Museum Scavenger Hunts in New Jersey

Brain Squeeze: A Trivia Scavenger Hunt at the Liberty Science Center

  • private
  • adults
  • indoor

If a trivia quiz and a scavenger hunt had a baby…

…it would look a lot like this unusual game. Here’s how it works: each question challenges your team to answer a trivia question—about movies, music, history, sports, science, books, and more—and that answer becomes a crucial clue to answering a question about an exhibit in the museum. If you like pub quizzes, you’ll love this hunt.

How might your knowledge come in handy?

  • Knowing the trouble with Tribbles on Star Trek could help you discover the worm that Christopher Columbus found quite “boring.”
  • Remembering the other name for London’s Millennium Wheel could held you find out what turns a frown upside down in an exhibit with a big brain.
  • Teaming up to recall a sporting Bear nicknamed for a kitchen appliance could expose unsavory symptoms you’d get from fowl play.

You can use your smartphone if you get stuck, but keep in mind that teams that get the answers faster will get more questions and score more points.


The Morris Museum Mania Scavenger Hunt

  • private
  • adults
  • kids
  • indoor

From a suspicious Rembrandt to stegosaurus tracks…

…a wild array of wonders is waiting for you at this 1913 mansion turned museum in the heart of New Jersey. On teams, you’ll follow a trail of clues through galleries devoted to mechanical music boxes, dinosaurs, mammals, minerals, Native Americans, model trains, and more, in search of answers to tricky, entertaining questions.

Your quest might uncover…

  • Some strange monkey business in the Guinness Gallery
  • The hard-to-chew, trendy-sounding food that could aid a dino’s digestion
  • Which shock jock seems to have an ancestor in the Native American Gallery
  • A fearsome stuffed bear
  • Rocks that glow in Christmas colors

Those are just a few of the highlights on this eclectic journey through history. But you don’t need any prior knowledge to play or to win this hunt: you just need quick wits, good teamwork, and comfy shoes.

The Kids Edition, suitable for ages 7 and up, is sure to earn raves as a school field trip, a camp or youth-group outing, or a birthday party.

The museum can be rented out for private events. We staged one hunt here for a group of 75 people. Please note that this hunt requires the inclusion of temporary exhibits, so a minimum of two weeks’ notice is required.

Contact us to learn more about our Morris Museum scavengers hunts—and find more fun in New Jersey!


The Newark Museum Madness Scavenger Hunt

  • private
  • adults
  • kids
  • indoor

Discover New Jersey’s most amazing museum

Just a few blocks from the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, you’ll find the Newark Museum, which boasts some of the most diverse collections under one roof. On this team-building game you’ll explore the museum by following a trail of clues in search of answers to tricky, humorous questions, in galleries of art from America, Asia, Africa, and ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome.

But wait—there’s more! You’ll also check out the Ballantine House, an entire 19th-century mansion connected with the museum and restored to its original glory, as well as the museum’s indoor mini zoo, Dynamic Earth exhibit, sculpture garden, and collection of historical firefighting artifacts in an old carriage house. This adventure is like several hunts combined in one.

You don’t need to know anything about the museum to triumph on this hunt. You just need sharp eyes and comfy shoes.

Find out why New Jersey Magazine named Watson Adventures scavenger hunts as one of New Jersey’s top 50 party ideas!

A Kids Edition challenges children ages 7 and up to work with adults to answer the fun and funny questions. The scavenger hunt is an outstanding way to introduce kids to the many wonders of the museum while also entertaining parents and other chaperones. You’ll have plenty to talk about back in class!

Contact us to learn more—and find more team-building museum fun in New Jersey!


The Princeton Art Museum Madness Scavenger Hunt

  • private
  • adults
  • indoor

Note: The museum is closed until late 2024 for renovations.

Instead, check out our hunts on the Princeton campus, such as The Princeton Prowl Scavenger Hunt.

From ancient Egypt to the Paris of the Impressionists…

…you’ll journey far beyond Princeton, even though you’ll never leave the area. The Princeton University Art Museum is a great option for a hunt when the weather isn’t cooperating. It packs a lot of art and history into its two floors, and our whirlwind tour will reveal the best, quirkiest, and coolest items in its collection as you go in search of answers to tricky, humorous questions.

Along the way, you might discover…

  • A work that will make you exclaim, “O!” at least twice
  • Someone who’d definitely have a hot hand in a game of poker
  • Aztec fashion that seems to say, “Hands off!”
  • A Renaissance saint who apparently thinks, “Man is a bubble”
  • Impressionist paintings that leave quite an impression

Other highlights include Roman and Greek gods, African ritual objects, Chinese and Indian Buddhas, Warhol’s Jackie O., works by Europe’s Old Masters, and Red Grooms’ amusing diorama re-creating a famous artist hangout in 1940s Greenwich Village.

But you don’t need to know anything about art to play or to win: this game is a test of wits and teamwork, not trivia.

It’s a great activity for student and alumni gatherings, corporate outings, and more.


The Twisted Science Scavenger Hunt

  • private
  • adults
  • kids
  • indoor

Put on your lab coat…

…and get ready to uncover some seriously weird science at the Liberty Science Center. Team up to follow a trail of clues and answer fun, funny questions as you investigate glowing radiation, angry insects, mind-bending illusions, bizarre and deadly live animals, enormous tanks of enormous fish, and a life-size subway car.

On your scientific adventure, you might…

  • Explore a mini city of the world’s tallest skyscrapers
  • Catch a fastball booger
  • Scurry after beasts in their birthday suits
  • Get tangled in a communications web
  • Peek at pests that pestered famous explorers
  • Meet poisonous frogs and venomous snakes
  • Squeeze light from a stone
  • Decrypt a colorful code
  • Swim with lots and lots of fishes

Don’t worry if your name isn’t Einstein: no special knowledge of the museum or science is required to have fun—or even to win. All you need is a sharp mind and comfy shoes.

The Kids Edition, suitable for ages 7 and up, provides an entertaining and memorable activity for birthday parties, school field trips, camp and youth-group outings—you name it!


Escape to the Museum Virtual Scavenger Hunt

  • private
  • adults
  • indoor

Visit museums across the country—virtually!

Discover odd and unusual art and artifacts on this unique museum virtual tour. Tricky, fun trivia questions provide clues that lead you on a quest to explore 16 online museums of all kinds, all over America. You’ll pick your way through virtual galleries and historic locations, in search of amazing masterpieces, startling artifacts, dinosaurs, famous people, and more, earning points for uncovering humorous details, all without leaving your comfy chair.

No previous knowledge is required. You just need sharp eyes and great teamwork on this adventure. Thanks to video conferencing technology and our custom game app, people at home can play along with a Watson Adventures host, work with teammates, and have fun together. This game sends you searching for the strangest and funniest details in art hidden on museum websites.

Special editions for private groups

  • Want your colleagues to mix more during the game? The Mix & Mingle edition rearranges the teams at “halftime” to increase the number of people players interact with during the game.
  • The International Edition is great for groups seeking online ESL games.
  • If your group is up for a challenge, try the Brain Squeeze Edition, which adds devilish trivia questions to the clues.
  • Or if you’re an educator looking for online classroom games, consider the Kids Edition.

Want to see more of a particular city’s best museums and landmarks? Escape games for New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, the San Francisco Bay Area, Texas, and Washington, D.C., are also available. If your group includes people from a variety of countries, whose first language might not be English, check out the Around the World Scavenger Hunt.

Contact us to learn more—and find more fun working at home!


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