Try Out These Super Fun Valentine's Day Scavenger Hunt Ideas

Some holidays have activities built in. Consider Christmas and its present action, Halloween and trick-or-treating, the Fourth of July and fireworks. Valentine’s Day? Well, there’s the passing out of Valentines, of course, but beyond that, what? Some families bake heart cookies, others leave pockets full of posies on neighbors doors, but for kids what else can you do to entertain them on Valentine’s Day? Try a Valentine’s scavenger hunt.

Setting Up Your Scavenger Hunt

To create a great scavenger hunt, regardless of the theme, you have to have great clues, clues that are designed for the specific age of your participants. So make sure you tailor your game for your audience.

Next, you need to decide how to deliver your clues. Can your participants read? Or will you be guiding them around the house or backyard? If they’re not readers, you could make your clues pictures. If they can read, keep it simple. Rhyming is fun, but you can get caught up in word play and leave your kids frustrated and confused.

Then you should decide what the end goal is. Will your kids find a basket of Valentine’s candy? Or a special box of conversation hearts? Make it worth searching for.

Valentine’s Scavenger Hunt Printables

You can also make this Valentine’s Day scavenger hunt even easier by using printables. That’s right, the internet God’s have answered your prayers again and provided print at home clues you just need to cut out, like these from Kasey Trenum or these from Wunder-Mom.

Since you can preview the printables before printing your own, you can decide if they’ll work for your scavenger hunt, then add or adjust them as necessary.

Valentine’s Scavenger Hunt Riddles

Another fun idea, especially for older children, is to add an element of complexity by making your clues riddles. A Valentine’s Day scavenger hunt with an extra riddle challenge will be remembered for years and you can find some inspiration online here as well.

For instance, they can be simple riddles like, “the very first step on our path leads to where you take a bath.” Or, you can make them more advanced like “I have four legs, but don’t have feet. You use me when it’s time to eat,” a V-day riddle courtesy of Reader’s Digest.

Valentine’s Scavenger Hunt Prizes

Most importantly, to the victor go the spoils and you’ll want to have something worthy of all their hard work. While candy is always encouraged, consider some other toys and treats that still fit the Valentine’s Day scavenger hunt theme but are a bit more outside the box.

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Make the day of love all the more fun by surprising your children with a Valentine’s Day scavenger hunt complete with riddles, clues, and best of all, a big old prize at the end.