Magazine Scavenger Hunt Ideas

Pictures, words, numbers and parts of the page to find inside any old magazine, newspaper or catalog.

Magazine Scavenger Hunt Ideas

TeamMagazine or paper

  1. Cut or tear only from pages a grown-up has handed you.
  2. Library or class copy? Write the page number and cut nothing.
  3. One find from any one page.
  1. A cartoon or a sketch where you expected a photoA drawing has lines you can follow with a finger.
  2. An animal that is not a petNo cats, dogs, hamsters or goldfish.
  3. A picture taken from high aboveRooftops, a coastline or the tops of heads.
  4. A plate of food with steam risingNo steam, no tick.
  5. Someone looking straight out of the page at youEyes on the camera.
  6. A picture that fills two whole pagesThe fold runs down the middle of it.
  7. A hard hat, an apron or a badge on someoneSay what the job is.
  8. Weather you can see in a pictureRain, snow, fog or lightning.
  9. A picture with no people in itCheck the background before you cut.
  10. A reflection in water, glass or a mirrorFind the thing and its double.

Next step For ages two to six: first huntsFinds around the classroom

How it works

Everything on these lists is on a printed page. These magazine scavenger hunt ideas send players through whatever old copy is to hand, for someone laughing, a fraction and A capital Q.

Read the full guide

Six lists, one stack of old magazines

Choose a list in the menu, then press Print this list. Pictures opens first and needs no reading. Parts of the page says in one line what each part is, from a headline to A pull quote.

Scissors or a pencil

With copies nobody wants back, players cut each find out and tick it. With a library or class copy they write the page number and cut nothing. Either way, one find from any one page.

Tips
  • Two players can share one magazine by starting from opposite ends.
  • A newspaper suits Numbers; a catalog suits Ads and offers.

Questions and answers

What can you look for in a magazine?

Someone laughing, a word nobody on your team can explain, a headline that ends in a question mark, a price, a caption and A coupon. The six lists are Pictures, Words, Letters and marks, Numbers, Parts of the page, and Ads and offers.

What if we cannot cut the magazine up?

Write the page number of each find and cut nothing. The printed rules say so for a library or class copy.

Does it work with a newspaper or a catalog?

Yes. No list names a magazine. A newspaper has plenty for Numbers and Parts of the page; a catalog is all prices and pictures.

More tools

Browse Word Games

All 84 finds

Pictures 14

  • A cartoon or a sketch where you expected a photo A drawing has lines you can follow with a finger.
  • A close-up of fingers doing a job Say what they are doing.
  • A hard hat, an apron or a badge on someone Say what the job is.
  • A picture printed in black and white No color anywhere in it.
  • A picture taken from high above Rooftops, a coastline or the tops of heads.
  • A picture that fills two whole pages The fold runs down the middle of it.
  • A picture with no people in it Check the background before you cut.
  • A plate of food with steam rising No steam, no tick.
  • A reflection in water, glass or a mirror Find the thing and its double.
  • An animal that is not a pet No cats, dogs, hamsters or goldfish.
  • Someone laughing Mouth open, eyes crinkled. A polite smile is not enough.
  • Someone looking straight out of the page at you Eyes on the camera.
  • Something with wheels that is not a car A stroller, a suitcase, a train, a wheelbarrow.
  • Weather you can see in a picture Rain, snow, fog or lightning.

Words 14

  • A color spelled out in letters Printed in that color scores a cheer.
  • A contraction with its apostrophe Like don't, or it's.
  • A foreign phrase printed in the middle of English Try menus and travel pages.
  • A month spelled out, not shortened Any month but this one.
  • A noise spelled out, such as buzz or splash Read it out the way it sounds.
  • A pair of matching letters side by side, as in balloon Any letter of the alphabet will do.
  • A rhyming pair found on a single page They do not have to sit side by side.
  • A word nobody on your team can explain Look it up afterward.
  • A word with a hyphen in it A hyphen that only splits a word at the end of a line does not count.
  • The longest word on the page: twelve letters at least Count twice before you cut.
  • The name of a country far from here Say where it is on a map.
  • Three words in a row that begin with the same letter Three in a row, with no word between.
  • Two words joined into one Like sunflower, or bookshelf.
  • Your own first initial at the start of a headline It has to be the very first letter.

