Scavenger Hunts

I have recently made all of my scavenger hunts for one year and wanted to share them in case anyone needs ideas! I started doing these in April. They were so popular that I made two for the summer months since kids were coming in more often.

If you are planning to start your own hunt, I'll describe what I do now after a few months of trail and error. I make all the designs in Canva. My library pays for a Pro account which makes it a lot easier to make these. I started off making these too small. We got so many complaints because they were too hard to find. I now make them about the size of my palm and give them a white background so it isn't as hard to find. I learned very quickly that we needed two sets of each theme. We had a few bunnies and weather clouds walk away which makes the hunt impossible to complete. We now have a extra set ready to go at our reference desk. 

If you don't already have one, ask for a Cricut and the software that comes with it. It has made the process of making these so much easier. Plus we use it for displays, billboards, and more. I use the Cricut to cut about three months worth out at once. I then laminate everything with white paper as the background and cut the lamination out by hand (the Cricut can't do this part yet). After I put up a new set, I make a key for other staff that we keep at our computers on the floor to give hints as needed. 

I have a treasure chest that kids can get a small prize from when they complete the hunt. I'll put a few links here for a few things I've purchased to put in the chest. We allow the kids to do the scavenger hunt once a day. This only became a hard rule during the summer since some kids would try to get three or more prizes within 30 minutes.