Fun and Frugal Scavenger Hunts

www.stretcher.com - Used by permission from the Editor, Gary Foreman

Great ideas for youth groups, adult Sunday school classes, friends, and families.

Updated Scavenger Hunt Ideas
We did this as kids in the neighborhood too, asking for old calendars of a certain year, or a penny of a certain date. We all had the same list to work from.

But now the teens are using technology. They get a camcorder for each group and have a list of things to do at various locations. They put the list of each group in a different order so the groups don't all go to the same place at once. Then they film it for proof.

Like go to a certain gas station and help someone get gas and wash his or her windows. Go to another business and sing a song, etc. Not only is it different by going to all these various locations, but then they each watch the other's film to verify what was done and have some refreshments and laughs. You can change this any way you like to fit your group and/or location. ~ Thomas

A Hunt for Information
A couple of years ago, I organized a fun car rally/scavenger hunt for the staff at work. I concentrated on the hunters gathering information rather than things, so as not to disrupt the activities in stores and other businesses. Scavengers were asked to get dates from a building cornerstone and a gravestone, an inscription from a building lintel and a gravestone, to count the number of seats in a restaurant and the number of overhead light standards on a bridge, to identify historic community landmarks, etc.

The route was carefully mapped out to take participants around the community, with rather cryptic directions such as "turn right where Eveline meets royalty" ("royalty" was Queen Street). Setting up such an event can be just as much fun as participating in it! ~ Barbara

Bringing Back the Proof
Our church youth group did a photo scavenger hunt once. You make a list of different settings - for example, get a photo of your group doing a human pyramid, a photo of your group in front of a house with the numbers 123, a picture of a member of your group getting frisked by a police officer, etc. You set a time limit - say 2 hours - and each group get in a car and takes off. Some pictures are worth more points than others, depending on difficulty of acquiring the picture. After the time is up, you add up the points. The activity is great fun and the photos afterwards are great souvenirs. ~ Tasha

Community Service Scavenger Hunt
Here's a twist on the old scavenger hunt. For a neighborhood block party we had a Service Scavenger Hunt. We gave groups of people a list of nice things to do for someone: sweep a kitchen floor, read a story to a child, unload a dishwasher, sweep a front sidewalk, take out the garbage, etc.

The first group to meet back at Base with all the items done got a prize. We had a ball, and it was a good way to meet some of the shyer ones who weren't planning to come to the party at all. ~ Joey

Birthday Tea Party / Humor / Devotional

DRESS-UP TEA PARTY 

Beatriz Gay from Mexico sent me a precious picture of her 8 year old daughter, Marianne, during her birthday party. 

She wrote,"I was reading one of your recent Heart to Heart newsletters and I got an excellent idea to make the party.  I organized a tea party, then went to Goodwill to buy hats, dresses, necklaces and some teacups for the girls.  They were so happy with the idea!  They told me that this was a cool party.

"I enjoyed so much the innocence and the happiness that they had on that day!  I offered them 'tea' (pink lemonade) and then we played some games while drinking the 'tea.'  When they left I gave them the teacup each girl had used, and put inside a small treat bag with a bracelet, a lip balm and two candies. Thank you.  It was a  memorable day for Marianne!"

FLASHING TRAFFIC CAMERAS
A man was driving when a traffic camera flashed. He thought his picture was taken for exceeding the speed limit, even though he knew he was not speeding.  Just to be sure, he went around the block and passed the same spot, driving even more slowly, but again the camera flashed. He thought this was quite funny, so he slowed down even further as he drove past the area, but the traffic camera flashed yet again. He tried a fourth time with the same result. The fifth time he was laughing when the camera flashed as he rolled past at a snail's pace.  Two weeks later, he got five traffic fine letters in the mail for driving without a seat belt.

THE WINDOW THROUGH WHICH WE LOOK      A young couple moves into a new neighborhood.  The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside.
      "That laundry is not very clean", she says. "She doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap."
       Her husband looked on, but remained silent.  Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments. 

      About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband:  "Look, she has learned how to wash correctly.  I wonder who taught her this."
       The husband said, "I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows." 

       And so it is with life. What we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look. 

Birthday Slumber Party with a Dog Theme

by Lois Breneman - Copyright 2010 - Heart to Heart

My daughter, Joy, planned a fun birthday party for her 7 year old son, Justin.  Because they had just gotten a new dog, Bailey, shortly before that, they had a doggie theme.

