Christmas Scavenger Hunt: 8 Tasks and a Simple Plan

December gives you a ready-made setting: houses with lights, windows full of decorations, and darkness by late afternoon. A GPS scavenger hunt turns a normal walk around the block into something with a goal, which is useful when you have a group of kids or relatives with nothing to do between dinner and dessert. You need a phone, one small wrapped item for the end point, and about half an hour to walk the route and mark the stops. Keep the distance short and the stops close together, because standing still in the cold is what makes people want to quit. Plan the last stop somewhere warm.

At a glance

At a glance
Group size	4-15 people, in teams of 3-5
Duration	45-75 minutes
Age	6+ with an adult per team
Where	residential streets with lights
Preparation	20-30 minutes

Tasks you can use right away

Tasks you can use right away
No.	Task	How it works
1	Count the lit houses	Players walk one specific street and count how many houses have Christmas lights switched on. They enter the number to unlock the next stop.
2	One verse, out loud	At a marked spot, the team sings one verse of a Christmas song together and records a 20-second video as proof.
3	Reindeer photo	The team takes a group photo at a landmark with everyone holding their hands up as antlers. The photo has to include the landmark.
4	Christmas riddle	Players get a short riddle such as 'I am hung up but never dry, filled once a year' (a stocking). The answer is the code word for the next location.
5	Snowman without snow	Using only what they find on the ground (stones, twigs, leaves), the team builds a snowman figure of at least 20 cm and photographs it.
6	Find a star	Within a 50-metre radius of the stop, players look for a star shape in a window, on a tree or on a sign and take a photo of it.
7	Sock relay	Each team carries a single sock (brought from home) between two GPS points. It may only be passed on by holding it between elbows, no hands.
8	The hidden present	At the final coordinate, a wrapped household item (a bag of biscuits, a candle) is hidden within 10 metres. The first team to find it opens it for the group.

Turn this into your own hunt

Tips for the day

Look up sunset time for your date and set the start 30 minutes before it, so the lights are on when the group reaches the middle of the route.

Walk the route once in daylight to save the GPS points, then check two or three of them in the dark; street lighting changes how easy a spot is to find.

Give every team one phone with a fully charged battery. Cold weather drains batteries faster, so a power bank in one coat pocket is worth it.

Put the final stop at a house, garage or covered porch with hot chocolate ready. Ending outside in the cold undoes a good hunt.

For tasks that require counting or spotting decorations, do the count yourself the day before, because people switch lights on and off.

Frequently asked questions

Start about 30 minutes before sunset so the group finishes in the dark, when the Christmas lights are on. A 3:45 pm start works for a 60-minute route. Pick locations under streetlights or near lit houses so the tasks stay readable.

Keep it between 45 and 75 minutes and under 2 km. Children under 8 get cold faster, so plan 6 to 8 stops close together. End at a house or garage where warm drinks are ready.

Yes, as long as the route avoids stairs and unpaved paths. Give each stop one physical task (posing, singing) and one thinking task (riddle, counting) so everyone has something to do. Mixed-age teams of 4 to 5 work best.

A phone with GPS, 20 to 30 minutes to walk the route once, and one small wrapped item for the final stop. Everything else in the tasks below uses what's already outside: lights, decorations, twigs, stones.

Light snow makes the hunt better, not worse. Heavy rain is a problem for phones and morale, so have a backup date or move two or three stops to covered spots like a bus shelter or a shop entrance. Check the forecast the morning of.

Yes. For a class, split into groups of 4 to 5 with one adult each and stagger start times by 5 minutes. For adults, swap the counting tasks for harder riddles and add a time limit per stop.