Whether for a birthday, date night, anniversary, proposal, corporate team building, or holiday outing for the family, a scavenger hunt is a neat way to engage the entire family or a group of friends in a day to remember. Most hunts include the use of your smartphone, so the teens/tweens won't feel deprived of technology for the day!
My friend, Misty W., discovered this great idea while dreaming up a plan for a special birthday for a dear friend. There are several great scavenger hunt services that you can tap into online which are tailored for your particular interests. Watson Adventures is one that specializes in hunts at local museums, while My Mystery Party focuses upon faux murder mysteries. For adults, there is the ever popular Urban Beer Hunt. 
Watson Adventures is highly recommended and has been featured by the ABC News, Daily Candy and the New York Times. Upcoming public hunts include The Met in NYC, Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, the American History Museum in D.C., and the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco.
Up the ante by utilizing Segways on your hunt. In most cities, you can rent Segways for city tours to tie into your adventure.Or, plan team costumes like these Gnome and Where's Waldo teams at the Urban Beer Hunt.
Spice It Up: Prepare the contestants for their adventure with a drawstring bag to carry. Pack it with bottled water, a snack and any extras they might need to gather clues.
Make sure the teams use their smartphones to take pictures as they reach each checkpoint and to record any antics along the way. After the race, use the photos to make a photo collage commemorating the adventure.
Where to Buy:
Scavenger Hunts - Hunts vary by price depending on the size of your team, where it located, and whether it is custom designed for your group. Most hunts allow for as few as 2 people to as many as 50.
Basic Hunts - These are downloaded on your phone and are preplanned for general use. Tours For Fun - $44.00 for a group, Scavenger Planet $20.00 for a group
More Elaborate Hunts - Watson Adventures, My Mystery Party, Urban Beer Hunt prices range for each of these hunts depending on whether you have a custom hunt or public hunt. ON average it is $35.00-$40.00 per person but may require a minimum number of people.
Segway Tours - In Dallas, try Dallas Segway Tours $60.00-$85.00 per person. In other cities, search online or check Trip Advisor for recommendations. It is worth your while to call and negotiate a possible group rate or discount for non-peak days.
Drawstring Bags - Found at most sporting goods stores. Academy from $9.99-$32.99 Custom type or monogram bags at Etsy (Etsy sites allow for small orders 1-10 which is preferable to promo sites which require minimum of 150+ bags). $10.00-$15.00 per bag
Photo Collages - Easily created on photo sites like Shutterfly. Or try Pic Monkey to create your own printable collage. $5.00-$15.00
Pillow Collage - See my post dated September 4th for a quality collage pillow from Stitchagram.