Invitation:

Justin is 49! (in dog years that is)!
Join us for some puppy chow, a howlin' good time and some dog gone fun!

Justin's Kennel: (address)

Overnight boarding available!  Please bring your own doggie bed (sleeping bag) and plan to pick up pups by 9:30am!

Decorations, Food and Favors:

Banner on Front Porch - "Justin's Kennel"

 

Paw prints, in chalk, leading up to the front door

Tablecloth: plain with birthday dog wrapping paper down the middle to form a runner

Plates, cups and napkins - bought at dollar store - with a few dog stickers added

Dog Bone Cake

Food: Hot dogs (as healthy as possible), puppy chow (snack mix), and other non-canine food

 

Take Home Favor Bags - reader book about a dog in a "poop bag" with puppy chow (snack mix)

 

Activities:

* Keeping Track of Your Dog ~ Using dollar store stuffed dogs, tag with collar when each guest arrives.  You have to keep up with your dog, and watch for those who will swipe it (including Bailey, the real dog, who loves to chew stuffed animals).

* The Dog Catcher Says (like Simon says) Howl, bark, down, sit, roll over, shake hands, high 5, etc.

* Watch a movie - a dog movie, of course!

Teddy Bear Birthday Party

by Leslie Lobdell in Arkansas

(After seeing adorable pictures of Leslie's son's birthday party, I asked her if she would write an article to include in Heart to Heart, and here it is!)

A teddy bear party is a great theme for a younger child's birthday, and an easy theme to carry out.  There are so many things you can do with decorations, food, games, and party favors.  We gave our son a teddy bear party for his first birthday and everyone seemed to have a blast.

For decorations I found teddy bears and the number "one" on clip art and printed them out on construction paper.  I cut them out, punched holes in them, and hung the decorations from the living room and dining room ceiling by thread.  The bears and number 1's were also taped on the walls around the house, mainly at eye level for the little kids that would be coming as guests. I also cut out paw prints from brown construction paper and taped them on the driveway and stairs leading into the house.  Stuffed teddy bears, gathered from all around the house, were used as decorations placed on end tables and entryway tables. One stuffed bear sat on the food table with a Burger King crown with a number "one" glued in the center.

Plates, napkins, a balloon, stickers, and a candle were all ordered Online from "Birthday in a Box."  You can find so many party supply stores that offer teddy bear decor.

I made a homemade teddy bear cake. The pan was purchased with a coupon from Michaels for about $8.  I also had a small teddy bear cake pan that was bought for 69 cents at a discount store. The smaller cake was all for the birthday boy to dig into :-)!

For snacks we had gummy bears, Teddy Grahams, and chicken salad and peanut butter and jelly "bear" sandwiches.  I cut the sandwiches into bear shapes with a cookie cutter.  You could also offer an assortment of "bearries"-strawberries, blueberries, raspberries or other treats with honey, since honey is the choice food of bears!

Since most of the guests were under three years of age, we had to be creative with the activities.  I asked each child to bring his/her favorite teddy bear.  An area was set up in the living room to take a picture of each child with his/her teddy bear.  They sat on a brown furry rug with a teddy bear, with number 1's behind them, and stuffed teddy bears on either side.  Extra copies of each child's pictures were given to them as memories of this special time. 


We also had the children sit on our area rug and we read two simple bear books to them, somewhat of a "storytime."  Then we played a game similar to musical chairs.  We had paw prints taped to the floor in a circle. But one paw print had a red piece of construction paper taped to it.  This was the winning paw print.  When the music was played, the children walked (or were held by their mommies!) around the paw prints. When the music stopped, whoever was on the winning paw print, received a prize appropriate to their gender/age.  Some free play at a party is also good for this age group.

Each child received a gift bag on their way out.  Ideas for this would be a small teddy bear, play dough, bubbles, finger puppet, crayons, or teddy bear stickers.  There are many free coloring pages of teddy bears/birthday teddy bears on the Internet that you can give the kids.  The adults could be given a jar of honey and a printout of the history of the teddy bear, which began with Teddy Roosevelt, interesting!

Overall, it was an excellent choice for a birthday party for our one year old son! We were very pleased and impressed with the compliments we received.