Youth Workin' It

Consultancy and Resources for Youth Workers and Organizations Worldwide

Flea Market Scavenger Hunt

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Flea market scavenger hunt
Major props if you get why we’ve used this image!

Our youth scavenger hunt ideas always prove to be popular, so this week we have another one for you – a flea market scavenger hunt (for UK readers, think car boot sales).

There are a couple of ways this can be run:

  • With money – If budget is no issue, consider giving each team $10-$20 to buy as many items as they can from the list
  • Without money – To save money, this could be run as a photo scavenger hunt instead, whereby the teams take photos of the items instead of buying them

Resources

  • Money (if youth will be buying the items)
  • Cameras (if youth will be taking photos of items instead – cellphone cameras should be fine)
  • Flea market scavenger hunt list
  • Pens
  • Projector, screen & laptop to display all the photos at the end (if going down the photo route)
  • Prize(s) for the winning team

Instructions

Take your young people to a flea market / swap meet / car boot sale. Split the youth into teams and allocate a leader to go with them. Your group may be old enough to do this activity without leaders going with them, but it’s a great opportunity to spend time building relationships, so we’d always recommend having at least one leader per group regardless.

Each group should be given a copy of the flea market scavenger hunt list (see below) and a pen – this enables them to check off each item as they go along. If they’re to take photos of the items, make sure each team has at least one camera. If buying the items, ensure each team is given the money before they head off.

The youth will be representing your group while they’re out and about, so remind them of your behavior policy, group agreement, etc. Be sure to emphasize any boundaries of where they can and can’t go, as well as the need to stay together as a team.

Finally, arrange a time and location for them to all meet at the end – perhaps at a snack stand or by the exit. To encourage them to arrive on time – or so that they don’t cheat by trying to spend more time than other groups completing the list – consider warning them that their team will be deducted 1 point for every minute that they’re late.

Flea Market Scavenger Hunt List

The great thing about organizing a scavenger hunt to be done at a flea market is that you can make the list as weird and wonderful as you like – chances are someone will be selling it!

If you’re going to be having your youth buy the items on the list, bear in mind that you’ll need to list items that won’t prove to be too expensive. There’s no point listing a bunch of expensive items if they’re only going to have $10 to spend. Having said that, this could be a perfect opportunity for them to learn some life skills in negotiation and bartering!

Like I said, the list could contain anything but here are some ideas to get you started:

  • Postcard with a black & white photo design
  • Michael Jackson cassette tape
  • Book by Agatha Christie
  • Brown plate with a yellow flower decorative design
  • An item dated 1986
  • Green spoon

Also consider making a list of a few additional items that they can earn bonus points for. These items should be more subjective, such as:

  • Funniest T-shirt design
  • Vinyl album with the cheesiest cover sleeve

Cassette tapes…..vinyl albums…..this is going to blow the minds of the Spotify generation 😉

Winners

The winning team is the one with the most points at the end. If you’re going to give them a prize, consider buying something from the flea market – the more ridiculous the better!

If you liked this idea, check out our other scavenger hunt ideas, as well as our youth work session ideas. We also now have another site that publishes multiple scavenger hunt ideas each week.

Don’t miss out on our book as well – 52 Scavenger Hunt Ideas – that includes lists for each of the 52 ideas. You’ll never need to come up with your own lists again!

Question: What items would you add to the list for a flea market scavenger hunt? Share your ideas in the comments below.

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Travel Scavenger Hunt

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Travel scavenger hunt
That’s Chilly, that’s Hungry, that’s Rusher and that’s Core Ear

Our scavenger hunt ideas are always popular posts, so here’s another one – a travel scavenger hunt.

This can be used as a standalone youth work session when you just want something fun to do, or it could be used in tandem with a world awareness session.

Here’s how to run a travel scavenger hunt:

Resources

  • Cameras (although cellphone cameras are fine)
  • Travel scavenger hunt list
  • Pens
  • Projector, screen & laptop to display all the scavenger hunt photos at the end
  • Prize(s) for the winning team

Instructions

Take your young people to a local shopping mall or high street. Split them into teams and send a leader with them. Although your group may be old enough to do this scavenger hunt without leaders, it’s a perfect opportunity to build relationships.

