Have you ever been on a scavenger hunt? Back when I was a kid, my mother would sometimes do a scavenger hunt for our Easter treats. Other times, my sisters, cousins and I would make up scavenger hunts just for fun. I don’t remember if we had a prize at the end, but the fun was in figuring out the clues. In those we weren’t gathering things as you do in some scavenger hunts but instead hunting for each new clue. One of the clues might have been “I get steamed when I’m hot.” Then we’d find the next clue in the teakettle. Or “I can point the way for you.” Then a glove might hold the next clue. And on and on. We had fun figuring out the clues.
Another kind of scavenger hunt is where you go out and find things. These clues might be straight forward or perhaps a bit tricky as well. I was on a cruise with my sisters and mom once (all of whom enjoy riddles and games) and the cruise recreation leaders had a scavenger hunt for those who wanted to play. I only remember one of the items and that was “a sock with a hole in it.” Some of the teams were rushing back to their rooms to find a holey sock while one wise team member just took off his shoe and pulled off his sock. No holes in the heels or toes, but a hole where you put your foot in the sock. Right then, I knew my sisters and I weren’t going to think as fast as that other team. But it was still fun.
I’ve done scavenger hunts with my Sunday school kids too where they had to find an acorn, a leaf, a paper clip, the pastor’s favorite Scripture verse, one of the church member’s middle names, and other things like that. If you can get the kids enthused, those can be fun. Of course a prize at the end for all participants helps. 🙂
And now through the magic of internet, we have new types of Scavenger Hunts. I’m taking part in one of the fun ones this week, starting on Thursday, March 14th. This is my third time to go hunting with fellow authors and I’ve enjoyed meeting new writers and readers. In this year’s Spring Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt, twenty-six authors have teamed together to give readers a treat by posting new never published before posts on their blogs and linking to the next blog while providing a word clue for the readers to gather. When the hunters have gathered all the clues, they can put the phrase together and enter the giveaway for the prizes on the last blog. Nice prizes. Some gift cards and all those books pictured above.
And that’s not all. Many of the stops along the hunt are offering separate prizes. That includes me. You’ll have to wait until the Scavenger Hunt goes live to see what I’m giving away and how to enter. So there are many chances to win besides the final grand prizes. But it would really be sweet if one of you who regularly comments here on my blog posts did take home the big prizes.
So have you ever taken part in one of these Fiction Scavenger Hunts? If so, did you have fun or find any new books to try?
P.S. Thanks to all of you who helped make Cynthia Herron’s visit here on Wednesday such fun. I appreciated everyone who left a comment and a word of encouragement for Cynthia. The winner of Cynthia’s book, Her Hope Discovered, is Ola N. I’ll send you an e-mail, Ola.
Comments 19
I’ve done several of the Fiction Scavenger Hunts. I enjoy them, but they are time consuming. Thank you for sharing. Blessings
Author
This year, Lisa Bergren who is organizing this hunt asked the participants to keep the blog posts short. That should help it be faster to make it through the hunt, Lucy. And you have several days to get it done. You just don’t want to be late getting your entry in. I did have late visitors come to my blog after the Scavenger Hunt was over the last time I did it a year or two ago. But that was okay. They still got to read the posts and find out about new books and writers.
I love scavenger hunts! The kids in my summer library program love the nature hunts I have for them too. (something rough, a smooth stone, a blue flower…) But I’ve never participated in an online one before. It sounds like a lot of fun!
Author
Hope you’ll try this one, Lavon. Some good authors are in the Spring hunt this year and I know the posts will be interesting and fun. They are also all fairly short which makes it easier to read through the whole cycle of posts and clues.
I’m sure your library kids love those scavenger hunts. I need to make up one for my grandkids the next time they come to visit.
