Halloween Scavenger Hunt Ideas

142 printable finds for street, candy bag and party: pick a group, press Pick 10 new finds, then print.

Halloween Scavenger Hunt Ideas

Team

  1. Stay on the sidewalk: no lawns, no porches, no touching decorations.
  2. Costumes are spotted, never photographed. Only teammates appear in photos.
  3. Kids hunt with an adult.
  4. Candy bag finds wait until an adult has checked the haul.
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All 142
  1. A miniature chocolate barTwo bites at most.
  2. A teal pumpkinTeal means the house offers non-food treats, so kids with food allergies can join in.
  3. An inflatable costumeThe kind with a fan inside that makes the wearer twice as wide.
  4. Fake cobwebs stretched over a bushThe white stretchy kind. A hedge, a railing or a mailbox also counts.
  5. A mummyWrapped head to toe in white strips.
  6. A skeleton animalA dog, a cat, a bird or a horse made of bones.
  7. A flickering or flashing light in a windowA strobe, a fake candle or a lightning effect.
  8. A skeleton sitting in a lawn chairAny seat counts: a bench, a swing or a porch step.
  9. A wreath in black, orange or purpleOn a front door. Ribbons, feathers, eyeballs or tiny pumpkins.
  10. A team photo with a flashlight under every chinThe campfire-story look. One flashlight passed along the line also works.

Next step More team photo promptsA street list for any night

All 142 finds

Yards and porches 40

  • A black cat decoration in a window Black cats have long been linked with witches. A real cat on a windowsill also counts.
  • A candy bowl left out with a take-one sign Spot it only. The candy is for the trick-or-treaters it was left for.
  • A cauldron on a porch Black and round. Extra credit from your team if something green glows inside.
  • A coffin prop Standing up or lying down. A lid that opens is a bonus to talk about, not to test.
  • A decoration made from corn stalks or corn husks Corn husks, pumpkins and scarecrows are the autumn side of the holiday's decorations.
  • A decoration that is clearly homemade Painted plywood, stuffed clothes, a cardboard coffin. The team agrees or it does not count.
  • A doormat with a Halloween message Readable from the sidewalk, or from the door if you are trick-or-treating there anyway.
  • A fake crow or raven perched on something On a fence post, a tombstone or a porch light.
  • A front door dressed as a monster face Paper eyes and teeth, or a door wrapped as a mummy.
  • A ghost hanging from a tree branch Sheet, plastic or cheesecloth. It has to be off the ground.
  • A giant spider on a roof or a wall Bigger than a dinner plate, legs and all.
  • A hand reaching up out of the ground A zombie arm or a skeleton hand, planted in a lawn or a flower bed.
  • A jack-o'-lantern that looks scared instead of scary Round eyes and an open mouth. The team votes on whether it counts.
  • A jack-o'-lantern with a lit face Carved and glowing. The first ones were turnips, carved in Ireland and Scotland.
  • A mailbox wearing a decoration Cobwebs, a spider, a ghost or a bow.
  • A pumpkin that is painted, not carved Paint, marker or stickers. No cut holes anywhere on it.
  • A row of three or more ghosts Count them aloud. Ghosts holding hands in a ring earn the find twice over in bragging rights.
  • A scarecrow with a pumpkin for a head A plain straw scarecrow does not count here. It needs the pumpkin.
  • A skeleton animal A dog, a cat, a bird or a horse made of bones.
  • A skeleton sitting in a lawn chair Any seat counts: a bench, a swing or a porch step.
  • A skeleton taller than a front door The giant yard skeletons. Judge the height against the door, from the sidewalk.
  • A skull on a step, a stake or a windowsill One skull is enough. A whole skeleton is a different find.
  • A stack of three or more pumpkins One on top of another, like a snowman. A row on the steps is not a stack.
  • A teal pumpkin Teal means the house offers non-food treats, so kids with food allergies can join in.
  • A white pumpkin Real or plastic. A painted one does not count, because that is another find.
  • A window silhouette: a figure, a cat or a hand Black paper taped inside the glass. It shows best once the lights are on.
  • A witch who has crashed into a tree or a pole Legs, hat and broom flattened against it. One of the harder finds on any street.
  • A witch's broom parked by a front door A twig broom, not a kitchen one.
  • A wreath in black, orange or purple On a front door. Ribbons, feathers, eyeballs or tiny pumpkins.
  • A yard tombstone with a joke name on it Read the pun aloud to your team to claim it.
  • A yard with ten or more decorations Count together, out loud. Each light string counts once.
  • An inflatable decoration taller than you Measure by eye against the tallest player, from the sidewalk.
  • An inflatable that has fallen over or gone flat Leave it as it lies. Fixing it means walking on the lawn.
  • Caution tape across a porch or a gate Yellow and black, or the printed kind that warns of zombies.
  • Fake cobwebs stretched over a bush The white stretchy kind. A hedge, a railing or a mailbox also counts.
  • Five or more bats stuck to a wall or a door Paper or plastic. Count them from where you stand.
  • Glowing eyes in a bush or a window A pair of lights made to look like something is watching.
  • Orange string lights On a porch rail, a bush or a window frame.
  • Purple string lights The holiday's traditional colors are black and orange, sometimes with purple.
  • Three or more glowing jack-o'-lanterns in a row On steps, a wall or a porch rail, all lit at once.

