Outdoor Christmas Scavenger Hunt Ideas for Adults

How it works

A town center in December supplies the list: a train in a shop window, a statue in a scarf, a carol from a lamp post. These outdoor Christmas scavenger hunt ideas for adults are scored from the sidewalk.

Read the full guide

Christmas scavenger hunt ideas around town

Main street opens first. Use the menu to move to The town tree and square, Front doors and porches or Sounds and smells, and add Team tasks for the photos. Print one sheet for each team.

Points and the rules on the sheet

Every find carries 1, 2 or 3 points at the start of its note, and the note is the judging rule. The printed rules keep teams on public ground: no shop is entered and nothing is bought.

Tips

Start an hour before dark, so the porch and window finds are lit by the time teams reach them.
Send one team down a street of houses first: A village of tiny lit houses on a windowsill scores 2.

Questions and answers

What are good Christmas outdoor scavenger hunt ideas?

Things a decorated town really has: A statue dressed up for the season, a holiday message hung high over the roadway, stockings hung outside a house, and Whatever sits on top of the town tree.

How long should a Christmas hunt for adults take?

Set a finish time before teams leave and print it on the sheet's Meet at line. A team that comes back late loses points, so nobody stays out in the cold.

Can we play it without snow?

Yes. Only one find needs frost or snow underfoot. Everything else is decorations, sounds and smells, which a mild December still has.

Is it the same as the Christmas lights bingo?

No. Christmas lights bingo is a card of light displays for a drive or a walk after dark. This list is scored on foot and includes team tasks.

All 82 finds

Main street 20

A collection bin for toys or canned goods 2 points. Seen at a doorway or through a window. Nothing is taken out.
A collection kettle with a bell ringer beside it 2 points. Tick it as you pass. The ringer is not photographed.
A gingerbread house on show in a window 2 points. A real baked one scores. A cardboard one does not.
A hanging ornament bigger than a basketball 2 points. Judge it from below. Nobody reaches for it.
A holiday message hung high over the roadway 2 points. It has to span the street, not hang on a wall.
A mailbox for letters to the North Pole 3 points. A decorated box on the sidewalk or in a doorway. Nothing is mailed for the hunt.
A poster for a holiday concert or parade 1 point. Write the date printed on it.
A reindeer made of wire, wood or logs 2 points. Standing on a sidewalk, a roof or a traffic island.
A ribbon bow bigger than your head 1 point. Hold a hand up beside it to judge the size.
A shop window painted with holly or snowflakes 1 point. Paint on the glass. A sticker does not count.
A shop window with a model train running 3 points. Seen from the sidewalk. The train has to be moving.
A sign that gives a shop's Christmas Eve hours 2 points. Write the closing time on the sheet.
A snowflake banner fixed to a street pole 1 point. The banners that hang from brackets on lamp posts and poles.
A storefront counting down the days to Christmas 3 points. Write the number it shows today.
A window display where something moves by itself 2 points. Not a train: that find is its own line.
A window where children's drawings for Santa are pinned up 3 points. Seen from the sidewalk. Count the drawings if you can.
A wreath hung on a lamp post 1 point. Any street lamp counts. A wreath on a door belongs to another set.
Garland wound round a railing 1 point. A stair rail, a fence or a bridge rail all count.
Lights wrapped round the trunk of a street tree 1 point. The trunk, not just the branches.
Shop awnings trimmed with evergreen 2 points. Real or artificial greenery along the edge.

The town tree and square 16

A bandstand or gazebo strung with lights 2 points. The lights do not have to be on yet.
A bench with a view of the whole town tree 1 point. The team sits on it to score.
A candy cane taller than a child 1 point. Any material. It has to stand on the ground.
A flagpole with lights running up it 2 points. Lights on the pole itself, not near it.
A fountain boxed in or switched off for winter 2 points. Dry counts. Frozen counts too.
A giant wrapped present nobody could lift 1 point. Decoration size: taller than your knee.
A menorah display 2 points. Tick it from the path and count its lights.
A nativity scene set up outdoors 2 points. Count the figures from the path and write the number.
A row of evergreens in tubs 1 point. Three or more in a line.
A sign naming who gave or decorated the town tree 3 points. Write the name. No sign, no points.
A statue dressed up for the season 3 points. A scarf, a hat or a wreath all count. Look, do not add to it.
An empty sleigh set out for photographs 2 points. A team photo in it scores only if a sign invites you.
An ice rink, or a patch fenced off for skating 3 points. Scored from outside the barrier.
The fence, wall or skirt round the foot of the town tree 2 points. Write which of the three it is.
What the square's clock reads when your team arrives 1 point. Write it down. Every team gets a different answer.
Whatever sits on top of the town tree 1 point. Write star, angel or what you see instead.

