THE ULTIMATE SCAVENGER HUNT PARTY  This year, for my 8 year old sons birthday party and we decided to have a scavenger hunt.  I had a hard time finding suggestions for the "hunt list" itself, so I thought that I would save you some time and share my ideas.   As suggested in many emails, we sent out a flyer to our neighbors informing them of the upcoming event two days in advance.  I did this out of respect for them -- as many people do not like to open doors to strangers who might be selling something (or even possibly scaring some older neighbors). I have included the message to the neighbors below. I had it copied at Kinkos on hot pink paper (copied the message 4 times/page and made 20 copies for a total of 80 houses). This cost me $2.00 and some time.  HELLO NEIGHBORS! I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT THIS FRIDAY NIGHT, MAY 30, 2003, MY SON (JOHN DOE, JR OF ABC STREET) AND HIS FRIENDS WILL BE PARTICIPATING IN A BIRTHDAY PARTY SCAVENGER HUNT IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.  THE EVENT WILL OCCUR ROUGHLY BETWEEN 6:30 AND 8:00 PM.  I HOPE THAT YOU WON'T MIND IF THEY STOP BY FOR SOME UNIQUE DISPOSABLE ITEMS.  :)  JANE DOE  The boys were divided into two teams. They each had the same list and the goal was to earn the most points within a time limit (we started with an hour and adjusted the time to match the boys enthusiasm). There was an adult with each group and we had walkie talkies between us so that we could monitor the teams progress and to help keep the boys excited about the competition. We decided to let the boys get a maximum of 3 items per house. Here is the list.  JOHN DOE'S BIRTHDAY SCAVENGER HUNT THE BOYS CAN RECEIVE A MAXIMUM OF 3 ITEMS PER HOUSE! ITEMS WORTH 1 POINT oBlue rubber band oEmpty Toilet paper roll oColored paper clip oCanceled stamp oEmpty Film Canister oCat food oButton oDry Bean oGolf ball  ITEMS WORTH 2 POINTS oFeather oThe Sunday Comics oSomething you can see through oSomething you can tie oSomething made from Styrofoam oWhite crayon oA decorated paper plate oA greeting card – old or new oA piece of yellow paper oCartoon Character Band - Aid oA red balloon oCherry cough drop oSomething Silver oSomething purple  ITEMS WORTH 3 POINTS oA Pink Kleenex oA pretend flower oColored saran wrap oA chop stick oA take out Menu oA toothbrush oSomething Sticky oSomething with 4 or more colors on it oSticker with wording on it oPiece of Green Dental Floss oColored Popsicle Stick oSomething disposable used by a baby or child   ITEMS WORTH 4 POINTS oMilkbone Brand dog biscuit oBaggie of Fish food flakes oCalendar page from 2002 oAn old sock oSomething that floats oSomething Trial Size o1995 penny (John Doe's birth year) oA map oSomething Holiday Themed oCats eye Marble   ITEM WORTH 5 POINTS oFront page of a Newspaper Dated May 24 (John Doe's Birthday)   The boys had a blast and the neighbors were very kind. Enjoy! :)