Costumes on the street 27

  • A baby or a toddler dressed as an animal or a food Spot it and tell your team. No photos of people outside your team.
  • A caped hero Any cape and mask. Your team does not have to name the hero.
  • A costume made from a cardboard box A robot, a washing machine, a juice carton. Homemade is the point.
  • A costume that lights up Light strips, a glowing mask or a stick figure made of glow sticks.
  • A costume with wings A bat, a fairy, a butterfly or a bee.
  • A decorated wagon or stroller Turned into a pirate ship, a pumpkin coach or a spaceship.
  • A dinosaur Spot it and tell your team. No photos of people outside your team.
  • A dog in a costume Admire it from where you are. Ask the owner before anyone pets it.
  • A ghost made from a bedsheet The simplest costume there is, and rarer than you would think. No photos of people outside your team.
  • A glow stick necklace or bracelet on a trick-or-treater One of the simplest ways to be seen after dark. Your own team counts.
  • A group costume of three or more people A set that only makes sense together, such as three blind mice.
  • A knight, a princess or a dragon Any one of the three. All three in one group is a story to bring back.
  • A mask pushed up on top of a head It always happens by the third street.
  • A mummy Wrapped head to toe in white strips.
  • A photo of a teammate's costume from behind Show it to the other teams at the end and let them guess the costume.
  • A pillowcase used as a candy bag The classic choice of anyone planning a long night.
  • A pirate A hat, an eye patch or a hook. Any one of the three will do.
  • A plastic pumpkin bucket Orange is the easy find. Any other color is worth telling your team about.
  • A pumpkin costume Round, orange, with a green hat or collar for the stem.
  • A skeleton suit Spot it and tell your team. No photos of people outside your team.
  • A vampire in a cape Spot it and tell your team. No photos of people outside your team.
  • A witch in a pointed hat Spot it and tell your team. No photos of people outside your team.
  • An adult in full costume walking with kids A hat alone is not full costume.
  • An inflatable costume The kind with a fan inside that makes the wearer twice as wide.
  • Someone dressed as a job A firefighter, a doctor, an astronaut, a chef.
  • Someone handing out candy in costume Say thank you. That is the whole task.
  • Two people in the same costume They do not have to know each other. Same character, same night.

