Christmas Scavenger Hunts are Fun for Kids of all Ages

Christmas is one of the most memorable times of the year for children. There are plenty of reasons to like the holiday, but the best reason is that you will be getting gifts so long as you have been a good boy or girl. The parents are hanging lights, getting the tree situated and cooking some of the best winter time food that a person could hope for. The children are gathered around the house and hoping and wishing they are going to see that certain present under the tree when they get up on Christmas morning. Many families have different ways of celebrating the holiday and most of the time it becomes an entire day of visiting with family and friends. Children get to see their cousins, aunts and uncles and it makes for a great holiday event.

One way to keep all the children happy throughout the day is to keep them busy and their minds from the gifts that are piled as high as the tree in the family room. A holiday themed scavenger hunt can keep the children busy for hours on end and when it comes to a Christmas themed hunt, the fun never ends. A scavenger hunt is most fun for the children of the family, but really, adults also play a part in the game as they are the ones that get the clues ready and hide the items that need to be found. It is a fun event for the entire family and when planned accordingly, it can be one without any stress and mess. Children are easily amused and love to play games so as a parent you should take that into consideration when planning the event. Rather than just giving the gifts to the children, why not use some of them as part of the scavenger hunt?

Children like to play games and finding things can be a fun exercise in keeping their mind sharp. If you make the items they need to find the gifts they will be getting on Christmas, you are going to see a certain type of motivation. The Christmas holiday is also synonymous with things like candy canes, reindeer, Santa, snowmen and not just the gifts. You can also incorporate all of these things into your scavenger hunt to make it a little more fun for everyone. The best part about a Christmas themed scavenger hunt is that it can be customized to whatever you need. If you would prefer to use it as a religious teaching exercise, that is completely up to you and can be done very easily during the planning portion of the event.

Some ways that you can implement the Christmas theme is to have at least one gift that is going to be given to each of the children and hide it throughout the house. When thinking about the clues that you are going to give out to those that are playing along, keep in mind that they do not have to lead directly to the gift. Making the children work a little harder for the gift is not a bad thing, in fact, it might them appreciate the gift a little more when they do find it. Keeping Santa in mind when making up the clues as well. You could announce that he might have been in the house the night before and point to a trail of boot prints in the snow, or through the back door and down the hall.

When children are young and still believe, it is very easy to get them to buy into things like this and it also adds a nice memory for them as they get older. Going through a scavenger hunt that is based on their favorite holiday is going to be a wonderful adventure as well as one they will remember and likely talk to others about. Most of the time they will not remember the gift that was given to them, however, it would be hard for them to forget about the memory making adventure you put them through in order to find gifts on Christmas. As children grow up, the scavenger hunt idea is not going to stick with them quite as good and the adventure will be lost. By that time there might be other small children involved in the family or you could just form the event into something that is more relatable to young adults.

One thing that you might want to keep in mind while planning the event is whether or not you want the children to all have the same clues. The odds are good that you have children from all different age groups and that might make things a little more complex when it comes to the clues you need to come up with. Make sure that your 4 year old has the same amount of fun while looking for the gift that your 7 year old might. You could also make the scavenger hunt a complete surprise to everyone in the family and only tell them about it when they get there that day. This adds a nice element of surprise and can make a Christmas themed scavenger hunt fun for the entire family. If you choose to hide the best gift that the person is expecting, adding the element of surprise and the scavenger hunt can add a nice reaction.

You do not want to make it such a surprise that you might ruin the mood of the holiday, or more importantly your child’s belief in Santa Claus. Adults might find the extra work a little annoying, but that does not mean you cannot do it this way. You know your family better than anyone else and should know how they are going to react to something like this at a family event. If you want to let the family know a head of time, they might want to plant the right gift and clues that lead the person to their special gift. That takes more of the work from you and adds a certain element of ownership to those that are involved in the scavenger hunt. Where do you think you are going to hide the gifts for the scavenger hunt? Depending on the size of the gift, finding the perfect place can be quite difficult.

The one thing you should remember is that you do not want to be hiding the gift right in front of everyone. Look around the house, make note of the good places that are difficult to see, but a place that can be found by those that are playing along. You do not want to completely hide the gift so that it cannot be seen at all, but you should have the majority of the package hidden so it is not easily seen as soon as you walk into the room. If you live in an area where the winter is mild, you might even be able to consider hiding a gift on the outside of the house or in the garage. Keep in mind the weather as cold or moisture could ruin certain gifts. If you do hide the gift outside of the house, make sure the first few clues lead the person in that direction.

When hiding gifts for everyone, keep in mind that you do not want the chance that someone could stumble upon the gift before the hunt even starts. This might be something that happens when you are planning the scavenger hunt as a surprise and someone sees a gift as they walk into the house, grab it and bring it inside thinking someone forget about it. If you are would like to try the scavenger hunt on Christmas, but you are having troubles planning it, there are places that you can find the clues you need online and that can help you from the planning phase all the way through the time when the last gift is found. Because they are completely customizable, there are many things you can do to keep the fun from escaping year after year. The best part is that you are only limited by the amount of time, determination and the creativity you bring to the table at the time you are planning the Christmas themed scavenger hunt for your kids.