Are you searching for a fun-filled Valentine’s Day party game for a play date or school party? Look no further. From heart shapes and loving words to colors and following cute clues, we’ve found easy and fun holiday-themed scavenger hunt ideas perfect for your kiddo and her friends. Read on to see them all!
Cute Cards
You may have over-bought those cartoon character-covered Valentine's Day cards. But come on, who knew the seemingly slim box had 102 teeny tiny fold and tear cards? Put the extras to use and set up a card-centered scavenger hunt. Write clues on the back of each card, creating a series of hints to follow. This holiday activity idea is easy to adapt, letting you play this game with just your child or split a larger group of kids into teams. If you go the multi-player route, create separate sets of cards for each team to find.
Loving List
Give the kids something the chance to search and collect with this scavenger hunt Valentine's Day game. Start with a list of loving, lovely or loved objects. Take the complexity up a notch and use clues instead of words. Give each child (or team of children) their list to decode. The kiddos/teams also need bags to collect their bounty. As they find each clue item, the kids can bag it up and move on to the next. The first child or team to collect all their listed items wins! And what do they win? Well, that's up to you.
Follow the Hearts
So your tot can't read the clues you want to write on heart-shaped cards for a Valentine's Day scavenger hunt. That's okay. Swap out the words for directional arrows. Create a series of cut-out heart shapes and place them around the house or in your yard. Each heart will have a treat and an arrow. Your child must follow the arrows to get to the finish line. How will they know when they've won? Mark the end of the hunt with a special set-up, including anything from heart confetti and cute candies to chocolate, balloons and streamers.
Sweet Treat Search
Your Valentine's Day baking project is yet to get underway. Don't stress—get the kids to help. Instead of a boring baking session, take cooking up a notch and turn it into a scavenger hunt game. Create a series of clues that lead the kiddos around the house, finding all the ingredients necessary. The last clue ends in the kitchen, where the kids will help you bake a holiday cake, cupcake or another sweet treat.
Heart Hunt
Is your child beginning to learn about shapes? Share this geometry experience, play up the holiday theme and keep your curious tot busy with a heart hunt. Cut out as many cardboard or construction paper hearts as you can. Get creative, scratch that—inspire your kiddo to get creative, and finger paint the hearts first. Hide the hearts (after the paint dries) and help your child scavenge the house looking for them.
Loads of Love
What does your child love? This Valentine's Day scavenger hunt idea lets them focus on what they love. Create clues, either written or verbal, that lead them to places, spaces and items around the house that they love. Include lovies, toys or anything else that your child adores. Expand the search into your neighborhood and stage an all-out community love hunt. Look for favorite buildings and areas, such as the library, your child's school or the playground.
Family and Friends
If your child isn't into searching for things they love, consider switching things up and making their Valentine's Day scavenger hunt about people they love. Craft your clues, writing a few words or sentences that describe the person on the front of a notecard. Glue a pic of the person to the back. Your child has to hunt the house for the clue. Don't worry if your kiddo's favorite people aren't around. Instead of flying grandma in or asking your FIL to come over, play a picture-matching hunt game. Post photos of friends and family around the house, and then ask your child to match their clue to the pics.
Hearty Hues
Now that your tot is connecting color words with the actual colors, you're doing everything you can to help build a hue-heavy vocabulary. Even though the traditional Valentine's Day colors are red and pink, there's no rule saying you have to stick with those hues. Draw and cut out purple, blue, orange, yellow, brown, pink and red hearts. Give your kiddo color cards to match to the hearts as they hunt inside or outside (weather permitting).
Hunt with Numbers
This scavenger hunt for kids is all about math. Well, maybe not all about math—it's got a Valentine's Day theme too, of course. Instead of using written clues to hunt, Hands On As We Grow has a countdown. This is a great game for pre-readers!
Heart Puzzle
This is a two-in-one scavenger hunt! Cut out one big heart or several small ones, then cut it into puzzle pieces of whatever shape you'd like. Have your kid scavenge for the puzzle pieces so they can build the heart puzzle back together at the end.
—Taylor Clifton & Erica Loop
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