If you thought scavenger hunts were meant only for outbound training then you are in for a big surprise here, as we bring you indoor scavenger hunts lists for your teams that are great fun. The scavenger hunts have found their way from being the good old party games to the more meaningful team building activities favored by corporates. They have become a popular choice for employee engagement activity, team building activity as well as ice breakers for adults.
Indoor Scavenger Hunts Lists Explained
If you are still wondering what is a scavenger hunt then let us break it down into detail for you. An indoor scavenger hunt is a fun activity where participants have to search for items or a list through a set of clues given to them in an indoor setup. It is not just an adventure and fun activity but also promotes problem-solving, teamwork as well as creativity. It also adds a healthy dose of competition and recreation for the teams.
Moreover, the indoor scavenger hunt is perfect for teams and employee engagement activities because of its high adaptability. They can be customized across various settings and occasions. This makes them an ideal choice for team building activities for employees as well as icebreakers for adults at times. The scope for indoor scavenger hunt has moved from a regular family gathering activity or a fun night with friends to a more focused employee-centric exercise for team connection and bonding. It is the process more than the end result that makes up for the excitement. The building excitement of finding hidden treasure or unlocking the next clue is sure to make the team scream with joy as they overcome one block after the other.
How is it Helpful?
Indoor scavenger hunts have given ease of functionality to the workplace and conducting activities. They combine the thrill of exploring as well as the camaraderie of teamwork, team bonding, and connection among the employees. Thus these indoor scavenger hunts have become an ideal choice as icebreaker activities for adults and bonding exercises for teams. Be it a corporate retreat or an in-house workshop, indoor scavenger hunts are your perfect allies for some fun and team building exercise. You can even inject some fun into your regular team meeting through an indoor scavenger hunt.
To inspire your next team building activity here are 13 indoor scavenger hunt ideas for you:
1. The Classic Way – Using Office Objects
The good old scavenger hunt is best done the classic way through everyday objects. This includes using common office items like staplers, coffee mugs, plants, pens, paper clips and many other objects one can find. You may add a fun twist of your own to the indoor scavenger hunt. This classic indoor scavenger hunt makes the participants go down the traditional way of searching for clues through objects found around their office or workspace. It is a perfect team-building activity and a great icebreaker for adults.
Ensure that all the participants enjoy and are able to participate in the experience. This indoor scavenger hunt encourages exploration of the workspace and promotes free interaction amongst the teams and colleagues. They get to know each other in an environment where they are working together towards a common goal, hence the chances of knowing each other, forming stronger bonds, and connecting with each other are greater.
Imagine searching for a blue water bottle or a plant with shades of red or a purple paper clip together. It requires not just alert eyes but a team that stands for one another when someone overlooks an object and helps the team to decode the clue and over to the next one.
2. Mystery and Puzzle Hunt
Another foolproof team building activity is the mystery and puzzle hunt indoor scavenger hunt. It is a great way to challenge participants and build an anticipation of the great mystery that they are going to unfold during this team building activity. Right from riddles to deciphering meaningful cues, to unveiling the cast on the next mystery the step-by-step way is enough to fan the curiosity of the team.
They keep the participants not just engaged but entertained in equal measure. The mystery puzzle scavenger hunt is a perfect option for those who love a good brain teaser. The puzzle pieces could be scattered around the office, as the teams go on to find and assemble them.
The participants feel like they are on a real-life detective hunt as they move from one clue to another on the mystery hunt. Imagine finding a note that puts you on to the next one, bringing you a step closer to your find as you unravel the puzzle of the indoor scavenger hunt. Such an engaging hunt challenges the participants in a literal way and sharpens their analytical skills as well. This fosters problem-solving skills and encourages teamwork in a substantial way. The teams get an opportunity to enhance critical thinking and teamwork.
3. Departmental Treasure Trail
This is one indoor scavenger hunt that brings together the teams and departments across in a unique way promoting collaboration and teamwork among the participants. In this team building activity, the participants come together to find items or solve clues like other scavenger hunts, however, they are from the same department, thus there is an increased scope to customize this departmental treasure trail.
It promotes effective communication as the team gets together to solve clues one after the other in a bid to achieve the goal and unravel the clues at each step. You can create clues that relate to your department’s inception, history, work culture, specific terms or projects, or even any inside jokes that are specific to the team. It is a super way to build trust and enhance teamwork in your department. It fosters departmental pride and employee engagement as the team builds and bolsters on throughout the mystery hunt puzzle.
