Kids Scavenger Hunts

by Kimberly Olsen
(Benton, Arkansas, US)

Lights, Camera, Action: the Kids Scavenger Hunts, Hollywood Style is on! These kids scavenger hunts take place at the mall. This type of scavenger hunt is ideal for teens or tweens.

I sent the stars -- guests -- who made it on the "A" list a ticket invitation and a personalized backstage pass with party information.

My home became Hollywood, CA, home of the stars, for a day. When all the stars arrived at "Hollywood Blvd.," they visited the Hall of Fame, where each left their hand-print and signed their name in plaster of Paris. You can recreate this by mixing a little plaster of Paris with water and pouring it in disposable pie plates. The plaster dries in minutes and can be easily removed from the tin as a souvenir.

Our Academy Award cake was decorated with M&M's to look like movie reels. And it was served along with sparkling cherry juice in plastic wine glasses. I found paper plates and streamers that were Hollywood themed.

The party girl unwrapped her gifts. Then each guest was given a party favor bag that included: sunglasses, a feather boa, an autograph booklet, pen, and a Publisher tabloid newspaper with missing photos. The tabloid, which I created on my computer, contained the scavenger hunt list items that the girls were to find at our local mall. The list items were derived from popular songs.

For instance, I used the song, "Walking on Sunshine" as a title. The teams had to go into a shoe store and snap a photo of one of the girls in the group in a pair of yellow shoes.

The song, "Dude Looks Like a Lady", now that was funny. They had to go into Claire's accessory boutique or a similar accessories store and get a guy to put on something "girly" and snap his photo.

I also selected a song from the Cheetah Girls, and the teams had to find a cheetah print and try it on while singing the song.

The trip to the mall was also done in Hollywood style. While the girls were all gathered and talked about the "tabloid" (scavenger hunt), I rolled out the red carpet to each vehicle so each star could get her picture made on the red carpet.

Actually it was red burlap material and the girls never knew the difference. Prior to the party, I made two pop music CDs for each vehicle so the girls could listen to songs that coincided with the Hollywood "tabloid" themed scavenger hunt.

A friend helped me chauffeur the girls because a limo was out of my budget.

Ten stars were on the "A" list, so we split up into two groups. Each group was given a digital camera and there were five stores in the mall that they had to visit.

The tabloid also gave clues as to where in the store the items could be found. At each stop, each girl took her turn to snap a photo and a different girl had her turn to be in the shot.

The first team to finish the hunt and return to the meeting zone got to choose pretzels or cookies for everyone. Then we went for pizza at the party child's favorite pizza place.

Once we arrived back home, I chose the best photo to place in the tabloid under each title. The party ended with a bang when the tabloid hit the press (my computer printer).

Each guest left with a tabloid, their party favors, their hand-prints, and memories of a lifetime. It was crazy fun.