85 scavenger hunt clues with answers, for home, office and outdoors

25 indoor scavenger hunt clues around the house

Home scavenger hunt clues for a birthday, a rainy afternoon or a family game night. Every answer is something most homes have.

1. Hot water, soap and a spinning drum: dirty socks go in, clean ones come out.Answer: The washing machine
2. I hold the bread until it pops up golden, and I collect every crumb.Answer: The toaster
3. Everyone sits on me to watch a show, and loose change hides in my cushions.Answer: The couch
4. I show you yourself every morning, but I never say a word.Answer: The bathroom mirror
5. Flip my switch and I chase the dark out of the corner.Answer: A lamp
6. I'm soft and square, and I spend every night under your head.Answer: A pillow
7. Dirty plates go in, clean plates come out, and nobody had to scrub.Answer: The dishwasher
8. I stand by the door holding everyone's shoes, and nobody ever thanks me.Answer: The shoe rack
9. Turn my dial or tap my screen, and the whole house warms up or cools down.Answer: The thermostat
10. Clothes hang inside me in a neat row. Shut my doors and nobody knows.Answer: The closet
11. I roar across the carpet and swallow every crumb I find.Answer: The vacuum cleaner
12. Four legs, no feet, and dinner is served on my back.Answer: The dining table
13. Cans, cereal and spices live behind my door, and I'm the first stop when you're hungry.Answer: The pantry
14. I turn wet laundry warm and dry, and sometimes I keep a sock for myself.Answer: The dryer
15. Rest your feet on me and set your drink on me, but please use a coaster.Answer: The coffee table
16. Fill me up and switch me on, and I'll click or whistle when your tea water is ready.Answer: The kettle
17. I'm where the car sleeps at night, and my big door rolls up to let it out.Answer: The garage
18. Towels, sheets and spare toothbrushes are stacked inside me, smelling of fabric softener.Answer: The linen closet
19. I sit by your bed and wake you up, even when you beg for five more minutes.Answer: The alarm clock
20. Hot water rains down inside me every morning, and I hold the shampoo.Answer: The shower
21. Batteries, rubber bands and a key to who knows what: I'm where everything goes when it has no home.Answer: The junk drawer
22. Step on me after a shower so the floor stays dry.Answer: The bath mat
23. I hold soil and one green friend, and I drink whatever water you give me.Answer: A flower pot
24. I hang on the wall with your family smiling inside me.Answer: A picture frame
25. My shelves are full of stories, and I've never read a single one.Answer: The bookshelf

20 office scavenger hunt clues

For a hunt at work. Each one points to something in a typical office, so you can hide the next clue right there.

26. Ideas get argued about inside me for an hour at a time, and I'm always booked.Answer: The conference room
27. Tap your badge on me and the door clicks open.Answer: The badge reader
28. Hanging folders live in my drawers, and I clang when I shut.Answer: The filing cabinet
29. I'm small, I glide across a pad, and I go wherever your hand tells me.Answer: The computer mouse
30. Every call starts with "Can you hear me?" and I'm the reason they can.Answer: A headset
31. You plug into me, and so does your neighbor, and so does theirs.Answer: The power strip
32. Pull my lever and I sink or rise. Push off and I roll across the floor.Answer: An office chair
33. Lunches stack up inside me with names written on every lid.Answer: The office fridge
34. Paper goes in flat and comes out with three holes down the side.Answer: The hole punch
35. Clip me to your shirt so everyone knows who you are.Answer: A name badge
36. I sit at the back of the room and turn a laptop screen into a giant picture on the wall.Answer: The projector
37. I hang by the stairs with a red dot that says You Are Here, and I show the fastest way out.Answer: The evacuation map
38. Sign me when you arrive so the front desk knows you're here.Answer: The visitor sign-in sheet
39. Pushpins, rubber bands and binder clips each have their own little room in me.Answer: The desk organizer
40. Empty me at night and I fill right back up with crumpled drafts.Answer: The wastebasket
41. I'm a door you hope to never need, with a glowing sign above me.Answer: The emergency exit
42. I'm a giant pad of paper on three legs, and every good idea gets flipped over on me.Answer: The flip chart
43. I have a curly cord and a blinking light, and almost nobody picks me up anymore.Answer: The desk phone
44. Pay me, press a letter and a number, and watch your snack fall.Answer: The vending machine
45. I'm a tiny room with a door that shuts, booked for private calls.Answer: The phone booth

Want a full game instead of clues? The office scavenger hunt list has 60 items with scoring, and our Christmas scavenger hunt adds 30 rhyming holiday clues.

20 outdoor scavenger hunt clues

For a backyard, a park or a campus. Check each spot is on your route and safe to reach before you hide anything.

46. I go up and down, but only when two people take turns.Answer: The seesaw
47. Twist my handle and I spray the garden, then I coil up like a sleepy snake.Answer: The garden hose
48. Ants love me and so do sandwiches: two long benches and one wide top.Answer: A picnic table
49. Birds come to eat at me, but I never cook a thing.Answer: The bird feeder
50. I keep the dog in and squeak whenever you open me.Answer: The gate
51. I'm the tallest thing in the yard, and my bark is harmless.Answer: The biggest tree
52. Kids climb up the back of me just to ride down the front.Answer: The slide
53. Burgers sizzle on my grates, and I smell like summer.Answer: The grill
54. I hold your bike upright while you're busy somewhere else.Answer: The bike rack
55. Lift my lid and toss it in. Once a week I get rolled to the curb.Answer: The trash can
56. Sit on me in the park and read the little plaque on my back.Answer: A park bench
57. Flowers grow in me in neat rows, and I'm happiest after rain.Answer: The flower bed
58. I wait at the end of the driveway with my mouth open for letters.Answer: The mailbox
59. I'm tall and metal, and a piece of cloth waves from my top.Answer: The flagpole
60. Hop across me to reach the door without stepping on the grass.Answer: The stepping stones
61. I hang from two chains and fly back and forth, but I never leave the yard.Answer: The swing
62. Water splashes into me, and people toss in coins and make wishes.Answer: The fountain
63. I'm full of sand, and I'm nowhere near a beach.Answer: The sandbox
64. Rain runs off the roof, down through me and onto the ground.Answer: The downspout
65. I switch on at dusk to welcome you home.Answer: The porch light

20 hard scavenger hunt clues for adults

Anagrams, ciphers, hidden words and riddles with a twist. Use them for an adult scavenger hunt, or slip one into a family hunt to slow the fast kids down.