4. Virtual Scavenger Hunt
The virtual scavenger hunts have become the norm of the day. They are an ideal team building activity for teams located across different locations. You can use any video conferencing tools to conduct an indoor scavenger hunt to run virtually. Participants whether working from home or office can participate and share their findings in real time. With the advent of modern technology and numerous user-friendly apps, the experience of team building activity has reached new levels of being tech-savvy. Participants can even use their smartphones to participate in this virtual indoor scavenger hunt and solve the riddles. These virtual hunts are the perfect way to bond with the team sitting remotely. You can embark on an adventure within the confines of your office or the comfort of your home.
Such indoor scavenger hunts have a competitive edge to them, bringing in a sense of elation and excitement for the team members. It is an ideal choice for a corporate setting or for friendly competition between departments within an organization.
5. Time it Right
This indoor scavenger hunt is bound to create a great sense of urgency thereby generating lots of excitement amongst the participants. The participants in such type of indoor scavenger hunt are challenged to find an item within a time limit, thus adding a more furtive element to the thrill.
Participants have to unlock the clue or solve the riddle given to them within the specific time frame and move on to the next one as part of the hunt. This helps them to be quick, think on their feet, and collaborate wisely. It corroborates quick decision-making under pressure and proves to be a great experience for those who enjoy working under pressure.
6. Themed Photo Challenge
One of the perfect combinations of digital tools with classic team building activity is the themed photo challenge. Participants find the clues and then capture the pictures of items enlisted through their smartphones in this indoor scavenger hunt activity. It is an interesting way to capture memories, encourage creativity, and infuse some out-of-the-box thinking. The pictures to be captured could be a selfie or any object as per the theme of the scavenger hunt, thus keeping participants on their toes.
This streak of photos could then be uploaded on social media or even the organizations’ internal pages for memory keeping and encouraging the participants for their collaborative effort as a team. It not only enhances team building but is also a great exercise in visual storytelling for the team.
7. Task Based Scavenger Hunt
What better way to bring together a team than making them collaborate on a task? It could be anything right from assembling a puzzle together to solving the riddle or unraveling the mystery of the hidden cues carefully put together in the office.
No one ever says no to a scavenger hunt, for it brings out the inner creativity, curiosity, and dynamism among teams and individuals.
As part of every day working in an organization, a team is tasked with many things in a day. By infusing some fun, creativity, and a dash of humor through task-based indoor scavenger hunt the teams not only enjoy but also learn the essentials of teamwork and collaboration.
8. Skill Based Challenge
Out of all the different types of indoor scavenger hunts, this one is hands down the winner as it could be customized in a very targeted way. The skill-based scavenger hunt could be completely tailor-made according to the organization’s needs. You can incorporate tasks or set classes for the participants that showcase specific skills. Mini trivia quizzes, puzzles on organizational history or industry, or the department’s work and expertise could be explored through this indoor scavenger hunt.
Not only it is an easy way to inculcate essential skills but it also reinforces organizational knowledge among the employees. The quiz or skill-based activity also acts as a learning experience for the participant thus equipping them with specific skills and fostering team building all along. Through skill-based scavenger hunt teams could enhance employee engagement and team bonding effectively.
9. Themed or Seasonal Hunt
An indoor scavenger hunt centered around a theme or a season adds a dash of creativity and fun to the team building activity. You could turn your mundane office work day into an exciting adventure by choosing a theme inspired by movies pop culture art, or travel. It offers a unique and immersive experience thus bringing personal preferences, and choices to the fore. The participants get to know each other more closely as they guess the clues set out for them and support each other in working as a team on their quest for the scavenger hunt.
You could use props, ask participants to dress up according to the theme, or even include an experiential activity or clue that takes sit forward. Participants could enjoy different themes without leaving the comfort of their homes or offices.
Seasonal indoor scavenger hunts are also a great way to infuse some festive fervor in your teams while incorporating teamwork and collaboration skills among participants. These not only induce creativity, and a spirit of camaraderie but also a sense of belongingness and oneness with the organisation and the team as a whole.
10. Around the World Hunt (DEI)
With teams coming from different socio-cultural milieu creating a homogenous work culture and organisational culture has become imperative today. To promote diversity, equity, and inclusion an indoor scavenger hunt aimed at the “Around the World” theme could be done. You could set up stations representing different countries or cultures.
This helps the team to create an inclusive setup where they are able to understand each other at a more personal level and reveal the shared yet uniquely different camaraderie. The teams could collect items or complete challenges related to each country. This promotes cultural awareness and teamwork. The around-the-world indoor scavenger hunt is a creative way to bring awareness about diversity, and inclusivity among the teams and promote an organizational culture of equity.