Front doors and porches 16

A candle in every front window of one house 2 points. Electric candles count. Every window, or no points.
A front fence with a wreath on every post 2 points. Every post, or a wreath on each gate pillar.
A house number lit up or decorated 2 points. Write the number, not the street.
A lit tree standing on a porch 1 point. A tree in a window behind glass does not count.
A mailbox dressed with a bow or greenery 1 point. The household's own mailbox, at the curb or by the door.
A porch bench with a holiday pillow or blanket 2 points. Seen from the sidewalk. Nobody sits on it.
A porch with more than one wreath 1 point. Write how many you count.
A sled leaning beside a front door 3 points. A real sled or a decoration.
A snow shovel standing ready beside a front door 1 point. Ready for snow, whether or not any has fallen.
A village of tiny lit houses on a windowsill 2 points. Seen from the sidewalk. Count the houses.
A wreath with fruit, pine cones or bells on it 1 point. Name what is on it. Scored from the sidewalk.
Garland round a whole door frame 1 point. Both sides and the top.
Greenery hanging above a doorway 2 points. A swag, a ball or a bunch tied with ribbon.
Lanterns lining a front walk 2 points. Three or more, lit or not.
Skates or boots used as a decoration 3 points. Hung up or filled with greenery, not left out to dry.
Stockings hung outside a house 3 points. On a rail, a fence or a porch post.

Sounds and smells 14

A carol drifting down the street 1 point. Name the carol to score.
A choir, a band or a street musician playing a holiday tune 3 points. Listened to from a distance. The players are not photographed.
A flag or a banner snapping in the wind 2 points. You have to hear it, not only see it.
The bell on a shop door as somebody leaves 1 point. Heard from the sidewalk. Nobody goes in to ring it.
Bells jingling on something that moves 3 points. A cart, a bike, a dog's collar or a coat.
Bells ringing from a tower or a steeple 2 points. Write the hour if they strike it.
Cinnamon or baking in the air outside a bakery 2 points. Stand at the door; do not go in.
Fresh-cut pine or fir at a tree lot 2 points. Smelled from the sidewalk. Nobody goes in to shop.
Frost or snow crunching under the team's boots 3 points. Weather decides this one.
Hot chocolate you can smell at a doorway 2 points. A smell is free. Nothing is bought.
Music from a speaker on a lamp post 1 point. A speaker over a shop door counts too.
The quiet after a carol ends 3 points. Stay to the last note. One team member times the silence.
Roasting nuts you smell before you see 2 points. The whole team has to agree on the smell.
Two strangers wishing each other happy holidays 1 point. Overheard and ticked, never photographed.

Team tasks 16

A four-letter holiday word spelled with the team's arms 3 points. NOEL and SNOW work. The judges have to read it.
A holiday greeting found in three languages 3 points. From signs, or from what the team already knows.
A photo where each member points at a different decoration 1 point. Own team only in the shot.
A team photo framed by a wreath or an arch 2 points. Stand behind it or under it, on public ground.
A team vote for the best-dressed window on the route 1 point. Write the street it is on.
A two-line rhyme about this town in December 3 points. Written on the sheet. It has to rhyme.
The best view down main street, in one photo 2 points. Taken from a sidewalk. The judges pick a winner.
Every mitten and glove on the team laid out in one circle 1 point. Hands back in them before you walk on.
The height of the town tree, measured in team members 2 points. Guess from across the square and write the guess.
The lit windows on one side of one block, counted 2 points. The team agrees on one number and writes it.
One block walked in step, humming the same tune 2 points. A teammate films ten seconds of it.
One line of a carol, sung together outdoors 2 points. Walking volume. A teammate films it.
One photo that holds five holiday things at once 3 points. List the five on the sheet.
The team lined up by the length of their scarves 2 points. No scarf counts as the shortest.
The team's reflection in a decorated shop window 2 points. Faces and decorations both have to show.
The town tree with the whole team standing in front of it 1 point. Every member and the top of the tree in the frame.

How this list was compiled

Written for this page by the Game Night Generator editors in September 2026: original finds and team tasks for adult teams on foot in a town center in December, sorted into Main street, The town tree and square, Front doors and porches, Sounds and smells, and Team tasks. Nothing was copied from another list, and no town, shop, charity or brand is named. Every find was screened by hand: it is scored from a public sidewalk, path or square without going into a business or onto private ground, nothing is bought, taken or climbed, and nobody outside the team is approached or photographed (finds that involve people are ticked, not photographed). The notes are judging rules, not facts, so no outside page was read for them. A find that is only a light display was left to the Christmas lights bingo card. Points and levels are the editors' judgment. Licence: own work