66. Unscramble BREW ROAD, then look inside.Answer: The wardrobe. BREW ROAD is an anagram of WARDROBE.
67. Unscramble LOW LIP and look underneath.Answer: A pillow. LOW LIP is an anagram of PILLOW.
68. Unscramble PER CAT and lift a corner.Answer: The carpet or rug. PER CAT is an anagram of CARPET.
69. Unscramble CHARM AIR and check between the cushions.Answer: The armchair. CHARM AIR is an anagram of ARMCHAIR.
70. Move every letter back one step in the alphabet: MBNQ.Answer: A lamp. M becomes L, B becomes A, N becomes M, Q becomes P.
71. Move every letter back one step in the alphabet: TJOL.Answer: The sink. T becomes S, J becomes I, O becomes N, L becomes K.
72. Read me in a mirror, or just backwards: REWOHS.Answer: The shower. REWOHS reversed is SHOWER.
73. A is 1, B is 2. Now decode 3 15 21 3 8.Answer: The couch. 3 is C, 15 is O, 21 is U, 3 is C, 8 is H.
74. Every Lion Eats Very Awful Tacos Or Rice. The first letters will take you up.Answer: The elevator. The first letters spell ELEVATOR.
75. Dash dot dot. Dash dash dash. Dash dash dash. Dot dash dot. Knock first.Answer: The front door. In Morse code those four letters are D, O, O, R.
76. Speak Pig Latin? Then find the ESKDAY.Answer: The desk. ESKDAY is DESK in Pig Latin.
77. Dial it on an old phone keypad: 8 6 9 3 5. Something you dry off with.Answer: A towel. On a phone keypad, 8 is T, 6 is O, 9 is W, 3 is E, 5 is L.
78. Your next stop is hiding in this phrase: "the cab in Ethiopia."Answer: The cabinet. "cab in Et" hides CABINET.
79. Your next stop is hiding in this phrase: "the drive was also far too long."Answer: The sofa. "also far" hides SOFA.
80. Your next stop is hiding in this phrase: "let's go venue hunting."Answer: The oven. "go venue" hides OVEN.
81. Step on me and I'll tell you a number you didn't want to hear.Answer: The bathroom scale
82. You stare at me for hours, flip through everything I have, then say there's nothing on.Answer: The TV
83. My plates only come out for holidays and guests you want to impress.Answer: The china cabinet
84. Legs on a spider times strings on a standard guitar. Find that page in the biggest book on the shelf.Answer: Page 48 of the biggest book. A spider has 8 legs and a standard guitar has 6 strings: 8 times 6 is 48.
85. I have a head and a foot but no body, and you spend a third of your life on me.Answer: The bed. A bed has a head and a foot, and 8 hours of sleep is a third of a day.

Like this kind of puzzle? Try our free online escape room, or build your own with these escape room themes.

How to write a scavenger hunt clue

Writing your own takes about two minutes a clue once you know the pattern.

1. 1Start from the hiding spot. Pick the place first, then describe it. Never the other way round.
2. 2Describe what it does, not what it is. "I wake you up" beats "I'm a clock".
3. 3Add one detail only that spot has. "The one with the curly cord" rules out every other phone.
4. 4Keep it to one or two lines. Clues get read aloud by excited people in a hurry.
5. 5Match the players. Kids get rhymes and plain riddles. Adults get anagrams, ciphers and wordplay.
6. 6Test it on someone who didn't write it. If they can't solve it in two minutes, add a detail.

How to chain clues into a scavenger hunt

A pile of riddles becomes a hunt when every answer leads to the next clue.

1. 1Pick 8 to 12 hiding spots. Walk the route once. Spots should be easy to reach and fine to touch.
2. 2Write one clue per spot. Mix easy and hard ones, and put a hard one near the end.
3. 3Hide them in reverse. Clue 1 goes in a player's hand. Clue 2 hides at clue 1's answer, and so on.
4. 4End on a prize. The last clue points to the prize, so the hunt finishes with a moment.
5. 5Number every card. A small number in the corner tells players they found the right one.
6. 6Run separate chains for teams. Start each team on a different clue of the same loop so nobody just follows the leader.

A five-clue chain you can use tonight

1. I hold the bread until it pops up golden, and I collect every crumb.Hide it in the first player's hand.
2. Flip my switch and I chase the dark out of the corner.Hide it at the toaster.
3. Clothes hang inside me in a neat row. Shut my doors and nobody knows.Hide it at a lamp.
4. Step on me after a shower so the floor stays dry.Hide it at the closet.
5. My shelves are full of stories, and I've never read a single one.Hide it at the bath mat. Hide the prize at the bookshelf.

Want a scavenger hunt for your team, run by a host?

For a work event, a live host can run the whole thing: a themed hunt of about an hour, with challenges on screen, breakout teams and scoring handled for you. It runs on Zoom by default (Teams, Google Meet or Webex on request), so remote and office people play together. See hosted virtual scavenger hunts.

Planning for a big group? Get a free quote and we’ll send a full event plan.