Our Holiday Tradition | Scavenger Hunt for Christmas Gifts

Our scavenger hunt for Christmas gifts always gets an eye roll at first… but the kids love it and when asked about skipping last year, they both looked at us as if we were crazy! We love this holiday tradition and will continue it until the day we can’t do it anymore.

Update: You can find clues and rules for our scavenger hunt here:

Making Present Time Last Longer With A Holiday Scavenger Hunt for Christmas Gifts

This Christmas, we did it a little different.

Instead of tearing open packages non-stop on Christmas morning, we thought we would slow it down a bit.

With a Christmas scavenger hunt!

For an extra 30 minutes of work (thinking up clues, printing, cutting, and placing the clues), it was completely worth it.

The boys woke up at 4:40 on Christmas morning.

We promptly sent them back to bed.

They woke up again at 8 (which is more our speed), and we opened stockings and gifts with Grandma Teetsie and Papa on the webcam.

After the packages were open, the boys looked on the walls next to the tree and found clues. One for Michael and one for Jack.

Please excuse my cell phone picture :)

“Mom and Dad love you so much. Your next clue is on the hutch!”

And they’re off!

“Want to find your last present? Go look where you take a bath!”

The gifts that were part of the scavenger hunt were at the top of the boy’s lists. It was kind of fun to see them open all of their presents and then find out that they each had one more special one left.

We had the boys looking in the bathtub, inside Daddy’s truck, on top of ceiling fans, in the fire pit, and inside the Christmas tree.

It was a blast. I don’t want to bog you down with pictures of every clue, but here are some:

“One last gift before it’s done. We’ll make sure this is lots of fun! Your next clue is under the place where you eat dinner.”

“You found this clue with all the pens. Your next clue is in the den. Look up high. Are you hot?”

“I want to make breakfast, but can’t turn on the heat! If I do, I’ll melt your treat!”

“Back inside the house you go! You need to use your really long arms for the next clue. Find the cactus skeleton and look down its throat!”

“Your next clue can be found by the sidewalk on the ground.”

“Santa doesn’t want brothers to fight,
For your next clue, look where the fire is bright.”

“Go find your gift in the best hiding place in the house… if you can fit in there!”

Next year? We’re definitely doing another holiday scavenger hunt (or two).

I think it would be great for Christmas Eve pajamas, too.

I think we have found a new tradition!