As others have pointed out, a simple scavenger hunt can be improved by
adding elements that require more investigation or thought on the part
of the child. I recently took my daughter (5) to the Museum of Fine Arts
inBoston. They have a series of activities available for children. They
are specific to galleries (very focused), and often involve elements of
a scavenger hunt (e.g find the mysterious person who..., or one of her
favorites, platic eggs which open to reveal a line drawing of a bird
found in the cases of one gallery..). Each included question and
activities (e.g. imagine if you were in this painting... drawing
activities etc - pencils and paper supplies). For a five year old, the
scavenger hunt aspects were the most fun, and they did make her really
look at objects, which she was otherwise reluctant to do! But each
activity could work for a variety of age groups, and with kids at
different levels of engagement. Scavenger hunts activities are a good
way of getting kids into looking for things, on the way to get them to
look at things, and find out more about them. The key is not to stop at
the hunt, but to  get them to go on to the next step.
--
Genevieve LeMoine
Curator/Registrar
The Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum
Bowdoin College
9500 College Station
Brunswick  ME 04011-8495
207-725-3304 (voice)
207-725-2499 (fax)
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