If you are looking to make this Christmas even more special then check out these fun Christmas scavenger hunt printables! I have tried to make one for every situation – at home, around the neighborhood, outside and things to do!
And because I know the clue type of Christmas scavenger hunt is pretty darn popular for the older kids, I made some of those too!
If Christmas seems a little too crazy and chaotic, try giving some of these guys out to the kids. It’ll keep them occupied and hopefully help them explore what’s around them, whether it be all the joy of Christmas or the beauty of a snowy winter day.
P.S. head here for an outdoor winter themed set of free printable scavenger hunts if that suits what you’re looking for better!
Christmas Scavenger Hunt – In My Home
This one covers 12 things that are in most homes during Christmas time. I love bringing something like this if we are visiting a relative’s house (we all know there’s Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas morning breakfast, Christmas day dinner etc…) to help the kiddos focus on familiar things while in a not so familiar place.
I also tried hard to really focus on the cozy parts of Christmas vs the material ones – IE, love, warm food and drink and cheerful decor.
For this Christmas scavenger hunt game, your kiddo will have to find
- Ornament
- Love
- Christmas Sweater
- Snowglobe
- Stocking
- Candy Cane
- Warm Food
- Hot Chocolate
- Present
- Lights
- Christmas Tree
- Gingerbread Man
Outdoor Christmas Scavenger Hunt (in my neighborhood!)
Did anyone else’s parents go on a special trip to the nicest decorated neighborhood to see all the pretty houses trimmed in Christmas lights? Mine did, and it felt absolutely magical!
I love strolling just about anywhere during December to see all the decorations, and luckily live in a place that has a beautiful town square with thousands of twinkling lights and pine.
We usually have snow during December, so I included some snowy things you might see (feel free to omit those if you don’t have snow!)
For the outdoor Christmas scavenger hunt your kiddo will look for:
- Christmas tree on a car
- Kids playing in the snow
- Pine tree
- Wreath
- Warm sweater
- Bird in a tree
- Mittens
- Pinecone
- Reindeer yard decor
- Snowman
- Snow
- Lights on a house
Trying to conserve ink? Here are some cute versions of the Christmas scavenger hunt cards that DON’T use as much ink!
I have made two different condensed versions of these – one that’s less color, and one that is optimized and will work find for a black and white print. They also skip out on so many pictures, so they may be more fitting for older kids who don’t need them!
Minimal color Christmas hunt list
I combined the two Christmas cards into a single page checklist that can be cut in half. It has a decorative border though so it’s still got a pop of color for fun!
Minimal color outdoor winter hunt list
I combined the “see” and “do” hunts for winter into a single page checklist for this too!
Get your set of cute winter and Christmas scavenger hunts now!
It was honestly hard some days to get all the kids dressed and out the door (and there was always one that had to go potty within 5 minutes!) but I promise, it is so worth it in a couple of years!
Look for the good things with your kids this season – the symbols of love and special traditions in your as well as the beauty and fun that is outside!
Purchase the 8 page PDF of winter scavenger hunts here in my store! =)
FREE Christmas Scavenger hunt with rhyming clues (24 options!)
I had originally envisioned this as just a picture and list based scavenger hunt, however, upon more research found that families with older kids like to do a tradition on Christmas eve to use clues to find that special Christmas Eve present!
I didn’t know this because my kids are still pretty young (four year old and two two year olds) but I do think this is a way to make the Christmas Eve present way more special and fun! I think I might even pick some of the easier ones to do with my oldest!
I got many of these clues from the brilliant Shannan and her enormous list (56!) of Christmas clues here. She has them in a list form, but I really wanted them to be in cards so that we could use them this year. I made these for my own kids (if you’re wondering why I picked the easiest ones from her list) but thought since it was already made, might as well throw these in too should anyone want them.
Download these Christmas Scavenger Hunt Clues HERE
How do you play a Christmas scavenger clue hunt for a present?
Pick out the ones you want to use (usually between 6 and 12, though of course you can modify for how much you think your child would wnat to do) and set up a “treasure hunt” of sorts that will lead them place to place till they end up at their present!
It’s helpful to number the backs of the cards so that you know the order and your kiddo doesn’t accidentally follow the clues in the wrong order somehow.
I used four different backgrounds so that each kid could have their own pattern (though the fourth pattern only has 4 usable clues as the bottom two are ones that lead to the tree). And actually, the present doesn’t even HAVE to be under the tree – you could choose to hide it wherever the last clue points to!
Here are some more winter and Christmas activities for kids (and your free printable!)
I don’t want to leave you empty-handed (I know holidays can be tight!) You can download the two printer friendly winter nature/Christmas scavenger hunts here. Happy holidays!
And if you’d like to purchase the whole set, don’t forget to head to my Etsy!
- This peek a boo Santa craft coming popping out of the chimney will delight your kiddos!
- Make your own set of Christmas themed window clings with your kiddos!
- Keep your kids busy forever with this winter themed sensory activity – ice lake rescue!
- Make Christmas even more special with this 12 page Christmas scavenger hunt pack!
- Make a fabric ornament out of any printed picture… like this cute Santa on skis!
- Make this DIY mini wine ornament for the wino in your life (or yourself… I am!)
- Check out this list of fun kids winter toys so that the snowy winter doesn’t give your family such cabin fever!
- Speaking of snow… make these yummy two ingredient snow popsicles the next time you wake up to a fresh fluffy blanket of snow!
- Paint in the snow with this easy to make snow paint!
I love it! This looks like a blast! I’m not sure if you’d be interested but theres a neat website that creates scavenger hunts that have riddles for each clue! It has holiday and party themes as well. Have a look if you’d like https://www.riddleme.com/category/christmas-scavenger-hunts/
Hi Aspen!
Thank you! Ohhhhh I love that! Thanks for the tip, scavenger hunts will be a lot easier to make now! – Stacy