Color Scavenger Hunt for Kids in the Classroom

Most color scavenger hunts online are printable sheets for preschool children: a list of colors, and the child ticks a box for each thing they find. This one is for slightly older children, ages 6 to 8, and it runs on a phone or tablet instead of paper. Each team reads a short step, takes a photo of each color, and the next step only opens when the photo shows the right color. There is nothing to print and nothing to hide.

How this indoor color scavenger hunt works

The class plays in teams, and each team shares one phone or tablet. The whole hunt stays inside the classroom. No step needs a map or a location.

The first step tells the story and the rules: walk, do not run, stay in the classroom, and keep faces out of every photo. Children point the camera at things, close up. Hands and fingers are fine. Each photo is checked automatically, and the check is set to ask for a new photo if a child’s face is clearly in it. That leaves you free to walk around and help.

Teams do not all get the steps in the same order. The first step, the three-color photo, the counting question and the ending are the same for everyone. The steps in between are mixed, so the teams spread out across the room instead of all looking for the same red thing at once.

At the end, each team walks to you, shows the final screen and says the magic word “RAINBOW!”.

The nine steps

1. Bring back the colors. Grumble the gray cloud flew into the classroom and took all the colors. The step gives the rules in words a young child understands.
2. Find red. The team photographs anything red: a book, a pencil, a coat on a hook. Any shade counts, and a blurry photo is fine as long as the red can be seen.
3. Grumble mixed the paints. Which two colors mix to make orange? The answer is red and yellow, picked from three options. Orange comes back without a photo.
4. Everyone point to yellow. The team finds something yellow. One child takes the photo, and everyone else points at the yellow thing with one finger. Fingers only, no faces. The yellow crayon on the table always works.
5. Grumble added a color. Grumble added a color that is never in a rainbow: red, brown or blue? The answer is brown.
6. Your silly color. Everyone suggests a silly color name. The team chooses its favorite and the phone holder types it. Any made-up word is accepted, spelling does not matter, and silly is the point. This is usually the funniest moment to read out later.
7. Three colors, one photo. The team puts something green, something blue and something purple together on the table and takes one photo, pointing the camera down. The crayons on the table make this possible in every classroom.
8. Count our colors. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple: how many colors is that? The answer is 6, picked from three options. It is easy on purpose, so every team finishes on a win.
9. Color is back! The team has restored its six colors. The team taps Finish Hunt, walks to you, shows the final screen and says “RAINBOW!”. While other teams finish, they draw Grumble with all six colors.

Every photo and question step has a hint button. Pictures support the opening, red and yellow searches, and finish. After most steps, a short note says which color is back, such as “Red is back in the rainbow!”. Every correct step gives full points, with no points lost for hints or wrong tries. A team that answers every step has 120 points.

What the teacher prepares (about 25 minutes, the day before)

1. Copy the template with the button on this page, then release it. You do not need to change a word.
2. Try it yourself the day before with the test run button in the builder. Use a school device on the school Wi-Fi, so you know the network lets the hunt through. A test run does not use any of your free phones. Take the photos yourself so you see what is accepted.
3. Make teams of 4 to 6. For a class of up to 30, make 5 teams. Put one confident reader in each team. For early readers, give each team a reading adult or an older reading buddy who holds the device and reads each step aloud.
4. Get one phone or tablet per team. School devices are fine. Each one needs to be charged, online, and allowed to use the camera. Open the play link or QR code in a normal browser window, not a private one.
5. Put crayons on every table. This is the one thing you must not skip. Each team’s table needs a box of crayons or felt pens with red, yellow, green, blue and purple in it. Spread the teams’ tables across the room so nobody queues at one box.
6. Stickers (optional). One per child for the end. A big round of applause works too.

How to run the lesson

1. Gather the class. Say: “Grumble the gray cloud took our colors. Each team has one tablet. Take turns pressing the buttons and taking the photos. Point the camera at things, never at people.”
2. Show the code after the teams are made. Only the child holding each team’s device opens it. Every extra phone that joins uses one of your free phones and changes which team gets which order of steps. On the start screen, the team picks a name that is a color or an animal, like Blue Fox, never their own names. They leave the email empty.
3. Say the three rules out loud: walk, stay in the classroom, no faces in the photos.
4. Say “Go!” and walk around helping the readers. If a team is stuck, point at the hint button first. If a photo is refused three times, a help button appears so the team can say what went wrong and go on to the next step without that step’s points.
5. Pick the winner yourself. The first team to reach you showing the full 120 points wins and picks the class color of the day. Watch who arrives first. Do not go by the list of teams on the phones.
6. Finish together. Teams that are done draw Grumble with all six colors. When every team is back, read out the invented color names and hand out the stickers.

Make it yours

Everything in the template can be changed in the builder before you release it. You could change the prize, rename Grumble, or tie the story to the topic your class is learning, for example a gray octopus who took the colors from the sea. If you rewrite one of the color questions, make sure the right answer is still right. If you change which colors step 7 asks for, change the counting question in step 8 and the ending in step 9 to match.

For older or faster children, you can add steps, such as a photo of something pink or a question about which two colors make green. Adding steps is free.

Questions teachers ask

What age is this color scavenger hunt for? Ages 6 to 8. Most color hunts online are made for preschool, but every step here asks children to read a few short sentences, and one step asks them to type a word. Younger classes can still play if each team has a reading adult or an older child.

Can you do a color scavenger hunt indoors? Yes. This one never leaves the classroom. Red, yellow, green and blue things are in nearly every classroom, and the crayon box on each table covers purple.

What can kids find for each colour? Red: books, pencils, coats on the hooks, the toy box. Yellow: a book cover, a lunch box, the yellow crayon. Green, blue and purple: crayons or felt pens from the team’s table, laid on white paper. Orange comes back through a question, not a photo.

How long does it take? Between 15 and 40 minutes. A fast team can finish in under 25 minutes. Young readers take longer. Teams that finish early draw Grumble, so nobody sits waiting.

Will the children’s faces be in the photos? The hunt is built to keep faces out of every photo. Every photo step tells the children to point the camera at things, the yellow step uses fingers only, and the photo check is set to ask for a new photo if a face is clearly visible. Faces in books or on posters are fine.

Do the children need an app or an account? No. The hunt opens in the browser of the phone or tablet from a link or QR code. Only the teacher who copies the template needs an account. Each hunt can be played on 5 phones a month for free, and every class that plays your copy in the same month shares those 5. A bigger class can make bigger teams or add phones.