After dark 16

  • A car trunk decorated for trunk-or-treat Trunk-or-treat is held in school and church parking lots, so this find is for hunts held there.
  • A decoration that moves when someone walks past Watch it go off from the sidewalk. Do not walk up to trigger it.
  • A flickering or flashing light in a window A strobe, a fake candle or a lightning effect.
  • A fog machine running in a yard Low fog rolling across a lawn or down the steps. Spot it from the sidewalk.
  • A garage turned into a haunted house Black plastic walls and a line of kids outside are the giveaway.
  • A ghost story, told in under a minute Ghost stories are a fixture of Halloween parties. If nobody is telling one, a teammate does.
  • A house lit in a single color Every outside light green, purple, orange or red.
  • A house with every window dark except one Spot it and keep walking. It is only a find, not a place to stop.
  • A laugh, a howl or a scream from a decoration A cackling witch or a howling wolf. A teammate's scream does not count.
  • A path lined with lanterns Paper bags with lights inside, stake lights or glowing jars along a walkway.
  • A photo of team shadows joined into one monster Stand in a line under a street light and wave every arm.
  • A projector throwing shapes on a house or a garage door Ghosts, bats or swirling lights.
  • A real spider web lit by a porch light or a street light Look, do not touch. The owner is probably at home.
  • A spooky soundtrack playing from a house Creaking doors, organ music, thunder.
  • A team photo with a flashlight under every chin The campfire-story look. One flashlight passed along the line also works.
  • The moon, or the cloud that is hiding it Point to it. Everyone on the team has to look up at once.

Candy bag finds 19

  • A candy nobody on the team has tried before Everyone has to agree they have never had it.
  • A candy shaped like a creature A bear, a worm, a fish, a frog or a bat.
  • A candy that comes in a roll Tablets or chews stacked in a paper tube.
  • A candy with a joke or a riddle on the wrapper Read it aloud. Groans count as applause.
  • A hard candy Hard candies are a choking hazard for young children, so an adult sorts these out first.
  • A lollipop Any flavor. The stick has to be attached.
  • A miniature chocolate bar Two bites at most.
  • A piece of bubble gum Gum is on the FDA's list of choking hazards for very young children, so set it aside for them.
  • A piece of candy corn Three colors: a yellow wide end, an orange middle and a white tip. It dates to the 1880s.
  • A purple wrapper Mostly purple counts.
  • A snack that is not candy Raisins, pretzels, crackers or a fruit snack.
  • A treat that is not food A sticker, a pencil or a glow stick: the kind of treat a teal-pumpkin house gives.
  • A wrapper with a tear or a pinhole, to throw away The FDA says to check wrappers for tiny pinholes and tears, and to throw away anything that looks suspicious.
  • An orange wrapper Mostly orange counts. Hold it up for the team.
  • The smallest piece in the bag Line up the candidates on the table and compare.
  • Something sour The face a teammate pulls is the proof.
  • Something that is not in a factory wrapper, to set aside The FDA's advice is to eat only treats that are commercially wrapped.
  • Something with peanuts, found by reading the label Reading labels for allergens is one of the FDA's Halloween tips for parents.
  • Two pieces that are exactly the same The start of a fair trade with a teammate.

Indoor party finds 28

  • A battery candle Hide it: switched on, on a low shelf or a side table. Real flames stay out of a hunt with running kids.
  • A black craft feather Hide it: tucked into a picture frame.
  • A black paper cat Hide it: low down, at the height a cat would sit, behind a chair leg.
  • A book of ghost stories Hide it: spine out on a shelf among ordinary books. Any spooky title counts.
  • A broom with an orange ribbon on it The ordinary kitchen broom, in its ordinary place. The ribbon is what makes it a find.
  • A cardboard bone Hide it: in the dog's bed if you have a dog, under a doormat if you do not.
  • A fake eyeball A table tennis ball with an iris drawn on. Hide it: in an egg cup or a mug.
  • A flashlight Hide this one in plain sight and list it first. It helps with all the rest.
  • A glow stick Hide it: inside a closet with the door left slightly open.
  • A jar labeled as a potion Water, food coloring and a label that reads 'swamp water'. Hide it: among the kitchen jars.
  • A mask Hide it: on a teddy bear or a houseplant.
  • A mini pumpkin Hide it: in the fruit bowl, among the apples.
  • A paper bat taped under a table Players have to crawl to see it, so clear the floor under there first.
  • A paper ghost Cut ten from white paper and tape them around the room, so every player finds one.
  • A photo of one teammate wrapped as a mummy in one minute One roll of toilet paper and a one-minute timer. Put the paper in the recycling after.
  • A plastic skeleton hand Hide it: poking out from under a sofa cushion.
  • A plastic spider Hide it: on a lampshade or a door frame, at the eye height of your youngest player.
  • A pumpkin seed taped to a card Without the card it is too small to find. Hide it: on the fridge, under a magnet.
  • A rubber bat Hide it: hanging by a thread from a door handle or a coat hook.
  • A set of plastic fangs Hide it: in the bathroom, next to the toothbrush holder.
  • A single orange sock Hide it: hanging out of a drawer.
  • A toy mouse Hide it: on a bookshelf, peeking out between two books.
  • A treat bag with your name on it List this last and hide one for each child, so the hunt ends with everyone holding something.
  • A witch's hat Hide it: on a coat rack, among the ordinary hats.
  • An old key on a ribbon The key to the haunted house. Hide it: hanging from a chair back or a drawer knob.
  • An orange balloon with a face drawn on it Draw the face with a marker. Hide it: behind a curtain.
  • Something black that is not a decoration A shoe, a remote control, a pan. Players find their own.
  • Something orange that is not a decoration A carrot, a highlighter, a cushion. Each player finds their own, so nothing is hidden.

