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Scavenger Hunt

Each week, Instant Meeting presents an idea or activity that you might use to make staff meetings more interesting, teacher-centered, educational, or fun.

Brief Description/Purpose

Staff scavenger hunts are a fun way to kick off the year. They help new and returning faculty members get better acquainted. Included: A list of 25 “hunt” items.

Materials Needed

A list of scavenger hunt "items," one copy per participant; create you own list or use or adapt our list

Time Required


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Suggested time for this activity: 45 minutes

"Instant Meeting" Idea

A staff scavenger hunt is a great way for everyone on a staff to get better acquainted and to help "newbies" on a staff feel at home. "Hunting" is both fun and informative. Who would have thought that quiet math teacher on the second floor climbed Mt. Everest?

After distributing nametags to everyone, pass out a list of 25 "items" that need to be "discovered" within 45 minutes by conversing with people in the room. Offer a small prize, such as a gift certificate to a bookstore or restaurant, to whoever checks off the most items from his or her list

Create you own list of 25 items, or use some of the 25 ideas provided by Education World and add a few of your own. For example, you might add some facts you know about staff members -- or facts you might have learned while interviewing some of the newbies -- that few others on the faculty might know.

To make the activity a little more difficult, you might outlaw teachers from asking their colleagues questions such as Did you do anything on this list? Instead, they must ask specific questions such as Have you ever been to a Super Bowl game? or Have you read all the books in the Lord of the Rings trilogy?

If your teachers work in teams, you might tally individual scores to get a team score. Give a special reward to the team that gets the highest score.

For Education World's list of 25 items, click the resource below.

Read More

Scavenger Hunt: A Fun Way to Introduce Staff (EducationWorld.com - August 10, 2004)