Provide each group with a copy of the travel scavenger hunt list (see below) and a pen – this is so that they can check off each item on the list as they go along. The purpose of this scavenger hunt is for them to take photos of all the items on the list but in a creative way (this will be explained in more detail below). Advise them that they can’t just take a photo of a country on a map or travel book, as this would be way too easy!

Your young people are going to be representing your youth group while they’re out and about, so remind them of your behavior policy, group agreement, etc. Also let them know of any particular boundaries for the scavenger hunt (e.g. must stay within the mall/must stay on the high street, etc).

Finally, arrange a time and location for them to all meet at the end. To make sure they arrive on time – or so that they don’t cheat by trying to spend more time than other groups taking photos – consider warning them that their team will be deducted 1 point for every minute that they’re late.

Travel Scavenger Hunt List

The list should consist of countries that they can take photos of in a creative way – this will often be based on how the country is pronounced phonetically, but not necessarily. Give the groups a few examples of what you mean by this, such as:

  • Oman – Take a photo of a group of women (i.e. zero man)
  • India – Take a photo of something inside Bambi (i.e. in deer)
  • Andorra – Take a photo of an Anne Of Green Gables book next to a Dora The Explorer book (i.e. Anne Dora)

Now that you have an idea of what we mean, here’s a list of 21 countries that work well as part of a travel scavenger hunt list:

  • Bahrain
  • Belize
  • Bhutan
  • Chile
  • China
  • Finland
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Jordan
  • Kuwait
  • Mali
  • Moldova
  • Panama
  • Philippines
  • Russia
  • Singapore
  • Slovakia
  • South Korea
  • Togo
  • Turkey

Winners

As with most games, the team with the highest number of points at the end wins. However, there are two elements to the scoring with this scavenger hunt:

  • Teams should be awarded one point for each country they successfully take a photo of
  • Bonus points should be awarded based upon creativity, ingenuity, getting members of the public involved, etc

If you liked this idea, check out our other youth scavenger hunts and youth work session plan ideas. You may also like our sister site that has other travel scavenger hunt ideas.

We’ve also published a book with dozens of this type of activity – 52 Scavenger Hunt Ideas. Pick up your copy from Amazon.

Questions: What other countries would you add to the travel scavenger hunt list? And how would you suggest the photos could be taken? We’d love to hear your ideas in the comments below.

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Mall Photo Scavenger Hunt

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Mall photo scavenger huntEvery Thursday, we provide ideas for youth work sessions. These ideas are usually ways to explore various issues that young people face, but sometimes it’s good to run sessions that are just for fun.

This week’s session idea is a mall photo scavenger hunt – something that’s fun, but is also a perfect team-building and youth bonding activity. Here’s how to run it:

Resources

  • Cameras (cell phones cameras can also be used)
  • Mall photo scavenger hunt list (see below)
  • Pens
  • Projector, screen & laptop to display all the scavenger hunt photos
  • Prize(s) for the winning team

Instructions

Take your youth group to a shopping mall and split them into teams. Depending on their age, it might be fine to send them off in groups without leaders. However, this is a great opportunity for relationship building, so we’d still encourage you to have at least one leader with each group.

Give each group a copy of the list and a pen to check off as they go along. They need to find all of the items on the list and take photos of them.

As you’ll be out in a public area and representing your youth group, remind them about your group agreement, behavior policy, etc.

Decide ahead of time if the groups will be allowed to buy items for the photos. If so, consider giving them a small amount of money (e.g. $5 per group) for incidentals – that way there will be a level playing field for all the groups.

Advise the groups of a location to meet at the end and what time they should be there and send them off.

Mall Photo Scavenger Hunt List

This list should contain items that your young people will be able to find at the mall, but which will take some time to find. We’ve provided a list of possible items below to get started.

Also consider providing a list of a few bonus items on the scavenger hunt list for them to take photos of. The way the bonus points are allocated is completely up to you, but we’d recommend rewarding creativity, humor and ingenuity – that’s why the bonus suggestions below are more subjective photo ideas.

Regular Items

  • XL size blue T-shirt with white stripes
  • Ring costing $999
  • Hat with 3 flowers on it
  • CD with an album title of more than 10 words
  • Book with the Eiffel Tower on the front cover
  • Purple gloves
  • Necklace with a turtle on it
  • 5 different versions of Monopoly (can be in separate photos)
  • Pair of socks with at least 6 different colors on them
  • Birthday card for a 100 year old

Bonus Items

  • DVD with the strangest movie title
  • Funniest T-shirt design
  • Most pointless kitchen gadget
  • Largest cuddly toy you can find (with team member next to it to indicate size)

Winners

The team with the most points at the end are the winners, once all the bonus points have been taken into account.