Team photos 12

  • A haunted family portrait: nobody smiles Stiff backs and blank stares, like a photo from a hundred years ago.
  • A photo of a pumpkin from so close nobody can tell Fill the frame with the stem or the skin. The other teams guess what it is.
  • A photo of a teammate floating like a ghost A sheet and a jump, or arms out with the camera moved on purpose.
  • A photo of a teammate peeking around a corner Only the eyes and the fingers show.
  • A photo of the team's shoes in a ring around a pumpkin Your own pumpkin or the party's.
  • A team photo copying a jack-o'-lantern's face Hold the pumpkin's expression beside it. Use your own pumpkin or the party's.
  • A team photo doing a zombie walk Arms out, heads tilted, all in step. Only teammates in the frame.
  • A team photo frozen in a silent scream Mouths open, no sound. The neighbors will thank you.
  • A team photo in front of your own decorations Your own door, yard or party room. Other people's porches are out of bounds.
  • A team photo of everyone's scariest face No hands allowed. The face does all the work.
  • A team photo spelling BOO with your bodies Three letters, so at least three players. Lying on the floor is allowed.
  • A team photo stirring a pretend cauldron One stirs, one adds ingredients, the rest look worried.

How it works

Six groups fill these Halloween scavenger hunt ideas: 40 for yards and porches, 27 costumes, 24 after dark, 19 for the candy bag, 29 to hide indoors and 16 team photos. Print makes any ten a Halloween scavenger hunt printable.

Read the full guide

Pick the hunt you are running

Yards and porches and Costumes on the street make a walking Halloween scavenger hunt list for trick-or-treat night: a teal pumpkin, a skeleton animal. Indoor party finds is a hiding list, and the note under each line tells the host where to put it. Press Pick 10 new finds until the list fits your street.

Street rules and the candy table

Every street find can be seen from the sidewalk, so nobody steps on a lawn or touches a decoration. Costumes are spotted, never photographed: only teammates appear in photos. Candy bag finds is played at home, after an adult has checked the haul. The FDA's advice is in the notes: throw away torn or pinholed wrappers and read labels for allergens.

  • Spooky scavenger hunt ideas: pick After dark and hand out flashlights for a fog machine and glowing eyes.
  • A witch who has crashed into a tree may not exist nearby: call hard finds bonuses.

Questions and answers

What does a teal pumpkin mean?

A teal pumpkin on a porch means the house offers treats that are not food, such as stickers or glow sticks, so kids with food allergies can take part. A food allergy charity has promoted the idea since 2014.

How do I run it as a Halloween scavenger hunt game at a party?

Pick Indoor party finds. Each note is a hiding tip: the fangs go beside the toothbrush holder, the mini pumpkin in the fruit bowl. Hide all notes prints them on a last page for the host.

What ages does this list suit?

Ages five and up, with an adult. Easy under More filters keeps the 54 finds that suit the youngest: a plastic pumpkin bucket, orange string lights. Nothing on the list is gory. After dark is the spookiest group, so pick another for little ones.

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