Outdoor treasure hunt fun with an app or almost completely analogue
We all know them, the scavenger hunt in childhood. A treasure hunt was not to be missed at any birthday, even more so if the birthday party was in summer. Outdoor fun is now also a great way for adults to get out and leave everyday life behind. For example, a company outing with a treasure hunt turns into an exciting team day in nature. Today we show you two types of treasure hunt events that are guaranteed to bond you.
Plan a treasure hunt for adults
Basics and differences to the children's birthday party understand
Every treasure hunt starts with a start and a finish. Depending on how large the area is to be, you can plan a treasure hunt for adults with a running distance of several kilometres. The difference to a treasure hunt with children is basically only in the length of the run, the metres in altitude and the technical equipment. Whereas for children's birthday parties we tend to use printed maps and signposts, for adult treasure hunts we like to use our GPS devices or tablet PCs. These make the treasure hunt even more interactive and exciting. However, multimedia support would create too much distraction for children, which is why we almost always plan analogue treasure hunts for kids.
Plan the length of the route
The longer the teams are together, the more time they spend communicating with each other. Planning a treasure hunt is very simple: you think of a treasure, the reward at the end that the winning team should get. If you can, you put the treasure in a chest. It sounds a bit crazy, but you have to start your treasure h unt at the finish line. Bury or hide the treasure so that it can't be found easily. This is also important if it is a public area. Other people might not know that you are planning an event there.
Exciting tasks on the way to the treasure
Every treasure hunt involves tasks, just like a scavenger hunt. The teams have to master these tasks on the way to the goal. You should make sure that the tasks will challenge all participants. If possible, use the talents of the individual team members and plan the groups in such a way that haptically inclined participants come together with the typical thinkers. Such company outings result in a wonderful symbiosis of talent and ambition. Haptic people like to try things out, while thinkers want to survey the situation first. There are different personalities here that have to work together like this.
Include breaks
Every good scavenger hunt or treasure hunt should be planned with a break towards the middle of the route. This motivates the participants and provides energy. Small snacks and drinks should be included. Use such a break for a photo stop. The location for the break should be a little quieter, ideally with a nice view of the surroundings or the city. A treasure hunt is therefore also a kind of hike.
Event tip: combine a wine hike with a treasure hunt in which you have to find the golden wine cork. As a surprise, all participants can enjoy a meal at a winery at the end of the treasure hunt.
Analogue scavenger hunt vs. digital treasure hunt
Nowadays, we plan most scavenger hunt team events with our in-house app. This has the advantage that we can plan many thematic areas as tasks. The treasure hunt thus becomes more interactive and not least more exciting. Nevertheless, we also incorporate haptic and physical puzzles on most routes. These can be escape tasks, for example, in which you and your team have to open boxes, assemble circuits and decipher scrolls. Thus, analogue scavenger h unts almost always apply to digital treasure hunts. Every now and then we also distribute clues on lampposts, hide QR codes and more. Analogue scavenger hunts catapult the participants back to childhood. They have the advantage that the teams are on their own and get away from today's digital media. Distractions are also minimised. The planning effort is greater and the route is usually somewhat shorter.
The ideal length of a treasure hunt for adults
Most scavenger hunt events or treasure hunts last about 2.5 - 4 hours and include at least one snack break. Then we serve the participants cool drinks (in winter also hot ones) and small snacks to recharge their batteries. We usually use places with a beautiful view or a quiet environment. The running distance depends on the metres of altitude covered. With the scavenger hunt app Globe Chaser, for example, the running route and altitude metres can be determined with just a few clicks during planning. If you have older people in your team or participants with physical disabilities, for example, you should be sparing with the metres in altitude. Ideally, you should cover about 50 - 100 metres in altitude over a distance of about 6 kilometres. But as already described, this varies greatly. The weather also plays a role in the length of a treasure hunt for adults.
Online tip: Virtual scavenger hunt
We live in special times, so the topic of treasure hunts or scavenger hunts has also found its way to virtual team events. A virtual scavenger hunt is more like a geography online quiz game, which is why we opted for the semi-virtual scavenger hunt variant. The participants act at a distance from each other and optionally in different cities at different locations. The teams or individuals solve various scavenger hunt tasks for themselves at their location, but move through the city or through nature in real life. This is also possible with our in-house app for scavenger hunt events. The advantage is that you can start a treasure hunt at different company locations at the same time, for example: Tasks are the same, procedures are identical, and in the end, points vs. time used decide on victory and defeat.
