How to run a Halloween scavenger hunt at home, indoors or outdoors

Published 2 October 2026

A scavenger hunt is a string of clues. Each clue leads to a hiding place, and the last one leads to the treat. It works for four children or fourteen, and the preparation takes half an hour once you know the steps.

1. Choose where it takes place

Indoors: at least ten hiding places in rooms the children may enter. Kitchen, stairs, coat rack, bookshelf. Put anything fragile out of reach first.

Outdoors: in a garden or a street you know. Do it before dark, and decide where the children may not go.

If you do both, set the indoor round first and end with the outdoor treat.

2. Write the order down

List the hiding places in the order the children will visit them. Walk the route yourself once. Every clue sits at the place where the previous clue points, so the route is a chain: if you swap two, the hunt breaks.

3. Write each clue as a rhyme

A clue describes the next place without naming it. A short example, which is ours and not from the pack:

Stories live on me, row after row, find the right book and the next clue will show.

(The answer is the bookshelf.) Keep clues to two or four lines and avoid places that are hot, high or locked.

4. Help the youngest

Children who cannot read yet can still play in a pair with an older child, or with an adult who reads the clue aloud. A checklist of things to find on the way gives the smallest something to tick off.

5. Finish with something to find

The last clue leads to the treat. A bowl of sweets works, or a small item for each child so nobody goes home empty-handed. A certificate for the winners makes a nice ending.

What we made for it

Halloween scavenger hunt for kids: rhyming clues for indoors and outdoors saves you the writing. It is one PDF of 14 pages with:

10 indoor and 10 outdoor clue cards in rhyme, where each rhyme describes the next hiding place and the last one leads to the treat;
blank cards for clues of your own;
two find-it checklists, a certificate for the winners and a note for the treat;
an answer key with every hiding place in order.

A page from the Halloween scavenger hunt pack

You print it, cut the cards and hide them. Our software checked that no hiding place appears twice and that the answer key matches the cards. The rhymes are written in English; if you want a Dutch or German version, there is one in each language.

For a bigger party, the Halloween party bundle: party games, scavenger hunt and activity pack for kids has the scavenger hunt together with party games and an activity pack. More game ideas are in our guide to Halloween party games for kids at home.

Frequently asked questions

How many clues should a Halloween scavenger hunt have?

As a rule of thumb, eight to ten for children aged 5 to 7, up to twenty for older children. A long hunt tires younger children before the treat.

Can I run it in a flat with no garden?

Yes. Use the indoor cards only and keep the route to rooms the children may go into.