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Scavenger hunt bingo
By Arthur, founder of BingoCard Lab · Updated
Scavenger hunt bingo is a scavenger hunt played on a bingo card. Each square shows something to find, like a pinecone, a squirrel or a mailbox. Players mark a square when they spot it, and the first full line wins. Look, point or snap a photo, and leave everything where you found it.
Describe your party
Illustrations generated with AI
A bingo scavenger hunt puts a walk, a yard or a museum visit on a card. The 80 ideas below cover 12 kinds of hunt, from the garden to the night sky.
Pick the place for your scavenger hunt
Parents use the backyard, the block and the park. Teachers use the schoolyard and field trips. Scout and camp leaders take cards on the trail. Families play outdoor bingo on a holiday lights walk after dark or at a Saturday farmers market.
Teens and adults can run a photo hunt around town.
Write a list for the place you'll search
Describe your hunt in one sentence, and "Write my list" drafts 30 items. Try "a schoolyard hunt for second graders in May." "Suggest 6 more items" adds ideas, up to 60 in all.
Keep each square a thing you can see, not an action, so every square gets a picture.
Mix common finds with a few rare ones, like a deer, a waterfall or a shooting star. Two rare squares on one line can make a line nobody finishes. Cut what isn't out this season, and swap in birds that live near you. "Get to know your regulars," the National Park Service's birding guide advises, since some neighborhood birds are year-round residents.
On a long hike, play for a blackout: every square on the card. Here are the finds each card needs, with the free center kept on 3×3 and 5×5. The lower line count runs through the center:
| Grid | Finds for a line | Finds for a blackout |
|---|---|---|
| 3×3, free center | 2 or 3 | 8 |
| 4×4, no free space | 4 | 16 |
| 5×5, free center | 4 or 5 | 24 |
When the list fits your spot, make your hunt cards.
Words-only cards print free. Your first illustrated set is free to preview in full. To print it, the illustrated PDF takes an Event pass ($4.99 once, per set) or a Pro plan.
Look, don't take
The National Park Service's page on the Leave No Trace principles says it plainly: "Leave rocks, plants and other natural objects as you find them." It also says to watch wildlife from a distance and never feed animals.
Many parks require you to stay 25 yards from most wildlife and 100 yards from predators like bears and wolves, the National Park Service notes. It suggests binoculars or a zoom lens.
On a photo hunt, photograph things, not strangers. Ask the owner before you snap their dog in a sweater. Stay on paths and off private property.
Check finds with the call sheet
The adult in charge keeps the call sheet as a checklist. Tick off each item the first time a player points it out or snaps a photo of it.
To reuse a card, slide it into a sheet protector and mark finds with a dry-erase marker.
A called version for a rainy day
When rain cancels the walk, play indoors. Read the items from the call sheet in random order, and players mark what they hear. We simulated 1,000,000 games per setup with a 40-item list, free space on 3×3 and 5×5. The table shows the median calls to a first bingo.
| Grid | 5 players | 20 players | 50 players |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3×3 | 8 | 5 | 3 |
| 4×4 | 15 | 11 | 10 |
| 5×5 | 17 | 13 | 11 |
On a hunt, the finds set the pace instead.
Ideas for your item list
Nature walk
- Pinecone
- Acorn
- Mushroom
- Spider web
- Moss on a rock
- Tree stump
- Leaf with a hole
- Y-shaped stick
- Bird's nest
- Animal tracks
Wildlife, watched from a distance
- Squirrel
- Dragonfly
- Rabbit
- Butterfly
- Ladybug
- Snail
- Deer
- Turtle on a log
Birds
- Robin
- Cardinal
- Blue jay
- Canada goose
- Ducklings in a row
- Woodpecker
- Hawk in the sky
Christmas lights hunt
- Inflatable snowman
- Light-up reindeer
- Light-up snowflake
- Icicle lights
- Wreath on a door
- Lit-up gingerbread house
- Lit tree in a window
Indoor scavenger hunt
- Coffee mug
- Paper clip
- Button
- Toothbrush
- Cat in a window
- Rubber duck
- Bunny slippers
Photo scavenger hunt
- Fire hydrant
- Mailbox
- Garden gnome
- Pink lawn flamingo
- Wall mural
- Dog in a sweater
- Shopping cart
Hiking trail
- Trail blaze on a tree
- Trail map board
- Footbridge
- Boulder
- Creek
- Waterfall
Garden
- Sunflower
- Tomato on the vine
- Watering can
- Birdbath
- Bee on a flower
- Scarecrow
Field trip
- Dinosaur skeleton
- Statue
- Globe
- Jellyfish tank
- Library bookshelf
Bike ride
- Bike rack
- Bike helmet
- Crosswalk
- Park bench
- Playground slide
Farmers market
- Basket of strawberries
- Honey jar
- Flower bouquet
- Watermelon
- Market tent
- Loaf of bread
Stargazing
- Full moon
- Big Dipper
- Owl in a tree
- Shooting star
- Raccoon on a fence
- Bat at dusk
Plan your game
- How many cards?
- One card per player, or one per team of 2 or 3 so little ones hunt with an adult. A deck holds up to 100 cards, and no two share a winning line. Two teams can still finish different lines at the same moment.
- Which grid?
- We suggest 3×3 picture cards for ages 3 to 5, 4×4 for early readers, and 5×5 for older kids, teens and adults. A 3×3 with a free space holds 8 items, a 4×4 holds 16, and a 5×5 with one holds 24.
- Letter or A4?
- Letter or A4, with 1, 2 or 4 cards per page. Two per page print in landscape. Every PDF ends with the call sheet.
- How long does a game last?
- No caller sets the pace, so the hunt runs on finds. On a 5×5 with a free space, a line through the center takes 4 finds and any other line 5. On a 3×3 with one, it's 2 through the center and 3 otherwise. For a long hike, play blackout.
Frequently asked questions
How to make a bingo scavenger hunt?
Write a list of things players can see where you'll search. Set the boundaries, a meeting spot and a time limit before anyone heads out. Then print the cards, grab pencils and clipboards, and go.
What are some ideas for a nature scavenger hunt?
Start with the ground and the trees: a pinecone, an acorn, a mushroom, a spider web, moss on a rock or a tree stump. Then look up for a robin, a hawk in the sky or a bird's nest. Squirrels, rabbits and butterflies fill the wildlife squares. Add animal tracks as a rare bonus square.
What is nature bingo?
Nature bingo is a bingo card filled with things from outdoors: plants, bugs, birds and the sky. Players take the card on a walk and mark each square they spot. It's a nature scavenger hunt laid out on a grid, so each find can complete a row, column or diagonal. That gives a short walk a finish line.
What are some good clues for a scavenger hunt?
On a bingo card, the square is the clue. Good squares make kids look closely, like a leaf with a hole, a Y-shaped stick or a trail blaze on a tree. Add squares that send eyes high and low, like a hawk in the sky and moss on a rock.
What are some hilarious scavenger hunt ideas?
Funny squares are things that make kids laugh when they spot them. Try a garden gnome, a pink lawn flamingo, a dog in a sweater or ducklings in a row. In December, add an inflatable snowman. Indoors, try a rubber duck, bunny slippers or a cat in a window. A scarecrow works in a garden. Keep the jokes on things, never on people.