Sinterklaas Scavenger Hunt: 8 Ready-to-Use GPS Tasks

The weeks before 5 December already have a story built in: a boat from Spain, a horse on the roof, shoes by the fireplace and a Big Book that knows everything. That gives a scavenger hunt a ready-made thread without you having to invent one. You need a phone with the oppatt.io app, a bag of pepernoten, some paper and pencils, and one or two ordinary household items per task. Because December is cold and dark early, plan the route close to home or school and keep it to 45 to 75 minutes. The tasks below are written for the neighbourhood but work on a schoolyard or in a large house with the distances shortened.

At a glance

At a glance
Group size	4-12 children, in groups of 3-4
Duration	45-75 minutes
Age	4-10 years
Where	your street, a schoolyard or a small park
Preparation	20-30 minutes

Tasks you can use right away

Tasks you can use right away
No.	Task	How it works
1	Pepernoten count	Hide a set number of pepernoten (say 15) within a marked area such as a front garden or around a bench. The group has to find them all and enter the total in the app to unlock the next checkpoint.
2	Shoe by the chimney	Each group carries one shoe. At this checkpoint they place it against a wall, doorstep or tree and everyone sings one Sinterklaas song from start to finish. The adult confirms in the app when the song is done.
3	Two-line rhyme	The clue gives a word that has to appear at the end of a line, for example 'boat' or 'roof'. The group writes a rhyme of two lines on paper and reads it aloud before moving on.
4	Chimney toss	A bucket or bin is the chimney. Standing three big steps away, each child throws a rolled-up sock or wrapped sweet. The group needs at least half of the throws to land inside.
5	Rooftop count	From the checkpoint, the group counts how many chimneys they can see on the surrounding houses. The number is the code for the next location.
6	Steamboat cargo	The group has one minute to name ten things Sinterklaas takes on the boat from Spain. The adult ticks them off on paper; ten different items opens the next clue.
7	Chocolate letter	Each child gets the first letter of their name and has to point out something nearby that starts with that letter: a lamppost, a gate, a bike. Everyone in the group finds one before they continue.
8	Hoofbeats on the roof	The group walks the last stretch to the finish like Sinterklaas's horse: one child in front, the rest in a line behind, clapping a steady rhythm. At the finish they hand over the collected pages and receive their pepernoten.

Turn this into your own hunt

Tips for the day

Test the route yourself on the day before, in the same light conditions. A spot that is easy to find at 14:00 can be hard to see at 16:30.

Write the checkpoint clues as short lines from Sinterklaas or Piet. One sentence is enough; long text is not read out loud in the cold.

Put the pepernoten for the counting task in a plastic bag or box if the ground is wet, and hide them in the same colour range so the count stays fair between groups.

Let groups start at different checkpoints in a loop so they do not all queue at the same spot. The app lets you set a different order per group.

Charge the phones fully and keep them inside a jacket pocket between checkpoints. Cold drains the battery faster and GPS uses more power than usual.

Frequently asked questions

Tasks like counting chimneys and photographing a shoe work from age 4 with an adult holding the phone. Rhyming and the chocolate letter task suit children from about 7 who can read the street signs themselves. Mix both types if you have a wide age range.

Yes, as long as you stick to streets with lampposts and skip parks without lighting. Start at 3:30 pm on a weekday or in the morning on a weekend. Give each team a torch or use the phone's flashlight for the pepernoten task.

Make the last GPS point the spot where the sack of presents is hidden, for example behind the garden shed or at a neighbour's front door. Enter the answer to the final task as a code word the children have to say out loud before they get the sack. Keep the route short so you're back before dinner.

Write the tasks as if Piet left clues, without claiming Sinterklaas is at a specific spot. Older children treat it as a themed game, younger ones take it literally, and both can play the same route. Avoid tasks where an adult has to pretend to be Piet in person.

No. The eight tasks below use a shoe from the child's own foot, a bag of pepernoten you probably already have in the house, and paper and a pen. If you don't have pepernoten, marbles or wrapped sweets work for the hiding task.

Count on about 30 minutes for a route of 6 to 8 points. Walk the route once beforehand to check that the chimneys, street signs and tall buildings you refer to are actually visible from the GPS point. Hide the pepernoten right before you start, not the day before.