday related items / locations, etc.  So you always want to keep the game in the wheel house of the holidays. These locations should act as 2 things photo challenges where the teams need to photograph themselves with as well as hiding spots for another challenge I will mention later on.  The other thing you want to add on your photo list are Christmas “actions” such as the team wearing elves hats, sitting on Santa’s lap, etc. Keep the scoring simple 25 points for each action and 50 for every location.

Also create some video challenges, such a find a group of people and have the team along with the group sing a Christmas carole, or 10 seconds of the team performing loud belly “Ho Ho Hos” with members of the public…not as easy as it sounds.  Trust me the ideas will come out of your brainstorming quicker than you can imagine.  Keep in mind all the photo and video challenges can be documented on only one cell phone on each team.That way it's easier for you to count.

The other thing you do is create trivia that is based on your office or family members and friends. If you don’t want to go that route, you can once again use the surrounding area and place holiday trivia based on the location. An example would be “how many Christmas wreaths are there on the store fronts on Main Street?", etc.  It makes it challenging and it adds yet another form of a scavenger hunt for your guests to compete in.  Be creative and no question is a bad question when it comes to your Christmas Trivia Scavenger Hunt list.

Last but not least go to party city and find little Christmas knick knacks ie: elves , candy canes, etc. buy several and hide them in and around the area you will be using on your scavenger hunt.  Have each team try to find as many a they can and return them to you at the end in exchange for points.  

So there you have it a quick way to create you own little Christmas scavenger hunt game.  

Keep the points on each challenge easy that way its easy to count and joing you friends in the post game festivities. After the game have everybody meet up at a pub, collect their device count the points and announce the winners. prizes don’t have to be anything special just something fun :) Good luck and happy creating!! 

- Chris