Educational scavenger hunt activities for Chicago Field Trips

An awesome art adventure for kids

On this action- and art-packed scavenger hunt inspired by our popular Art Attack Scavenger Hunt, kids and adults work together to search for wacky paintings, scary armor, tiny dollhouse-like rooms for kings and queens, and much more, and answer fun and funny questions about what they find. No knowledge of the museum or art is necessary, but teamwork and a sense of adventure are key if you want to win.

This game is ideal for school field trips, camp outings, birthday parties, family reunions, and any other occasion where you want to get kids interacting and bonding. Kids have a blast with their teammates and adult partners, learn a whole lot without even realizing it, and discover a love of art in the process.

Recommended for ages 7 and up. Each team must be accompanied by at least one adult.

Contact us to learn more about this great activity for school groups—and find more fun for kids in Chicago!

Have a Field day!

On this whirlwind tour of the Field Museum, kids and adults work together as they travel around the world—and back in time. You’ll follow quirky clues and answer fun, funny questions about the historical hilarity that you uncover. Starring: mighty mites, man-eating lions, amazing mummies, awesome antlers, shocking sharks, giant forest hogs, and Dr. Funkenstein. And watch out for the dinosaurs!

Best of all, no previous knowledge about the museum or its contents is necessary to win! You just need sharp eyes, comfy shoes, and good teamwork.

Along the way, your team will also need to search for opportunities to take creative team photos in certain places or with particular objects in the museum.

Along the way your team will tackle such questions as…

• Why are the famous Lions of Tsavo smaller than they used to be?
• What injury can you discover by tickling the ribs of SUE the T. rex?
• What tiny Egyptian dung collectors were considered to be like a sun god?
• What surprising thing did British people do with cat mummies?

This scavenger hunt is adapted for kids from our best-selling version for adults, The Museum of Natural Hysteria Scavenger Hunt. The kids edition is recommended for ages 7 and up. Kids must be accompanied by an adult.

The cooperative team game is a great way to introduce kids to the wonders of natural history, whether they’re participating in a school field trip, or enjoying a children’s birthday party, or looking for some educational fun in any kind of group outing.

Contact us to learn more about our scavenger hunts for kids at the Field Museum—and find more field trip fun in Chicago!

Entertain even the most finicky kids (and adults)

In this kids’ version of our popular hunt, young hunters will have a blast as they collaborate with adults to search for answers to tricky, humorous questions about the best of Chicago’s lakefront mecca. Together, you’ll figure out fun facts about the Ferris wheel and carousel, the giant anchor, unusual art in Gateway Park, strange stained glass in Festival Hall, and much more.

This hunt is sure to be a hit for student groups, camp and youth-group outings, birthday parties, family reunions, and any other group event where you want to get kids and adults working together and having fun. Recommended for ages 7 and up.

The Loop has never been so…loopy!

Introduce kids to the historic heart of Chicago on a game that will get them learning and laughing. Adventurers ages 7 and up will work with their favorite adults to scour the Loop for answers to tricky, amusing questions. Starring: Daley Plaza’s Picasso, Millennium Park, the Chicago Cultural Center, Marshall Field’s (aka Macy’s), and much more.

You might tackle such questions as…

• Inside a big room with wood walls in the Chicago Cultural Center’s GAR lobby, you can see the names of Civil War battles. What two battles can you put together to come up with what sounds like a way for five people to eat vegetables? Answer: Five Forks and Pea Ridge.
• The sign for the historic Chicago Theatre is a landmark in its own right. Go inside but stay sort of outside to find out: what sounds like a bird, a car, and a doorbell? Answer: The organ, as explained by a sign in the foyer.

No knowledge of the Loop or its history is required to win. The hunt is all about paying attention to the details and playing with your team.

Along the way teams will also be challenged to take creative team photos that meet certain requirements, design to prompt creativity and teamwork…and lots of smiles.

The Loop scavenger hunt is great for school field trips, birthday parties, scout packs, and basically any activity where you want a diverse group of kids and adults to collaborate on an adventure.

