Video Scavenger Hunt
A Great Party Game

A Video Scavenger Hunt is a great activity to have at a birthday party, family reunion, holiday gathering, or anywhere people are getting together to have fun.

The basic idea is simple: Look for scavenger hunt items or activities, but with the added twist of recording what you find with your video camera.

Any kind of scavenger hunt is a fun activity, but a video scavenger hunt lets you do things you can't do in a regular scavenger hunt -- and part of the fun is watching and enjoying everyone's entries when the teams get back.

Tips for a Successful Video Scavenger Hunt

To have a successful video scavenger hunt, you should remember:

Like a regular scavenger hunt, try to divide teams up so each team has a mix of abilities and personalities.
Make sure every team has something that can record video (camcorder, digital camera, video cell phone) with something to record on (tape or card) and a freshly charged battery.
Plan video activities that require the teams to be doing something, not just finding something. If you can get "innocent bystanders" involved, even better.
Try to plan the scavenger hunt so the video can be shown as soon as the teams get back to a central location. That is, no editing should be required — unless your activity spans several days, and computers with editing software are available to everyone.
Try to have a big-screen TV or a video projector and screen for the viewing, so everyone can enjoy the show.
If you are planning for instant viewing, make sure the cameras can be hooked up directly to the projector or viewing screen.

You can just award points for tasks completed, including points for style and originality, or you can include different awards -- most original, most people used, best theme music, most frantic. There are lots of possibilities.