11. Scavenger Hunt Bingo
A fun and unique twist to the regular indoor scavenger hunt activity is the ‘Scavenger Hunt Bingo’. It is played with a set of cards. It could be done both physically as well as virtually depending upon the participant’s availability and the organizational need.
To play this indoor scavenger hunt bingo you would have to distribute the bingo cards with other office-related items or stationary or assign a task to each printed item, e.g. ‘find someone with the same birthdate’ or find someone with the same favorite color’. This creates a deeper connection with each other among the team members and you would observe enhanced team bonding. Participants get to know each other at a more personal level through this team building activity.
You could see a buzz of excitement in the room as participants jostled to complete a line or full card. It encourages interaction and friendly competition enhancing employee engagement and works as a great ice breaker for adults.
12. Food Hunt
Food brings people together like no other thing. The universal love language for humanity mostly expresses their love and fondness for each other through the food they share or offer. Also, getting treats in the middle of a hectic workday is stuff dreams are made of when you wish to unwind and relax for a while.
This is a perfect indoor scavenger hunt idea where you could hide treats or snacks around the office and then ask the participants to search for them through the clues you plant all over the place. Sharing food is the perfect alibi to start a conversation, break the ice, and get to know each other better. As teams discover the hidden food items on their food trail and savour them notice the change in attitude, shared sense of belonging, and connectedness fostered through the simple act of sharing what people love to eat. This shared enjoyment is calibrated throughout the organization as teams learn to share and know each other at a personal level and enjoy this newfound sense of knowledge about each other.
13. Charity Drive hunt
They say charity begins at home. Then why not start a noble cause in a fun way that also translates as a team building exercise? Sounds like a win-win. For this Charity Driven Indoor Scavenger Hunt, you have to combine the tasks or clues with charitable donations. For each clue that participants unlock and move towards the next one, you could task it with a charitable donation or a charitable act – like ‘feeding stray dogs’, ‘conducting a piano lesson on a weekend’, ‘teaching a language every Sunday to kids who do not have access to such resources’.
In addition to doing charitable acts, the teams could also collect charitable items or compete in challenges and then earn the donations or charitable items and donate it to the charity or cause of their choice.
Such an indoor scavenger hunt not only helps to collect charity and work for a noble cause but it also is a perfect choice for team building and improving employee connect. The teams work together for a chosen cause and strive hard to make the maximum donations for their charity. It promotes employee engagement and a deep-rooted empathy where people come together for a good cause.
How to Organize an Indoor Scavenger Hunt?
Prepare & Plan
In order to run any indoor scavenger hunt you need to plan ahead. Make a list of participants, a detailed plan of the requirements, the objects required, prepare the clues, decide the places where you would hide those clues, the flow of the hunt, and any contingency or unforeseen situation that you or the teams may arrive at while in the midst of the activity.
You would need clues, maps, lists, props if any, and a space to conduct the indoor scavenger hunt. For conducting virtual hunts you would need a good internet connection or a virtual platform to ensure smooth execution.
Encourage Teamwork
The whole idea behind conducting the indoor scavenger hunt is to promote team-building and employee engagement. Encourage collaboration, teamwork, and communication as much as possible. This acts as a glue to put the team members together and move ahead towards a common cause.
Fun Factor
Incorporating humor and creativity into the indoor scavenger hunt challenge keeps the participants engaged and excited. The indoor scavenger hunt is an adventurous sojourn. The fun factor-induced through creative ways keeps the learning experiential, entertaining, and lots of fun.
Debrief
What is any training activity without a debrief? Well, it would be of no good use unless you discuss and debrief after the indoor scavenger activity. You can make the participants sit together or huddle together after the indoor scavenger hunt and debrief them on the process. This brings about learning and awareness that you wanted to convey to the participants. It is a smooth and effortless way to derive learning.
Reflect
Reflection is one of the best ways to make the participants think and reflect on the learning.
It isn’t just a thought process but the connection that the participants make with the experiences that make for a strong learning foundation for them. They can reflect back on what worked well and the areas that could be improved for the future. It is a great tool for self-reflection and awareness for individuals and their teams as well.
The indoor scavenger hunts are a perfect exercise in team building and employee engagement. They not only foster a sense of camaraderie and teamwork among employees but also provide them with a creative outlet. Be it your office space or a corporate retreat, these creative indoor scavenger hunts are a perfect way to spice up your team building exercises.
The indoor scavenger hunts turn the mundane into memorable sparking an adventurous spirit and lighting up a trail of creative ideas. If you have been wondering about which team building activities to infuse then try any of these above-mentioned indoor scavenger hunts that are bound to give your teams a great learning experience, shape their skills, and infuse team camaraderie like no other.
