I had an elaborate plan for a scavenger hunt at our local outdoor shopping complex. This place is beautiful, with fountains and statues and a duck pond and even a red British phone booth. A local movie theater was even planning an outdoor showing of Despicable Me in the green space under the stars. We were going to get pizza for the girls. It was going to be perfect!
And then the rains came... All day long on Saturday it alternately poured and misted and sprinkled and just flat out rained. Our spirits were considerably dampened but, this is Houston so we're used to getting rained out. I hastily formulated a Plan B, and tweaked the list for our new indoor location.
Last year I found several scavenger hunt lists on the internet. But you can't just print up any old list and call it done. You have to make a homemade list taking into account the location, the age of the girls and how much time you will give them. Will they be chaperoned? Also remember, these are teenagers. They go to the mall all the time, so it's got to be different, interesting and take them a little outside of their comfort zone - but in a fun way.
When we got to the food court (the universal meeting place in any mall) I discovered that ours was not the only birthday party/scavenger hunt going on at that same moment in that same place. Our tables were not far from a party that must have included 30 girls, about 10 or 11 years old. Cissy is an older teen so, luckily for me and my Honey Bunch, they did not require a chaperone to go with them. In fact, some of the things on the list might have gotten them kicked out of Bass Pro Shop or Bed, Bath and Beyond but I didn't care. I'm not the most rule abiding mom in town.
So, here for your enjoyment is an amalgam of all three of my lists (the Galleria list, the one for the outdoor complex and the local mall). Feel free to use some of these ideas when you create your own scavenger hunt list for your tween or teen.
Mall Crawl Scavenger
Hunt
Stuff to Get
- One food item not purchased or stolen (place in baggie)
- One piece of ice not melted (place in baggie)
- A make-up or bath product sample
- A piece of trash found on ground or table (place in baggie)
- A brochure or advertisement from any store
- A set of chopsticks
- A takeout menu from any restaurant
- A spray of perfume on card (inside baggie)
- The strangest item you can purchase for under $2
Stuff to Try On
- All team members must be wearing blue eye shadow tried on at makeup counter or store
- Take a group selfie of the team wearing a total of 16 tried-on items (scarves, gloves etc.)
- Take a picture of a mannequin with 1 team member dressed like the mannequin
- Take a picture of a team member dressed in men's clothing including a tie
- Take a group selfie of everyone wearing caps from your favorite team
Pics and Selfies
- Take a group selfie of everyone in one dressing room
- Take a secret picture of the other team
- Take a group selfie of everyone in an elevator
- A piece of jewelry with a skull or mustache on it
- All team members reading books (must be a book they have actually read)
- Take a picture of 2 team members looking over the railing from one level above
- Take a secret picture of Cissy’s parents
- Take a picture of 1 team member posing next to a new car like a car show model
- All team members, except the photographer, having a pillow fight
- All team members (except the photographer) posing with an animal statue and acting like the statue
- Build a lego structure taller than Cissy's head and take a picture of it next to her head
- Take a picture of a live animal that starts with the letter "D"
- Take a group selfie where everyone is holding an item showing their favorite Disney character
- Take a picture of a price tag for an item costing over $100
- Take a picture of an item shaped like Texas
- Take a group selfie where everyone has some part of their body in the red phone phone booth (or a tent at Bass Pro Shop)
- Take a picture of a Christmas item
- Group selfie with an employee from a store or restaurant
- Take a photo of 2 team members “fighting” over a pair of lacy red panties, each pulling one side.
- Take a picture of something your grandma does not want for Christmas
- 1 team member standing out in the rain
- 1 team member talking with a kiosk person
- Ask a stranger to take a group photo of everyone
- Take a picture of 1 team member lying on a bench like they’re asleep
- 2 Team members on a boat looking down at 1 team member reaching up like they have fallen overboard (with realistic shocked and worried looks)
