This newspaper scavenger hunt for kids is perfect for using with young people of any ages, whether they’re in elementary school, middle school or high school.
To be honest though, it’s a great activity to use with adults as well!
Here’s how to organize it:
Resources
- Worksheet (see below)
- Multiple copies of the same newspaper
- Pair of scissors (1 per player / team)
- Blank sheets of paper
- Pens
Newspaper Scavenger Hunt Worksheet
To prepare for this activity, you’ll need a list of words for the players to find in the newspapers.
You can create this list yourself, but to make things easy for you we’ve provided a list below of 24 different words. These words may or may not be in your newspaper, which will only adds to the fun!
You can also download a free copy of the list using the link beneath the list of 24 words. You can print this worksheet as many times as you like and it can also be saved to your computer for future use.
(n.b. There are two copies of the worksheet on each page to reduce the number of pages you have to print)
- Closed
- Unhappy
- Knife
- Peter
- Potato
- Issues
- Football
- Teacher
- Radio
- Water
- Green
- School
- Contact Lenses
- Rain
- Phone
- Tablet
- Shocked
- Soap
- Window
- Politician
- Stream
- Moon
- Head
- Sheet
Printable Newspaper Scavenger Hunt Worksheet
Stage 1
For the first part of the newspaper scavenger hunt, give each player / team all of the items on the list of resources above, other than the blank pieces of paper.
Their task in this section is to find all the words listed on the worksheet in the newspaper. Once they’ve found a word, they should cut it out and put it to one side.
It’s worth putting a time limit on this activity, as it might be that not all the words appear in the newspaper (unless you’ve put together your own worksheet and checked that all the words are in there somewhere).
Winner
There are a couple of ways you can set it up for a player to win in the first stage:
- The player who finds all the words first
- Players earn 1 point for each word they find, with one bonus point for every word that was part of a headline
Make sure you let them know how to win this first section!
Stage 2
To add an extra element to this scavenger hunt, get the kids to use their creativity – they’ll need the sheets of paper at this stage.
Advise them that they need to write a story that, at some point, includes every word that was on the original worksheet. Let them know that they don’t have to be used in any particular order, just so long as they appear in the story.
It’s worth setting a time limit for this stage as well – if you’re a teacher using this idea in the classroom, the school bell could be a good finishing point!
Winner
This second part of the scavenger hunt shouldn’t be judged based on which kid finishes first, but on the best story. The best story will be the one that you deem to be the most creative, funny or thought-provoking.
If you liked this idea, you’ll love our book – 52 Scavenger Hunt Ideas!