10 Great Ways to Use Scavenger Hunts in the Classroom

Posted on by Michele Luck

This generation of students has been raised playing games. They play them for fun, to keep distracted or entertained, and even to help them complete chores or fall asleep. Gaming is a way of life. So why not use games in the classroom to help students learn? Even better, how about learning 10 great ways to use scavenger hunts in the classroom that help them step away from the screens for a while? That’s a bonus!

What are Scavenger Hunts?

Scavenger Hunts can be many things. In simplest terms, they are a way to get students to search for information. But, they can be so much more than that. Scavenger Hunts (or Task Cards) can be used to help students practice skills, make connections, and even process content more thoroughly for greater comprehension and retention.

How Can You Use Scavenger Hunts?

This is the fun fact: Game sets can be done in so many different ways. You can even use one resource multiple times to reinforce content in your classroom, all with scavenging strategies. Fortunately, that means less work for you and more engagement from your students.

Simple Strategies for Using Scavenger Hunts

To make it even easier on you, I’ve created my Top 10 list for your classroom.

Scavenger hunt clue cards make excellent bellringers. They get students thinking and are great discussion starters.
Use scavenger hunt cards or clues as daily bellringers to get students thinking about the lesson.
Use scavenger hunts as posters around your room to reinforce the content throughout your units.
Post clue cards from scavenger hunts around the room for content gathering or reinforcement. Keep them up all unit!
Cover skill sets with scavenger hunt cards to practice or set foundations in your Social Studies classroom.
Provide sets of scavenger hunt clues to practice skills or test sets of knowledge. This is a great way to set foundational skills.
Cover large chunks of content or reinforce reading skills with scavenger hunts.
Use scavenger hunt cards to provide large amounts of content over a longer period of time (multiple day lessons).
Did your lesson run short? Have a fun scavenger hunt on hand to fill in the time to the bell.
Scavenger hunt clue cards can be great as end of class time fillers. Want to keep students engaged from bell to bell?
Have early finishers? Keep them engaged with scavenger hunts in your classroom.
Have early finishers in your class this year? Have a bulletin board set up with scavenger hunt cards to keep them busy.
Help struggling learners with resources that breakdown or chunk the content.
Scavenger hunts can be great for struggling learners. Provide question and clue cards and set up a matching game!
Celebrate holidays or host parent nights with a fun scavenger hunt that teaches while you play!
Celebrate holidays or teach about cultural events by creating a scavenger hunt culture day.
Cover large amounts of content with multi-day scavenger hunts.
Want to refocus a class while still covering content? Use scavenger hunts in presentation mode. Project a question card, ask students to try to answer, then review with content card.
Need a great way to get students analyzing primary sources without fear?
Scavenger hunts are a great way to have students analyze primary sources. Post sources on the wall or pass from table to table and use guiding questions to help find answers.
Use scavenger hunts to make your classroom more fun!
And the classic! Give students clues and send them hunting for the answers! My First Days of School Scavenger Hunt will help them learn about you, your classroom, the course content, and your rules and expectations!

Find Easy to Use Scavenger Hunts

Lastly, you now have new ideas for ways to play engaging games in your classroom (and give students a break from the screens), so let’s find ready made scavenger hunts that will save you the time and stress of creating your own! The examples are linked in each caption, or you can find them for most topics in U.S. History, World History, Geography, and Cultures those this link:

Find Ready Made Scavenger Hunts Here!

Did you notice there are 11 options instead of 10? I couldn’t resist adding in my First Day of School Scavenger Hunt. It is always a favorite for students. And what can be better than starting off the school year with a little fun?!

Want more ideas on using fun strategies in your classroom? Take a look at this other post that will guide you toward creating a fun and engaging classroom for all of your students!

Happy Teaching!