If you need a fast, easy, and fun team building activity for your remote team, an indoor virtual scavenger hunt is the perfect choice.
You may be a master meeting facilitator. But it can still be tricky to find easy and fun team-building activities. You may have used these 15 Easy Team Building Icebreakers for Meetings with great success. But sometime you need time fully dedicated to team bonding and fun.
This indoor virtual scavenger hunt is perfect for this situation.
It’s easy and doesn’t require much up-front effort or cost. And team members can play without advance preparation.
You can pull this activity together quickly and easily with the instructions below!
And you can play this game with many groups: your virtual team, a friends, or even family!
A virtual scavenger hunt is a great way to build trust and boost morale in your virtual team.
Why a Virtual Scavenger Hunt is a Great Team Building Activity
Here’s why holding a virtual scavenger hunt is a great idea:
- It’s important to keep up team morale with fun team building exercises even when teams are working remotely.
- When you bring on new team members you need fun activities to build rapport, trust, and bonding.
- Items that players choose can inspire discussion and you learn more about your teammates.
- It’s so easy to pull together!
It’s important to find ways for virtual teams to have fun and bond. You can find activities that don’t take much effort or cost, like this great indoor virtual scavenger hunt.
How to Hold a Virtual Scavenger Hunt
Follow these instructions to easily pull together an indoor virtual scavenger hunt.
- Decide how long you want to play. The game can last 30 minutes or even an hour and a half! You decide. (See the game instructions for more information.)
- Pick the number of rounds based on how long you want to play. (Each round will go quickly and take less than 5 minutes, but you can take more time for sharing and discussion as needed.)
- Pick the scavenger hunt items in advance – use the list provided or come up with your own.
- Decide if you’ll have a prize and what it will be. Some prize ideas are gift cards, a day off work, or something you can easily deliver to the winner.
- Let team members know you’ll be having a virtual scavenger hunt and that they need to be on camera.
- Find a countdown timer you want to use for the game. Each round will have a time limit for finding items. Note: I haven’t needed a timer when I’ve played, but it can help to have one in case you need it.
Setup for Playing
- Have the list of scavenger hunt items ready.
- Get your timer ready in case you need one.
- Tell the players the game rules.
- Create a score sheet for the game.
- If there’s a prize, players know what it is.
How to Play
For each round:
- Read the item the players must retrieve and start the countdown timer. Everyone will dash off to find their items.
- The first person to come back with an item that fits the description wins that round and gets the point. Note: if you have a big group you may have trouble seeing who came back first. You can have the players turn off their camera and turn it back on when they come back with their item. The winner is first person who gets back with the item and turns their camera on.
- Once the time limit is up and everyone returns, announce the round winner. Have that person explain the item.
- If players have come back with interesting items, have them explain their items. For example, if you asked people to get something from their travel, each person can explain what the item is and the place it came from. These stories will help you learn more about your teammates.
- As you play, you can remind teammates of the score.
- At the end, announce the overall game winner!
Virtual Scavenger Hunt List
If your players are playing from home, choose household items. It can be more fun to ask for items that have room for interpretation. For example, if you ask for a musical instrument, someone might return with a guitar. But a pot and spoon make a drum.
The list below has a mix of each of these.
List of Game Items
Use this scavenger hunt list of items or come up with your own. It’s best if you choose them in advance. But don’t tell your team what you’re choosing! That takes the fun out of it!
- Something that makes you feel like a kid
- Something from your kitchen you love
- An item from your travels
- Your favorite book
- Your favorite spice
- The largest container of beverage in your refrigerator
- Your favorite framed picture or photo (not a painting)
- Something good to have during a zombie apocalypse
- An item you couldn’t live without
- Your favorite cereal bowl
- Something you’ve owned the longest
- Something that starts with the letter R (or another letter you choose)
- Draw a picture of the logo for the car you drive / your favorite food / your favorite pet / your favorite toy as a kid
- Your favorite pen
- Flashlight
- A stapler
- Something that smells wonderful
- An item that makes you happy
- Something that makes you laugh
- Favorite gift you’ve been given
- Something you would take with you if you were stranded on a dessert island
- An item you would take with you if you were traveling for a long time
- Something you use every day
- Your favorite office supply
- Musical instrument
- Favorite mug
- Something you made yourself
- Something someone else made for you
- Unopened mail
- An item you wore yesterday
- A throw pillow
- Something a pet could play with
- A hat
- Favorite beverage
- A favorite board game
- Sports equipment
- Something from the junk drawer
- Something you wished you used more often
- Your favorite shirt
- Something you bought online
- Something from your freezer you’re looking forward to eating
- Your fanciest pair of shoes
- Your craziest item of clothing
Other Game Rules:
- Team members cannot leave their house or location. Everything must be found onsite.
- A player can only use an item once for the game. It cannot be used for multiple rounds. For example, you might ask players to “get an item you always take with you when you travel” and “get something that makes you happy.” Players could not use their iPhone as the item for both rounds.
- If you’re doing this as a family-gathering activity, you may have families joining the call as groups. In this case, you can choose at the beginning of the game to let the people gathered at the same place play as a team. Teams can be varying sizes.
- If playing in groups, teams cannot use a person as an item. For example, if you ask the team to retrieve something that makes them laugh, they cannot submit their teammate Ashley as the item.
- Select items from the list that are the best fit for your group. I have “junk drawer” on the list but this might not be a cultural fit for your group.
- Have players come back to the computer to present the items. If they share with you from far away from the screen, you won’t be able to see who actually got there first.
Notes from experience
I’ve played this game several times lately – both at work and with family. I made a few notes after playing with family that might be helpful:
- We didn’t need a timer. Players were coming back to the computer quickly.
- I had to watch closely for players to come back to call a winner. It’s easier if you have players turn off the camera while searching and turn on the camera when they return. The first one to turn the camera back on is more clearly the winner.
- We played 12 rounds in about 45 minutes. The game allows enough flexibility to do more or fewer rounds as time allows.
- Use your paraverbal communication skills to add a sense of fund and excitement to the activity.
Summary
An indoor virtual scavenger hunt can be the perfect online team building activity for remote teams. You can use this activity with work teams or groups of friends. It can be a team that has been together a long time, a newly formed team, or even teams of different ages.
Keep it light and fun and everyone will enjoy it!
Download the Virtual Scavenger Hunt rules and list to have on hand for play!
