Whether you're a longtime resident of St. Louis or a visitor to the "Gateway City," a great way to get to know your area is by participating in a scavenger hunt. Scavenger hunts are team activities, usually in groups of two or more, where teams are given a list of items to hunt for. List items may be physically obtainable things such as papers or tickets, or something to be captured by a digital or video camera. Use St. Louis as your inspiration, then plan a day of socializing, hunting and scavenging for friends, family or social groups.
The lyrics from the musical "Meet Me in St. Louis" may serve as inspiration for your scavenger hunt. Participants can gather items from the theme song, such as Tootsie Rolls (from the line "We'll be a tootsie-wootsie"), roses (one of the characters who sang the title song is named Rose), flashlights (from the line "The lights are shining") and something related to a fair (from the line "Meet me at the fair") such as a funnel cake, balloon or glowing necklace. Participants can film themselves or others dancing to their interpretation of the "Hootchie coochie" and the "Kootchie kootchie kootchie" from the title song.
A scavenger hunt may be combined with sightseeing by taking advantage of free St. Louis attractions throughout the city. Scavenger hunts may be planned so participants spend one hour at the Missouri History museum, Art Museum, Science Center and Anheuser-Busch Brewery, all of which offer free admission. Each team can have a list of photo-opportunity tasks, such as posing with a giant glass of beer, capturing an image of the galaxy during a laser light show or finding a butterfly resting on one of the blooming roses at Grant's Farm. Throughout the day, teams can visit each attraction, spend time exploring and completing scavenger-hunt duties, such as obtaining a brochure or ticket from each place.
St. Louis is home to three major league sports teams: the Rams (football), Blues (hockey) and Cardinals (baseball). Scavenger hunts may be planned around celebrating St. Louis pride by trying to capture game-day fanatics (such as photographs of fans with their faces or stomachs painted), a program or ticket from the game or even a scavenger hunt inside an arena or ballpark, where team members must eat their way through the scavenger hunt list, sharing cotton candy, Cracker Jack, popcorn and hot dogs. The scavenger hunt may also be planned around the city itself, with teams gathering historical information about the home stadiums, statistics about local players and posing in team gear.
