A Christmas Lights Scavenger Hunt is the perfect holiday game & new tradition to try this year with your friends and family. It’s a fun way to add a little competition to your holiday party and get everyone up and exploring with these Christmas scavenger hunt ideas.
You’ll find two different versions of the Christmas Scavenger hunt lists with one for parties at home or a virtual hunt and a second light scavenger hunt list for your neighborhood light displays. Simply grab our Free printable Christmas scavenger hunt game and you’re ready to play.
Even if you don’t have a party the kids will love playing this on Christmas eve or when you’re out driving around looking at Christmas lights in your neighborhood.
The scavenger hunt ideas are a fun challenge the whole family will enjoy and it’s a great way to get everyone into the holiday spirit this year! This is sure to become your favorite family tradition during the holiday season.
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Christmas Scavenger Hunt Ideas & Game for Kids & Adults
Scavenger hunts are a super easy Christmas party game that can be played in groups or with your family at home. Both kids and adults will love the challenge of being the first to find everything on their scavenger hunt list.
I love that it’s an easy and fun activity all ages can play together. This is why it’s one of my favorite Christmas party games with the kids.
You can even use this as a fun Zoom scavenger hunt for virtual Christmas parties with family or friends who live far away.
The game is made even easier with our Free printable Scavenger hunt ideas. You’ll get a list of things to find that are Christmas items in your home or different holiday decorations & lights in your neighborhood to find.
It’s also a great excuse to hop in the car together with some Hot cocoa, listen to Christmas music, and explore different light displays in your area. Try starting it as one of your new Christmas Eve traditions.
The best part is all you need to do is print it out and you’re ready to play.
Here are our favorite Christmas Light Displays in Chicago to explore and do the Scavenger Hunt.
How to Do a Christmas Scavenger Hunt
There are several ways to do a Christmas Scavenger hunt so let’s find the way that will work best for your group.
You will be able to use our two Free printable Scavenger Hunt lists for all of these fun activities. One to use at home and one to use while viewing holiday lights.
Christmas Party Game
Use the Christmas Scavenger Hunt as a holiday party game with a group of friends or family members. First, break everyone up into teams.
Then give each team the free checklist and send them off to search your house. Make sure to give some ground rules on which rooms they can search.
Whichever group comes back first with all the scavenger hunt list items checked off wins.
Tip: It’s a great idea to give every group a clipboard to make it easier to check the list.
Virtual Scavenger Hunt
If you can’t see your family in person this year host a virtual Christmas party. To play first you’ll need to share this link with each family member to print out their scavenger hunt.
Ask them not to look over the list until it’s time to play. When you say go everyone takes the zoom scavenger hunt list and searches their own house.
Whichever guest finds the most items on the Christmas printable list wins. If two groups find the same amount of items the first one back to the zoom camera wins.
Find more Zoom Games to Play at your virtual party.
Family Scavenger Hunt at Home
Plan a fun family night at home over the holidays enjoying an easy peasy family game night. Families can choose to race to find the Christmas items individually or pair up and see which team wins. Or if you have younger kids do it all together with no competition.
This can easily become a yearly tradition your kids look forward to every year. It’s a great game to play on Christmas eve when your kids are full of excitement and need to get some energy out too.
You can also try some of our favorite Christmas board games on your family game night.
Christmas Lights Scavenger Hunt
This year plan a family adventure driving around to see all the cool neighborhood light displays by your house. Grab these free printable scavenger hunts to take along.
Turn on some holiday music and drink hot chocolate while you drive around admiring all the twinkling lights. Don’t forget to bring it to Christmas light shows at your local zoo or botanical gardens too.
If you live in the Chicago area here are our favorite Christmas Light Displays in Chicago. It’s where our family plays the Christmas lights scavenger hunt game.
More free printable Neighborhood Scavenger Hunts for Kids
Selfie Christmas Scavenger Hunt
Get your teens and tweens to play by making it a selfie Christmas Scavenger Hunt. Give them the neighborhood list and head out to search for all the items. Every time they find one they need to take a picture on their phone.
Honestly, the adults in your group will have a blast doing this selfie challenge too. Plus the pictures can be hilarious.
Consider pairing up with several familes to do this as a challenge to see which family wins. Or if the kids are old enough to drive send them out on the hunt and see which team comes back first.
Make sure to set a time limit such as 1 hour so everyone knows when to be back.
Find more Teen & Tween Selfie Scavenger Hunts
How to Play the Game
1.First, decide if you will have teams or do the scavenger hunt individually.
2. Print out enough Christmas Lights Scavenger Hunt Ideas for each group.
3. Give each team or individual a copy of the Christmas Scavenger Hunt list folded so they can’t look at the list yet. Plus a pen or pencil to check items off. A clipboard is also nice but not necessary if you don’t have one.
4. Set any ground rules such as where they can hunt and how long they have to find the items.
4. Say go and send them off on the hunt. Start the timer now if you gave them only a certain time to search.
5. The first group or individual back with everything on the list checked off wins. If no one finds everything on the list it goes to the next group that found the most Christmas ideas.
Free Printable Christmas Scavenger Hunt
Are you excited about this fun Christmas Party Game? All you need to do now is grab the free printable Christmas Scavenger Hunt Ideas List and you’re ready to play.
You will get both the Christmas lights scavenger hunt and party hunt at home in the downloadable PDF.
More Christmas Party Ideas & Games
Make sure to get organized this Christmas with the Ultimate Christmas Planner. Everything you need to be ready for the Holidays in a printable packet you can use every year.
A 62-page Christmas planner with everything busy people need to stay organized over the holidays. You’ll find calendars, to-do lists, budget planners, gift lists, kids gift lists, Black Friday & Cyber Monday trackers, thank you lists, meal planners, and more.
The Christmas planner is the ultimate parenting hack for the holidays.
Don’t let the fun end with just one game! Keep the party going with more easy Christmas party games & & Christmas printables.
Check out all of our Holiday ideas and see some favorites below.
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40 Christmas Activities for Families – Fun things to do with kids all Christmas season.
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Cute Christmas Coloring Pages – 76 Free Holiday coloring sheets
Help your kids write Letters to Santa with these cute Free Printable Dear Santa Templates.
Holiday Gift Ideas
Wondering what the hottest gifts are this year? Use the gift ideas below to be ready for the holidays.
35 Coolest Gift Ideas for Boys in 2022 – Fun Gifts boys will love this year.
45 Hottest Tween Girls Gifts for 2022 – Gift Ideas for even the pickiest Tween & Teen Girls
Fun & Cheap DIY Gift Basket Ideas with Dollar Tree – 18 Gift Basket Ideas for Kids & Adults
Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas They Really Want – Gift Ideas are all from Teachers
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Unique Subscription Box Gift Ideas – The gift that keeps coming
Are you ready now for a fabulous Christmas Party? I hope your family enjoys the printable Christmas Scavenger Hunt ideas as much as our family has. Have a wonderful holiday season!
Don’t forget to grab your free printable Christmas Scavenger Hunt Ideas & Game
If you enjoyed these Christmas Scavenger Hunt Ideas get more fun family activities, easy weeknight meals, family travel ideas, and household hacks by joining the Happy Mom Hacks community weekly newsletter.
Bonus, you’ll get a free printable Would You Rather Christmas Questions to bring some laughs to your holiday party or family dinner.
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