Letters and marks 14

  • A capital Q Check headlines and names first.
  • A headline that ends in a question mark In the big type, not in the article underneath.
  • A pair of parentheses Both halves, with the words between them.
  • A word in bold in the middle of a paragraph Bold is the thick, dark type.
  • A word in italics Italics are the slanted letters.
  • An accent over a letter Like the mark in café.
  • An ampersand: the & that joins two names It stands for the word and.
  • An article that opens with one enormous letter It may be several lines tall.
  • An exclamation mark One is enough.
  • The letter X or Z in a headline Either one counts.
  • Letters in three different sizes on one page Cut one of each.
  • Quotation marks round someone's words Find who said it, too.
  • White letters printed on a dark background Any size counts.
  • Your name spelled in cut-out headline letters Lay them out in order.

Numbers 14

  • A clock time, like 7:30 Say whether it is morning or evening.
  • A date that gives the day and the month Say whether it has passed.
  • A final score with both sides' numbers Say who won.
  • A fraction Try the recipes.
  • A length, a weight or a distance with its unit Inches, miles, ounces or pounds.
  • A list numbered from 1 Say how far it goes.
  • A number bigger than a million Count the zeros, or find the word million.
  • A page number above 50 Thin magazines may not get there. Try a catalog.
  • A percentage The number with the % sign after it.
  • A phone number Tick it and leave it on the page. Nobody calls it.
  • A price Any price, with its currency sign.
  • A temperature Try a weather page or a recipe.
  • A year, in full, that is not this year All four digits.
  • Seven, not 7: a number spelled in letters Any number will do.

Parts of the page 14

  • A box of text with a border round it It sits apart from the main article.
  • A byline The line that gives the name of the writer of an article.
  • A caption The few lines of text that explain a photograph.
  • A headline The text above an article that tells you what it is about.
  • A letter sent in by a reader Signed with a reader's name or town.
  • A line on the cover about a story inside Then find the story it points to.
  • A page where the text runs in three columns or more Count the columns.
  • A page with its number missing Flip through and watch the corners.
  • A pull quote A phrase pulled out of an article and printed large on the same page.
  • An article that carries on to a later page Find the line that tells you where it goes.
  • The contents page, with its list of titles Also called the table of contents: the list, near the front, of what is inside.
  • The masthead In American usage, the printed list of a publication's owners, staff and address.
  • The nameplate The publication's own title, as it is designed on the cover or front page.
  • The tiny name beside a photograph Small print that says who took the picture.

Ads and offers 14

  • A card or a form for subscribing Leave it in the magazine.
  • A coupon Look for a dotted line round it.
  • A full-page ad and an ad smaller than your hand Both, from different pages.
  • A slogan of three words or fewer Count the words.
  • A small ad placed by a person, not a company A few lines of plain text and no picture.
  • A web address Tick it and leave it on the page.
  • A wordless ad: a picture and a name, nothing else The seller's name does not count as a word.
  • An ad for something to eat Hungry yet?
  • An ad for somewhere to visit Say whether you would go.
  • An ad whose biggest line ends in a question mark Read the question out loud.
  • An ad with an animal in it Say what the animal has to do with what is for sale.
  • Something that calls itself new Say what is new about it.
  • The tiniest print at the bottom of an ad Read one line of it out loud, if you can.
  • The word free Say what is free.
How this list was compiled

Written for this page in September 2026: original finds that are all inside a magazine, a newspaper or a catalog, sorted into Pictures, Words, Letters and marks, Numbers, Parts of the page, and Ads and offers. Nothing was copied from another list, and no magazine, newspaper, shop or brand is named. Players cut or tear only from pages a grown-up has handed them, and with a library or class copy they write page numbers and cut nothing. The names and one-line meanings of seven page parts were checked on 2026-09-30 against the English Wikipedia articles Headline (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headline), Photo caption (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo_caption), Byline (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byline), Table of contents (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_contents), Pull quote (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pull_quote), Masthead (American publishing) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masthead_(American_publishing)) and Nameplate (publishing) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nameplate_(publishing)). Every other part of a page is described and not named. Levels are our judgment. Licence: own work