What delighted hunters are saying

“I have taken students from my high school to four Watson Adventures hunts. Each time, the students have had a wonderful experience. The enthusiasm I have seen, and the teamwork that has been displayed, has been thrilling for me as an educator. My job is to keep students engaged, and Watson Adventures does that with ease. Not only are the students doing something fun—they don’t even realize how much they are learning in the process.”  

“It was great. Thanks so much for everything. The kids had a great time.” —the organizer of an outing for a middle school field trip

“Everyone had a great time. Our host, Valerie, was also terrific. We’ll be sure to think of Watson Adventures for similar programming needs in the future. It was a pleasure working with you, too!” —a teacher at a private school

“Everyone had a fantastic time! The clues were the perfect level of difficulty and it all went seamlessly. Being overseas we don’t have many opportunities for group activities with all our siblings, nieces and nephews so it was great and a perfect activity for a wide age-range group. We’ll keep you in mind if we ever do something like this again!” —a mom who organized a hunt for a family gathering

Contact us to learn more about the Secrets of the Loop Scavenger Hunt—and find more fun in Chicago!

Discover the oddest animals and strangest facts…

…on a whirlwind tour of the Lincoln Park Zoo. Clues will lead you to the right spot so you can answer tricky, hilarious questions about the fantastic beasts you discover.

Along the way, you might cross climates on an African safari, learn how your neck is like a twiga’s, get hissed at by cockroaches, endure howling gibbons, go nose-to-snout with black bears, ponder puffins, uncover the secrets of the “deep forest,” find a rattle that would make a terrible baby toy, and learn whether or not you should punch someone who calls you a bufflehead.

You’ll also tackle Team Photo Challenges, in which you’ll need to say “cheese” with a cheetah or stretch your creativity to pose with other animals you encounter.

You don’t need to know anything about the zoo or its residents to win. You just need sharp eyes and comfy shoes. Oh, and a smartphone: You’ll play the game using our app, which works in any browser.

Various versions to suit your interests

Care to add more suspense? The Escape the Zoo edition adds tricky, sneaky, fun puzzles of all kinds as you try to crack a code that might save your life.

We also offer a Kids Edition of the classic hunt, for kids ages 7 and up. Kids and adults work together on the fun and funny challenges. It makes for a wild, wacky, and wonderful activity for birthday parties, school and camp field trips, family get-togethers, and more.

And a few weekends each year, we offer the classic hunt for anyone to join.

Support your team, support wildlife

By embarking on this zoo scavenger hunt, you’ll not only be treating yourself to fun, you’ll also be supporting a modern Noah’s ark in its efforts to protect and preserve wildlife around the world while fostering appreciation for animals in Chicago. Contact us to learn more!

Fun games with humorous twists!

If you’re looking for a good, old-fashioned scavenger hunt, we have one—with very unusual challenges that will exercise your brain and tickle your funny bone. Your tasks may involve strange uses for food, new lyrics for old songs, people in any kind of uniform, strangers wearing valuable words, secrets about local landmarks, and more. If you’ve been on scavenger hunts where you’ve had to collect boring things like clothespins and obscure CDs, you’re in for a surprise and a treat.

Teams fan out to tackle such challenges as…

Take unusual team photos

Get creative and keep your eyes open as you explore your area and try to meet the requirements of diverse “photo op” challenges. Everyone has to get into the picture (except the person holding the camera, of course). We’ve designed them to allow room for creativity while also delivering dramatic visuals (not just shots of people standing around, smiling and pointing). You might be asked to demonstrate a group member’s superhuman powers. Or treat a staircase as if it’s a carnival ride. Or photobomb another team.

Participants use their smartphone cameras and our browser-based app. You’ll get to see the other players’ pictures and download them afterward.

Find or create unusual items

As in a classic scavenger hunt, you’ll have to locate or create unusual items. But in our version, you might encounter these tricky tests: Can you create and name an amazing new food by combining two unlikely foods? How about an appropriate trophy for the hunt winners? Three items that rhyme? Something improved by being broken? You’ll be surprised by the results that come from great teamwork.

