If you’re planning an activity like this for kids or teenagers – perhaps with a youth group or for a birthday party – it’s important to have a set of mall scavenger hunt rules.
By pre-teaching your expectations for their behavior, you’ll help ensure the game runs smoothly and none of them are rude or get in trouble.
Some of these rules might seem obvious, but they’re still worth mentioning so that they’re at the forefront of their minds.
So here are 10 important mall scavenger hunt rules to put in place:
1. Call The Mall – This first one is actually for you rather than the young people. Contact the mall in advance and discuss the activity you’ve got planned.
Some malls have rules regarding photo taking, so it would be a shame to organize a photo scavenger hunt only to find out it’s not allowed. Other malls may have rules that affect some of the tasks you’re planning, so it’s good to know this in advance so that you can make appropriate changes.
If nothing else, the mall will appreciate that you’ve taken the time to contact them. This can be especially important for church youth groups or other organizations, as it will help you have a good name in your local community.
2. Be Polite – There’s a good chance that the teenagers will be having to talk to members of the public at some point, whether that’s shoppers, workers, security guards, etc.
Remind them therefore to say things like please, thank you, excuse me, etc, particularly if they’re asking for help with one of the tasks on their list.
3. No Means No – Some of the tasks will involve asking people to help out with tasks or items. Make sure that if someone says no, the youth accept the answer and try asking someone else.
4. Don’t Be Rude – If someone does say no, the young people shouldn’t be rude or insulting.
5. Stay Together – Mall scavenger hunts are a great opportunity for team building. The group should therefore stay together throughout the game rather than going off and doing tasks separately.
6. Listen To The Adult – It’s a good idea to have an adult go around with each team. This isn’t just so that they can help ensure there are no problems, but it provides a great opportunity to build relationships with the teenagers.
The youth should therefore listen to (and obey!) anything the adult says.
7. Don’t Run From Security – Even if you’ve called the mall in advance, you may find that security haven’t be told that there will be a scavenger hunt going on.
If they stop one of the teams, make sure that they don’t run away and also bear points 2, 3 and 4 in mind. This is another good reason to have an adult with each team, as they can talk to security and resolve any problems.
8. Don’t Steal – This should go without saying, but if the scavenger hunt involves collecting items, some young people may be tempted to take items without asking.
9. Stay Inside The Mall – Unless one of the tasks involves them going outside, they should stay inside the mall. This ensures that all teams are playing within the same boundaries so one team isn’t getting an unfair advantage, plus it helps them stay safe by not running around in the parking lot.
10. Be On Time – Before starting the game, make sure everyone knows where and what time they should meet at the end. To make sure they’re on time, let them know that they’ll have one point deducted from their total for every minute that they’re late.
Having these mall scavenger hunt rules in place shouldn’t be too onerous and will make sure that the game is fun for all the teenagers and doesn’t disrupt the day for other shoppers and workers at the mall.
Now, check out all of our different mall scavenger hunts for loads of ideas, lists, clues and riddles.