I love scavenger hunts! I’ve used them at times to give gifts that are difficult to wrap (like the hockey tickets I got for the hubby’s 40th birthday…. they were hidden behind a wedding picture and he had to follow clues to get them!). I’ve participated in all of Lisa’s fall scavenger hunts and was actually a second place winner in 2016. I’ve discovered new authors to follow in all of the ones I’ve done – but I especially did that year as I had no excuse to not get/read those books. It actually took me a year and a half to read them all as I kept getting distracted by other books (and needing to read the rest of the series of one of the books I’d won) and so I finally finished those last summer. These scavenger hunts are fun!
Author
That would be a lot of books to read, Erin. Congrats on being one of the big winners. Had to be fun getting all those books in the mail.
I think scavenger hunts for gifts is fun. Especially fun that you used a wedding picture for the final clue.
Hey Ann, I’ve never done a scavenger hunt. This sounds like a lot of fun.
Author
I hope you’ll give it a try, Danie. Usually the posts on the sites are fun and interesting and not too long.
I have never been on a digital scavenger hunt , looking forward to participating !
I love scavenger hunts, but have not gone on one for years. Now I’m looking forward to an online hunt. I’ve not done one of those yet.
Author
You’ll have fun, Nancy, but there are several posts to get through with great things to read along the way.
How do I participate in this?
Author
It’s easy, but it won’t start until Thursday, March 14th at around 3 p.m. EST. Then you can show up here and there will be a link in the top paragraphs of my post to Lisa Bergren’s Stop #1 in the Hunt. So you will start there and just collect the clues at each stop. There are maybe 26 stops. My blog is Stop #23. At the end of each stop (blog post) there will be a clue in red for you to write down and then the link to the next stop. At the end you will be able to enter by putting all the clues together and writing whatever the clues say. Everything is clearly explained on each stop. It does take a while to go through the stops because you do want to read the posts. Plus, many of the stops have giveaways on top of the grand prizes at the end. Mine will too. But you have until Sunday night to get through the stops. So that’s Thursday evening and all day on Friday and Saturday plus most of the day on Sunday. I hope you’ll give it a try. Some of the posts will be up before the Hunt officially begins just so the organizers can be sure everything is working the way it should. But you won’t be able to start the hunt until Thursday afternoon. Hope that helps explain what it’s all about, Tera.
Hi, Ann! I sure do like scavenger hunts! I always look forward to Lisa’s. Last time I won three books from Terri Blackstock, all autographed! I’ve been anticipating this one. The prizes seem to get bigger and better!
My sisters and cousins used to do scavenger hunts in the summer when we visted my Grandma. It was the kind where you find paperclips, bandaids, etc. We made them up and had four teams with all the neighborhood kids. And it would sometimes go til after dark. A much safer, simpler time! Fond memories.
Blessings and I look forward to your post.
Author
Kids did know how to have fun with one another back when as you say, times were simpler. We weren’t all worried about somebody grabbing a kid off the street and we let the kids work through whatever problems they had with little adult interference. Now we are all very involved with our kids’ activities. Not bad to have involved parents, but kids need to learn how to play well with others too. 🙂 Those neighborhood scavenger hunts you had sound like the very thing to make that happen.
Hope you have fun on the internet hunt, Paula. Maybe you’ll win some prizes again.
I love scavenger hunts, especially at Easter! Digital scavenger hunts are so fun,too! 😊 Psalm 113😊
Author
I need to come up with a fun digital hunt for my blog here, Emily. But right now I’ll just have to have fun with the Christian Fiction Hunt. And maybe think up one for my grandkids sometime. They would like that.
I’ve done a few scavenger hunts, but I think I would have enjoyed more. I’ve tried the Fiction Scavenger hunt a couple of times, but haven’t ever won anything. Most of the books I already knew about beforehand.
Author
Well, there are a lot of people taking part in these hunts, Margaret, so the odds are long about winning the big prizes. Or if you’re like me, there can be three people entered and if I’m in the drawing the other two have an even better chance. My name never seems to rise to the top of a drawing hat. LOL. But you keep stopping by here and I’ll be having some more book giveaways in the months ahead.