How to Do a Video Scavenger Hunt

A video scavenger hunt is a fun way for friends to enjoy their neighborhood on a boring evening. These hunts feature common lists of places, people and objects that need to be recorded for review at the end of the evening. You need to do some planning and work with your friends to do an effective video scavenger hunt.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Video cameras
• Egg timer
• 2-way radios

1. Supply enough video cameras for every team in your scavenger hunt. You can invest in video cameras using online shops like B&H Foto and Electronics if you plan on doing scavenger hunts regularly (see Resources below).
2. Generate a list of places and events that need to be recorded as you do a video scavenger hunt. The list should feature an escalating-point scale based on difficulty. This can add incentive for completing every activity.
3. Work out a time limit for the entire scavenger hunt, adding some suspense. Figure out the time needed to reach each location on your list and provide a few minutes extra for recording. A scavenger hunt with a dozen activities should not take more than 2 hours.
4. Set an upper limit to the recording time used for each activity in your video scavenger hunt. Use an egg timer to count out 30 to 45 seconds, and then shut off the video tape to punish teams that are wasting time.
5. Observe safety rules as you drive from place to place during a video scavenger hunt. Younger participants may be tempted to skip seat belts and pile too many people into a car to complete the list in a timely fashion.
6. Engage in trash talking and friendly communication with the help of 2-way radios. You can find inexpensive 2-way radios on comparison websites like PriceGrabber (see Resources below). They can help you enhance the scavenger hunt experience.
7. Establish a series of break points to let your friends regroup during long scavenger hunts. Create a map on the Community Walk website, including virtual pins for parks, public squares and malls that are designated break points (see Resources below).

Tips & Warnings

• Survey participants in your video scavenger hunt to establish boundaries for events. Your friends may not be comfortable crashing a wedding and entering a graveyard as part of the hunt, for example. This conversation should eliminate events that are illegal and involve sensitive issues for your community.
• Avoid getting into trouble during your scavenger hunt by asking permission of unwitting participants. Your neighbors may call the police if they notice people running around with video cameras and doing unconventional things.