My brother’s sixteenth birthday party had a video scavenger hunt. This was back in the days when video cameras were huge – literally, because they recorded on VHS tapes. I remember my mom called a bunch of our friends’ parents to see who had video cameras we could use. That’s going to seem so crazy to our kids, since these days everyone has a video camera in their pocket!
The video scavenger hunt is a twist on a regular scavenger hunt because you’re hunting for “actions” instead of items. Each team films themselves completing the tasks on the list, and once everyone is back at the party house you watch each team’s videos. Kids of all ages can do a video scavenger hunt – younger kids will need a grownup to drive them around and supervise, while older kids can drive themselves. It’s up to you how the “winning” team is decided (or if there IS one!). You can assign point values to each task, or everyone can vote on the most creative or funniest teams. The point is that everyone has fun. Kyle’s party was such a blast that the following year we had another video scavenger hunt!
Of course, to keep everything safe and fair, you have to set rules:
1) NO BREAKING THE LAW. That means no speeding, trespassing, stealing, etc.
2) No splitting up.
3) All members of the team must appear on camera during each task.
4) All tasks must be filmed on the same camera.
5) Never disrupt a place of business.
6) Always be polite and respectful.
7) Safety first!
Jen and I came up with a printable list of tasks for a video scavenger hunt, and we also left some lines to add a task of your own. I suggest adding something specific to your town to personalize it! You can download a printable version of our list here!
If you have task ideas, leave them below!
Aubrey says:
Love this. We did a scavenger hunt at the mall for my son’s 12th birthday. His b day is in December so party planning can be difficult. He will be 14 this year wonder if he’d be up for it again.
Jen says:
My kids are getting older and I bet they would love to do this!
Becca says:
I love this!
Margie says:
This is brilliant!
Rachel says:
This is awesome!
Jordan says:
oh god. this brings back nightmares of a youth event gone wrong. Our (former,thank goodness) youth leader had us go do something similar to this. And they got asked to leave Target because they were bothering people and staff, AND videotaping people without their knowing! And what did my youth leader do? Laugh about it! Ugh. I told our children’s minister who got it dealt with. I knew from that event that me and the new youth leader were not gonna get along, and I was right! She only lasted a little less than 2 years.
Point being: this COULD be fun (at least if you like being silly on camera- I don’t! lol), but please please please do it right. And like Heather said, do it legally!
TwinMomJulie says:
The BEST idea ever! I’m totally doing this for my boys’ 11th bday party! I’ll check back for more ideas. Perfect!!!
KateB says:
Perfect for those middle school years when kids are too cool. And, boys and girls could work together and it wouldn’t be so awkward. Love it! Imma go ahead and Pin this for future reference.
J.T. says:
This would be perfect for Scavr!
Diane B. says:
We did something very similar with a photo scavenger hunt and we had to take pictures of things or the group somewhere. One funny one was a picture of the entire group in a bathtub. For video you could have everyone sing “Rubber Ducky” or “Tiny Bubbles” while in the tub.
Now I hate to be picky, but if you ask someone to name “the two state senators from your state” that is technically wrong. Each state has 2 US Senators and they may or may not have a number of state senators and/or assemblymembers. I agree it would be funny to see people hem and haw trying to think of them (rather like a Leno man-on-the-street question series) but I’d be hemming and hawing about who you actually wanted me to name. Yup, I’m a nerd.
Ronelle says:
I love this idea. I am going to tweak it a little and use it with my students as an ice breaker the first week of school! I plan to have them find the nurse, art room, music teacher etc. Thanks so much for the great idea!
Messi says:
i think it should be prepared to open the party.