If you liked this idea, we also have a separate scavenger hunt site that contains a number of other mall scavenger hunt ideas.

We’ve also published a book with loads of these activities, complete with lists that you can photocopy / print off (depending on what format you buy it in). Get your copy of 52 Scavenger Hunt Ideas from Amazon or direct from us.

Question: What other items would you add to the mall photo scavenger hunt list? Share your ideas in the comments below.

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Job Interview Attire – Youth Work Session Plan Ideas

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Youth job interview attireWe’ve recently provided some session plan ideas about preparing youth for the real world.  We even shared one idea on how to teach youth to be concise in an interview.

Job skills during the interview are important. But so is making the right first impression, which is why it’s important for youth to consider their job interview attire.

As you know, the first impression starts from when you approach the building and doesn’t finish until you’re back outside afterwards, during your first point of contact. This may be picking up an application or dropping off a resume, although often these days it’s during the interview.

Depending on your budget, time and number of young people, you may want to try one of these ideas for helping youth understand the importance of job interview attire, as well as how they can look nice on a budget.

1) Working wardrobe collage

Have the youth (boys and girls! – so many people think dressing for an interview is a ‘girl topic’ – it’s just not true) cut out pictures from magazines and make a collage of an appropriate work wardrobe and job interview attire based on different career choices.

2) Working wardrobe scavenger hunt

Have the youth do a photo scavenger hunt to find pictures of people (with their permission) or shop windows and then show the pictures off and critique their findings. Maybe even find definitely for-work and definitely not-for-work outfits. (n.b. consider these points when planning a youth outing)

3) Working wardrobe fashion show

Have some or all of your youth bring $5-$10 (or find room in your budget if your youth aren’t able to come up with the cash) and plan an outing to the thrift store or charity shop. Have them put together a job interview outfit that falls within the budget and type of job they are applying for. Then head back to your center and show off the outfits in a fashion show.

Remember to preface all of these ideas with a youth work session on proper work and job interview attire. It could be part of the same session or hold several work related sessions and end with one of the ideas above.

Question: What’s one activity you would suggest to teach youth about appropriate job interview attire? Let us know in the comments below.

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Holiday Scavenger Hunt List

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Holiday scavenger hunt listFor this week’s youth work session plan idea, we’re providing a free holiday scavenger hunt list. This includes clues and ideas based on faith and cultural traditions for Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and other non-religious Christmas items.

Last week we gave you some free Christian scavenger hunt clues to use at Christmas, while the week before we gave you free Christmas scavenger hunt clues based on the 12 Days of Christmas. As part of our mission is to equip youth workers and organizations worldwide, we therefore wanted to provide some resources for young people who don’t necessarily celebrate Christmas.

Here’s how to organize a holiday photo scavenger hunt:

Resources

Instructions

Go to a mall, town center shopping area or high street.

Divide the youth up into teams and send one or two adult youth workers or volunteers with each group. If your youth are old enough they could go by themselves, but we used it as a good time for building relationships with the youth.

Give each team a list of the Holiday scavenger hunt clues. Encourage creativity and humor! (n.b. you may want to look at different holiday traditions in youth work sessions prior to this holiday scavenger hunt – that way, the youth will know what the answers are).

Remind them of any group agreements you have about behavior in public, or come up with a few on the spot. You may also want to establish ground rules about buying things for the photos. Decide ahead of time if groups are allowed to purchase items for the pictures. Consider giving them $5 each for incidentals if buying is OK, so that all teams have a level playing field.

Give them their time limit and meeting location and send them off.

Winners

The team with the most points at the end wins!

If you’re going to display the photos anywhere – including on Facebook or your youth group’s website, make sure their parents sign a photo release form.

If you liked this idea, check out all of our other scavenger hunt ideas. We’ve also published a book called 52 Scavenger Hunt Ideas that, as the name suggests, has dozens more of these types of activities, complete with lists of items for each hunt. Get your copy here.

Question: What clues would you include on a holiday scavenger hunt list with your youth? Share your ideas in the comments below.

You can also connect with us by:

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