Names of Jesus Scavenger Hunt

With Christmas Eve and Christmas Day now in the rearview mirror, we're taking some time to get caught up on the events of the past week. Hard to believe it has come and gone so quickly, nevertheless, to capture the memories will help to preserve the treasures of the recent days. Wow, that sounded a bit corny. Oh, well.

The kids have been home since last Friday, and with a full calendar of events, it has been a busy week. We made it through the weekend, and settled into a week of Christmas activities. Monday brought our Names of Jesus Scavenger Hunt. A number of years ago, Amy created a scavenger hunt using the the names of Jesus, and matching them to locations that are representative of the name. For example, Jesus is called the Bright and Morning Star. Can you think of a place that has Star in it's name? You got it. So off to Starbucks you go. 

FamilyLife Today, created the Adornaments resource to help families prepare for Christmas. There are twelve ornaments with readings, each one highlighting a name of Jesus along with a devotional book. Amy maps out 12 locations and one by one, she and the kids travel to each one pausing to have one of the kids read through the devotional. And of course if there's a treat associated with the location, the kids enjoy a snack.

The Scavenger Hunt is a fun way to celebrate the day before Christmas. I don't think FamilyLife Today is still selling the Adornament resources, at least I couldn't find it on their website anywhere. I have found a few Adornament kits on Amazon, but they can be expensive.

Amy led the kids on a scavenger hunt when we lived in Somerset. At the time, Aiden and Asher were still very little. Breya was still an infant. It seems like such a long time ago. It felt right, and timely that we do the scavenger hunt again. And the Monday before Christmas Eve was the perfect day to go!

Being in a new area left us having to come up with a few new locations for the hunt. Fortunately we still live in an area that leans more rural as opposed to being in a city or the suburbs. While we can get to stores like Starbucks relatively quickly, we are also close to creeks, streams, farms, and large parks. That made matching the locations a lot easier.

Scavenger Hunt Names & Locations

Bright Morning Star - Starbucks Coffee. The kids each got a drink to help fuel their adventure.
The Lion of Judah - Lion in the African Exhibit at Cabela's.
Living Water - Local river or fresh spring.
Bread of Life - Local Bakery or Bread Bakery. 
The Good Shepherd - Jay's or a pastor's office. This one usually happens towards the end of the hunt.
The Door - The Door to a Church or other impressive door to a build. 

The Vine - A Local Winery or Vineyard.
The Living Word - A Bible from a church or from home.
The Lamb of God - A local sheep farm.
The Messiah/Savior - The cross at the church.
The King of Kings - This year we visited a local Nativity with wisemen. In the past its been Burger King.
The Light of the World - A Light Show or a Festival of Lights.

Planning the hunt is pretty easy. Take the names of Jesus and try to think of locations that match the names. Then plan a course that makes it easy to drive from location to location without having to double back. Also make sure you have some cash on hand to pick up the little treats a long the way. Those little treats actual become a special part of the scavenger hunt. Each one will help to solidify the memory and will associate the snack or product with the location and the name. With the plan in place, cash in your pocket, it time to head out. You can start by sharing the first name of Jesus and asking where they think they might receive the next location. When you get to each location, read the devotional from the card. You can also read the information that you find for each day while still in the car.

And, don''t forget to take pictures or videos as you go. Those pictures and videos will be a great memory for future years. Your kids will love looking back and reliving the fun family activity. 

In the meantime, think about adding the Names of Jesus Scavenger Hunt to your Christmas calendar for next year! It will be a great event to host while the kids are home from school.

- the higham family
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