Here is our list of free virtual museum scavenger hunt templates.
Virtual museum scavenger hunts are museum-based hunts that you can do via a computer or a smartphone. These games include lists of items to find and challenges to complete. The purpose of these hunts is to create a unique, team-building experience while encouraging learning and engagement.
These games are a subset of scavenger hunts and virtual scavenger hunts and are a form of online team building activities and online classroom games. These challenges are similar to photo scavenger hunts.
This list includes:
- virtual Louvre scavenger hunt template
- distance learning museum scavenger hunt template
- digital museum scavenger hunt for students
- virtual museum scavenger hunt for work
- art museum virtual scavenger hunt
- history museum virtual scavenger hunt
Here we go!
How to do a virtual museum scavenger hunt
Virtual scavenger hunts can function as individual or group races. Each participant or team must find particular items in the designated museum. For example, Group A races against Group B to find twenty items in the Louvre Museum.
Here are some steps you can take to set up a hunt:
- Research the virtual tour of the desired museum
- Compile a list of fifteen-twenty scavenger hunt items. For example, you can have players find eight men wearing top hats or ten pieces of fruit.
- Divide your teams into even numbers. For smaller groups, you can do groups of 2 and for bigger groups, you can do groups of 4 to 6.
- Send each group a list of scavenger hunt items one minute prior to the race’s start time alongside links to the museum, collections, or galleries
- Instruct each team to take screenshots of the answers and paste the pictures into the scavenger list
- The group that emails the completed and correct responses first wins.
You can make the activity more challenging and intellectual by putting prompts in question form, for instance, “the only Van Gogh painting on record as having been sold during his lifetime.” Or, for more creative responses, leave prompts open-ended and playful, like “a piece of art that reminds you of your first romantic relationship.”
Virtual Louvre Scavenger Hunt Template
1. Louvre Scavenger Hunt
The Louvre brandishes artwork and artifacts spanning 11,000 years of civilization and culture. The world-famous museum also offers five virtual tours that are perfect for virtual scavenger hunts:
- The Advent of the Artist
- Power Play
- From Afar. Traveling Materials and Objects
- The Body in Movement
- Founding Myths: From Hercules to Darth Vader
Here is a virtual scavenger hunt template covering four of the five virtual tours. “From Afar. Traveling Material and Objects” is excluded from the list, as it is a traveling exhibit, and items are subject to change.
Distance Learning Museum Scavenger Hunt Template
2. National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C.
The National Museum of Natural History is full of fun treasures.
Here is a virtual scavenger hunt template that will ignite the inner fire of all Indiana Jones wannabes:
3. National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City
The National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City has twenty-three permanent exhibit halls and a vast collection of Mexican archeological goodies.
Here is a virtual scavenger hunt template for lovers of anything ancient:
4. National Museum of China, Beijing, China
The National Museum of China in Beijing has over 1,050,000 items, many rare and ancient. The museum has two virtual tour options: Resplendence of the Tang Dynasty and Sunken Silver-An Exhibition of Archeological Discoveries From The Jiangkou Battlefield.
Here is a virtual scavenger hunt template that incorporates both virtual exhibits:
Digital Museum Scavenger Hunt For Students
5. National Air and Space Museum
The National Air and Space Museum’s claim to fame is maintaining “the world’s largest and most significant collection of aviation and space artifacts.” The online exhibits are a perfect place to do a scavenger hunt for students! The museum has two virtual tour options: Tour the National Mall Building and Tour the Udvar-Hazy Center.
Here is a virtual scavenger hunt template that incorporates both tours:
6. Vatican Museums
The Vatican Museums is one of the topmost visited museums in the world and home to the Sistine Chapel. It offers multiple virtual tours, including:
- Raphael’s Rooms
- Sistine Chapel
- New Wing
- Pio Clementino Museum
- Salone Sistino
- Profane Museum
Here is a virtual scavenger hunt template for the six tours:
7. British Museum in London
The British Museum in London is home to over eight million works and offers over 60 virtual tours. I recommend using the Museum of the World for more straightforward student navigation.
Here is a virtual scavenger hunt template using the Museum of the World’s five categories of Art and design, Living and dying, Power and identity, Religion and belief, and Trade and conflict.
8. NASA Museum, Langley Research Center, Virginia
You can take students to the moon with a NASA Museum scavenger hunt. Google Arts & Culture offers multiple online exhibits that students can weave in and out of on their scavenger hunt.
Here is a virtual scavenger hunt template for NASA’s many online exhibits:
Virtual Museum Scavenger Hunt For Work
9. The Neon Museum, Las Vegas, NV
The Neon Museum in Las Vegas is one of the most unique museums. You can take your co-workers on a trippy scavenger they will never forget!
Here is a virtual scavenger hunt template for The Neon Museum:
10. The Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA
The Getty Museum is one of California’s premier art centers. The museum offers two virtual experiences: Return to Palmyra and Mesopotamia Online.
Here is a virtual scavenger hunt template that encompasses both experiences:
11. The Dalí Theatre-Museum, Figueres, Spain
The Dalí Theatre and Museum is a labyrinth of eclectic pieces and holds the most extensive Salvador Dalí collection in the world.
Here is a virtual scavenger hunt template for the museum:
12. Museum of London, London, England
The Museum of London offers a peek into Victorian England with a virtual walk. You will feel like you are back in time with this hunt!
Here is a virtual scavenger hunt template for the walk:
Art Museum Virtual Scavenger Hunt
13. The Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
The Van Gogh Museum is home to Van Gogh’s largest collection, including over two hundred paintings and four hundred drawings.
Here is a virtual scavenger hunt template for the museum:
14. The Guggenheim, New York City, NY
The Guggenheim is one of the most visited exhibitions in New York City. Although it doesn’t have a proper virtual tour, you can organize a scavenger hunt using the online collection.
Here is a virtual scavenger hunt template for the museum:
15. Musée d’Orsay, Paris
Musée d’Orsay is famous for its impressionist paintings. Most folks associate the Musée with its famous clock, a remnant of when the museum used to be a train station.
The museum does not offer a tour but has a host of art pieces usable for a virtual scavenger hunt.
Here is a virtual scavenger hunt template for the museum:
16. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
The Rijksmuseum is the national museum of the Netherlands and home to many Rembrandts, Vermeers, and Van Goghs.
The museum offers many virtual options through the museum’s cellphone application. Simply copy and paste each gallery’s URL code.
This virtual scavenger hunt template encompasses all of the tours:
17. National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
The National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. is one of my favorite museums, with collections ranging from impressionists to photography.
This virtual scavenger hunt template encompasses the Museum’s True to Natura tour:
History Museum Virtual Scavenger Hunt
18. Natural History Museum, London, England
Pharaohs, mummies, and tombs, oh my! The Natural History Museum in London offers twelve virtual experiences that are sure to tickle every natural history buff’s fancy.
This virtual scavenger hunt template encompasses the Museum’s twelve experiences:
Conclusion
Virtual museum scavenger hunts are opportunities to bring a team or group of students together for a fun team building activity. This activity is especially helpful for virtual teams who do not gather often. These hunts are also opportunities to explore museums and places that your scavenger hunters may not have explored otherwise.
For more activity ideas, check out these lists of scavenger hunt apps and holiday scavenger hunts.
Angela Robinson