For teachers looking to make the season fun for their students with classroom Christmas games, a Christmas scavenger hunt may just be the way to go.
If you haven’t been part of a scavenger hunt, you may be asking yourself how does a scavenger hunt work? Scavenger hunts involve hiding specific items and giving the participants instructions and clues to hunt/find/collect those items.
Coming up with clues for scavenger hunts sometimes requires good creative writing skills. But with free resources like the one below, you can have a complete set of riddles for the kids to play the game without necessarily having writing skills.
Our Christmas Classroom Scavenger Hunt Ideas
Below, we share 3 Christmas scavenger hunts with you. The first is a hunt with five clues, the second is a list without clues, and the third is a hunt with 9 clues. Each of these scavenger hunt ideas offers a unique experience. So, examine each one to see which will work best for you.
The clues are pretty simple, so the scavenger hunts should be suitable across a wide age group. To make things more fun, you could have teams of older kids and younger kids trying to figure them out together. Print the clues on a card stock and hand them out to each team.
Of course, beforehand, you may choose to hide the items you want the children to collect. Alternatively, you could leave those items in place and let the pace of the game be determined by how fast they figure out the clues.
For all the clues, we include the answer key in parentheses at the end of the clue. You may read the first clue out to the kids and possibly give some explanations on how they should play the game.
#1. – Clues Point to Items
This Christmas classroom scavenger hunt involves collecting items specified by the clues; the answer to each clue is an item to be collected.
For this hunt, you do not necessarily have to hide the items.
Christmas Scavenger Hunt Clue 1
Tis the season for cheer,
The time of the year for jollity and togetherness is here,
So, when you find paper sheets flying apart,
Bring them together and hold them at their tips,
It would help if you had a few ________ (Paperclips)
Christmas Scavenger Hunt Clue 2
Santa will never get lost,
He’ll find your house and come down your chimneys or waltz through your front doors.
But as for us,
If we ever need to find know our direction when traveling in an unfamiliar place or if we get lost,
We may need an item that rhymes with bumpers. (Compass)
Christmas Scavenger Hunt Clue 3
Tis the season for cheer,
Tis the season to share,
Santa will bring gifts soon
But before Santa gets here,
Show your friend you care.
Wrap a gift for your friends
Wrap it beautifully, leave no loose ends.
If the wrapping paper does not fit, make it fit
Find a pair of ________(Scissors)
Christmas Scavenger Hunt Clue 4
He knows if you’ve been bad or good,
Father Christmas knows the truth.
So, when he comes sleighing through the starry nights or morning mist,
He’ll come along holding a very long list.
He might pardon you and erase your name from the naughty list, he might do you a favor
Just hope that this time he doesn’t forget to come with his _______(eraser)
Christmas Scavenger Hunt Clue 5
The bells will not start jingling until midnight on Christmas day, dear,
But when it starts, coming in rushing would be Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, and the other reindeer.
The school’s bell will not ring for end of day until it’s 3 o’clock
But until then, as you wait for it, you can take very short glances at the _______ (clock)
#2 No Clues
This scavenger hunt idea does not involve clues. You also do not need to hide items for the kids to find. Instead, you can have a list of 10 – 20 items the kids can readily find in the classroom or within the school.
Once you have your list, you could share a copy with each child or team and ask them to collect those items. Alternatively, you may call out each item on the list one by one and see who collects each one first.
To make this fun, ensure you award points. If you are sharing a copy of the complete scavenger list to each child or team, give points for the number of items gathered and for speed.
On the other hand, if you are calling out the items one by one, award points for the first few kids to return each item. Then when you are done with the list, you may collate the points.
Your scavenger hunt list may include items like
- Christmas books or any other unique book in the classroom
- Cards
- Toys
- A surprise gift
- Christmas-related pictures
- Candy canes
- Cookies
- Chocolate
- Ribbons
- Baubles
- Snow globe
#3 Clues Point to Places
For this scavenger hunt, the clues point to places where you’ve hidden the items to be collected. So, unlike the first scavenger hunt, you must hide an item in the places specified by the clues.
Christmas Scavenger Hunt Clue 1
Can you feel it approaching? The Christmas glee.
If you do, there’s something for you to see under the Christmas tree.
Christmas Scavenger Hunt Clue 2
Santa will come to town on Christmas day,
He’ll come on a sleigh, he will not trek.
But before he comes, go on a journey under your teacher’s desk.
Christmas Scavenger Hunt Clue 3
Are you tired yet? The game is only getting started.
The next item is sticky, but it comes in white, like Santa’s beard. (white glue)
Christmas Scavenger Hunt Clue 4
Christmas is the one time we are never worried to see a reindeer float.
Winter is the one time everyone moves around in their winter _____(coat)
Christmas Scavenger Hunt Clue 5
There are more clues where the rest came from,
For the next scavenger hunt, find a paper ______(gum)
Christmas Scavenger Hunt Clue 6
Do you ever wonder how many toys and gifts fit inside Mr. Claus’s red bags?
Hold that thought! Check for the next answer behind the backpacks.
Christmas Scavenger Hunt Clue 7
Chirp, chirp, and squeak, squeak is what every other mouse says
But there’s one mouse that only goes click, click,
And the answer to this hunt is under it. (computer mouse)
Christmas Scavenger Hunt Clue 8
Closer and closer we’re closer to the end,
But before we get there, what do you need to ensure your lines never bend? (ruler)
Christmas Scavenger Hunt Clue 9
It’s been a lot of fun,
But it’s time for this hunt to be done.
For the final clue:
Beneath someone’s chair awaits a blue shoe.