Crack a code to decipher a mystery message

Your hunt materials will include a bizarrely coded message. What the heck does it say? To crack the code, you’ll need to solve crafty, fun puzzles, involving a trivia questions, pop music, and a “pigpen cipher.” Can you piece together the key that unlocks the mystery message?

Locate the Hunt Host for a surprise bonus challenge

At a designated spot in the hunt area, the Host will be waiting for you, ready to spring a tricky, humorous visual puzzle for you to ponder. It could involve unusual celebrity pairings…or musical snippets…or international maps…or strangely altered art.

Go on a scavenger hunt anywhere, with versions and themes to suit your group

Go Deluxe: Let us tailor the hunt to your needs. Tell us what you want to highlight and we’ll weave it into the game. Perhaps someone you want to celebrate? A theme or slogan for a new campaign? Hidden talents in your group? Talk to us! We like a challenge.

Care to take a bite out of crime? Check out the Murder Mystery Mayhem Scavenger Hunt.

The hunts are available in International Editions, for hunters whose first language is not English. They are also available in Spanish, as well as in other select languages.

A Grab ’n’ Go Scavenger Hunt for Kids challenges youngsters and adults to work together to tackle challenges appropriate for ages 7 and up. It’s the perfect activity for birthday parties, bar/bat mitzvahs, family reunions, school field trips, summer-camp outings—you name it.

For a snack-tastic adventure, the Grab ’n’ Go Food Edition features food-themed Collect & Create and Photo Challenges.

And young Harry Potter fans will be cheating if they use their wands and other magical powers on the Wizards & Witches Scavenger Hunt, for ages 7 and up.

What are people saying about the Anywhere Scavenger Hunts?

“The Grab ’n’ Go Scavenger Hunt was so much fun! All of the teams were engaged and working together. We couldn’t have asked for a better team-building and celebration event.” –Brittney Gallardo, Office Manager/Executive Assistant, Texture by Next Issue Media

A 5-star review on Google: “We hired Watson Adventures to host the Grab ‘n’ Go scavenger hunt for a teambuilding event in our local downtown area. We chose to pay for an on-site host and it was well worth it. Kim, the host, was fantastic, well organized, very helpful with the game app, and added even more fun to the game with opportunities to earn extra points. Our team had a blast!! We thoroughly enjoyed getting out from in front of our computers to spend time together in this fun and creative environment!”

A 5-star review on Yelp: “I planned a surprise custom scavenger hunt for my fiancé’s birthday last year and it was so much fun! Tara was a pleasure to work with and incredibly accommodating with all of my requests. The event host was equally wonderful. We all had a blast. I wish I had more reasons to plan scavenger hunts!”

Another 5-star review on Google: “Watson Adventures was so incredibly fun for our company offsite! Correy was a fantastic host that guided the experience and Tara made planning a customized hunt a breeze. 10/10 recommend!”

Contact us to learn more about the Grab ’n’ Go Scavenger Hunts—and find more fun wherever you are!

Explore Museums All over the Country—at Home!

Round up your teammates for an online adventure that challenges you to explore museum websites in search of the craziest, zaniest, secret-and-surprise-stuffed-fulliest (is that a word?) exhibits you’ve ever seen outside of your dreams. You’ll follow tricky clues on different museum websites and answer humorous question about what you uncover.

No knowledge of any particular museum is required: you just need sharp eyes, sharp wits, sharp teammates, and sharp pencils. Wait: sharp pencils not required, because you’ll be reading the clues and answering the questions in our spiffy app, bursting with links and hints and sound effects and other fun stuff.

Virtual scavenger hunt highlights include…

• Sue the T. rex at the Field Museum in Chicago
• A tour of the Texas State Aquarium with a sloth
• A bison stampede at the Milwaukee Public Museum
• The Space Shuttle Discovery at the Air & Space Museum
• Vintage arcade games at San Francisco’s Musée Méchanique

The game is suitable for ages 10 and up, and we recommend at least one adult per team. This virtual scavenger hunt is a great way to connect with family, friends or classmates. Contact us to learn more about a private game for your group!