How To Use Scavenger Hunt Games With Your Middle Schoolers

Teaching older students really inspires me to get creative with my lessons and activities. They’ve been in school long enough to know the usual routines. By the time they get to me, they’re craving more ownership of their learning. They love interactive experiences, working with their classmates, moving around the classroom, and engaging in activities that truly capture their attention. That’s why I came up with the idea of creating scavenger hunt games! Today, I’m sharing with you how you can bring the fun and excitement of scavenger hunts into your classroom!

Creating a Game-like Feel to Learning with Scavenger Hunt Games

One of the biggest benefits of turning learning into a game-like experience with scavenger hunts is the incredible boost in student engagement. When our students feel like they’re playing a game rather than completing a typical assignment, their enthusiasm and motivation skyrocket. Scavenger hunt games naturally encourage collaboration and communication. Students often work in teams to solve clues and find items. This teamwork enhances their social skills and builds a sense of community in the classroom.

This photo shows 3 middle school students working together on a group task.

Scavenger hunt games can also be tailored to fit any subject or topic. This makes them a versatile tool for reinforcing key concepts. Whether it’s hunting for vocabulary words in a language arts lesson, reviewing decimals, or discovering historical facts in a social studies class, the possibilities are endless. The hands-on, active nature of scavenger hunts also caters to different learning styles, ensuring that each of our students can participate and benefit.

These scavenger hunt games also provide the opportunity for movement. Scavenger hunts get our students up and moving around. This is great for their physical health and helps them stay focused and alert. It’s a wonderful way to break up the day and keep the energy levels high in the classroom.

How Can I Use Scavenger Hunt Games?

Scavenger hunt games can be used in so many creative ways in the classroom! One of my favorite methods is to use them as a center activity. They add a fresh twist to the usual center activities.

This image shows an example of what scavenger hunt games look like when set up within a classroom.

My scavenger hunt games usually consist of 26 cards or letters. You can customize them to be as long or as short as you need. For your younger kiddos, shorter hunts work perfectly. Your older students can handle longer ones. My 6th graders typically finish a 26-card hunt in about 75 minutes. Of course, there’s always some variation. Some students zip through in 45 minutes, while others took up to 90. Generally, 75 minutes was the sweet spot.

To set up the scavenger hunt, I scatter the cards around the room to make sure my students are up and moving. Get creative with your hiding spots! Stick them on walls, cabinets, and doors. It’s amazing to see how engaged and excited they get as they search for the next clue by simply not being confined to their desks.

How Are Scavenger Hunt Games Played?

I love using these scavenger hunt games as review activities at the end of a unit, right before our big test. It’s a fantastic way to get my students moving and interactively reviewing the material. I have a collection of scavenger hunt games covering various social students and math topics. They are set up all in a similar fashion to one another!

I provide the questions and answers in order within each resource, but I hang them around the room randomly. This ensures that my students will be zig-zagging across the room. Part of the fun is having to search high and low for the next question to answer.

This image highlights some scavenger hunt games that can be used when learning about ancient China in middle school classrooms.

I set up a couple of rescue stations to help out students who might get stuck on a question. These stations have all the answers, but there’s a catch. We have to keep our middle schoolers on their toes! They have to leave their pencil and paper behind. They can only use their eyes and brains to find the information they need at these rescue stations. They may groan but it definitely ups the stakes!

To avoid congestion, I have each group start at a different letter of the alphabet. This way, everyone is spread out and can move freely around the room. I require my students to copy the problem or question, show their work, and jot down the pathway of letters they’re following. It helps them stay organized and fully engage with the activity.

For their recording page, I include a pre-made page with each of the scavenger hunt games. If you want to save on printing, you can have your students fold a blank piece of paper in half lengthwise (like a hotdog bun) to create two columns. They then label each space with a letter of the alphabet. This makes it easy for them to track their answers and progress.

Using scavenger hunt games for review makes the process more enjoyable. They also help students retain information better by actively engaging with the material.

Ready to Use Scavenger Hunt Games

This image features an Ancient Egypt scavenger hunt game for middle schoolers.

I’ve designed a variety of scavenger hunt games to make learning fun and interactive in your classroom. Each of these scavenger hunts is tailored to specific subjects and grade levels. This ensures that there’s something for everyone!

The scavenger hunt games come with a set of pre-made cards, a recording page, and detailed instructions on how to set it up and play. They’re designed to be easy to implement and incredibly fun for your students! Below is a list of the scavenger hunt games I have available.

Math Scavenger Hunt Games

This image highlights math activities that can be used to practice whole numbers.

Decimal Review – This review activity is a fantastic way for my students to practice estimating, adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing decimals. They’ll also get to work on place values, comparing numbers, and writing numbers in standard form.
Exponent – This review activity is perfect for getting my students to practice writing, reading, and solving problems with exponents.
Functions – This activity is going to let my students dive into finding and writing equations for functions, identifying missing terms, recognizing ordered pairs, and determining if solutions work for a given function.
One-Step Equations – My students will have the chance to practice solving one-step equations using algebra. They’ll tackle problems involving all four operations, with answers ranging from the ones to the thousands. All answers should be in whole numbers and include their variable.
Order of Operations – My students will practice solving order of operations problems while working with exponents. They’ll solve equations involving all four operations and deal with whole number answers only. The answers will range from zero to five hundred.
Whole Numbers – This review activity will let my students practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division with whole numbers and money.

Social Studies Scavenger Hunt Games

For the following scavenger hunt games for social studies, your students will answer trivia questions about each civilization.

Increase Engagement with Scavenger Hunt Games

Scavenger hunt games are a fantastic way to boost student engagement and make learning more interactive. By using these activities in your classroom, you’re giving your students the opportunity to move around, collaborate with their peers, and take ownership of their learning. When it comes time to review for an upcoming test, scavenger hunt games will surely be a hit with your students. Your classroom will be buzzing with energy and enthusiasm in no time!

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