I am not one of those moms that believes in big hurrah birthday parties every year. I love my children to the moon and back, but also know that I would quickly not be able to uphold a high precedence of fancy birthday parties. A biking scavenger hunt has saved us numerous times and always is a huge hit. It’s great just for fun too, no birthday needed.
Looking for winter outdoor birthday party ideas? Start here!
We’re all about easy, cheap, and lots of fun. Easier said than done, especially when you’re planning a birthday party in the “shoulder season” when snow fun is impossible and the weather is very unpredictable.
For our 5-year-old’s party we also decided that making sure the kids were outside at least some of the time (though preferably most of the time) and were active (in a directed and organized way) was crucial to keeping 20 kids (friends + siblings) under some sort of control.
Updated for 2019: We did this again 5 years later with big kids and it was just as fun! See updates below.

A Biking Scavenger Hunt Birthday Party for young kids
Back in 2014 we invited families to join us and meet at the local community center (which also happens to be in our neighborhood.) Children were asked to bring bikes, backpacks and weather-appropriate clothing. Helmets were required.
Since we knew that not all the kids invited were as in to biking as our family is, we welcomed anything on wheels and brought our extra scooters, bikes and helmets to share.
We met the families at the door of the community center and broke up into two groups: The “experienced bikers” and the “just getting the hang of it bikers”. Parents were invited and encouraged to follow their children on foot or bikes. Extra supervision is always welcome.
Bikers then followed clues around our neighborhood to find small prizes (dollar store treasures) that they put into their backpacks. These were their party favors.
Afterwards we all meet back at the community center (right before the rain started) for a simple lunch of hot dogs, fruit and chips and some cupcakes.
A biking scavenger hunt for big kids!
In 2019, we gathered a group of 10 year old boys and followed the same general plan. The kids gathered at our house with backpacks and helmets before being ready to ride.
The advantage to doing with with older kids is less supervision was required. All of the kids were great bikers, though we did make a rule that everyone had to stay together. Easier to do with 8 friends opposed to the 20+ we had when they were younger.
How the scavenger hunt worked for little kids
We wanted to the flexibility of having a scavenger hunt that we could easily change around a bit for the different riders. For the slower group, we had them basically go around in a circle in our neighborhood following the clues.
For the faster riders, we sent them to find the clues out of order so they would have to bike around more. The leader (myself and Mtn Papa) had the clues in hand (opposed to left at the different drops) so we could send them where we wanted.
The treasures were left in the scavenger hunt locations in a ziploc bag beforehand.
How the scavenger hunt worked for the bigger kids
For the bigger kids, we still stashed the prizes around the neighborhood, but this time the kids had the clues in hand. We did still send adults riding around so we could help as needed.
Honestly the hardest part is just slowing everyone down – it gets pretty exciting and intense!
One thing we did do differently for the big kids was send them for some clues that included getting of their bikes and climbing or hiking. It kept them moving. In fact they were all beat by the end of it!
Ideas for scavenger hunt treasures
We had 6 different drop spots for the little kids and about 15 for the bigger ones. I spent about $30-50 on favors. You could easily spend more or less.
- bouncy balls
- temporary tattoos
- small candies
- balloons
- bubbles
- glow sticks
- silly string (this is a fun way to end the hunt!)
- Ice cream coupons
- Popsicles
- rubber ducks
- Special rocks
- crayons
- small magnifying glasses
- homemade binoculars (from TP rolls)
- small other homemade favors
Ideas for scavenger hunt drop spots
This is the part that would change most drastically depending on your location and situation. We went around our neighborhood because it is paved, relatively low traffic and we know almost everyone so it helped with great drop spots.
This could also be done in a school parking lot on the weekend or anywhere that you could bike around easily without having to worry too much about car traffic.
- At a neighbor’s house (with their permission, of course)
- Hidden on a favorite trail
- Near a landmark (stop sign, neighborhood sign, large rock, etc.)
- In a camper in the neighborhood (again, with their permission)
- Under a tree
- In a treehouse
- In a fort
Our take on how it went
We had a great time both years! Parents (us included) were thrilled to have the kids outside and moving.
For the little kids, having that many kids on bikes was great for a little positive peer pressure for kids that weren’t really into biking.
For the big kids, we were able to keep them moving and active instead of being wild in our home.
What we would do different next time
For a little kid biking scavenger hunt, next time we will do a better job at encouraging parents to bring their bikes too. Some of these kids bike too fast to keep up with them just running!
For the party favors maybe keep a theme. Here’s just a few ideas I had in hindsight:
- “nature explorer” (nature notebook, magnifying glass, crayons, dried flowers, etc.)
- “biking” (bike bell, bike helmet, biking gloves, stickers for your bike, etc) <– obviously a lot more expensive, but would be super cool!
- “Decorate your bike” (pipe cleaners, puffy paint, stickers, flashing lights, streamers, etc.)
Have a little better plan on who would go to which clues first. We had to wait sometimes if one of the groups was already at the station. No big deal – we were honestly winging it a bit – but it would have been a little smoother.
Be prepared for kids just not into biking. During the little kid hunt, we had a couple that ended up running instead of biking, but that was totally ok. They were outside and active and that was our goal.
After the scavenger hunt have a bike rodeo set up to keep kids biking: cones to practice going around, little ramps to go over, decorate their bikes (if they didn’t do that before), etc.
All in all, we had a great time!
I want to know – have you done an outdoor birthday party before? Anything with bikes? How did it work out? I’d love to hear it (and see photos too!)
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What a great idea. I might just do this for Joseph this year. Luckily, we have three birthdays really close. Unluckily, the birthdays are a 1 yr old, a 4 yr old and a 39 year old (mine). However, this would work because the adults have to chase their kids around anyway and the babies are usually in strollers or ergos so they wouldn’t care either.
How fun! We’ve done scavenger hunts and just did a swimming/playground/museum birthday trip (http://desertsurvivor.blogspot.com/2014/05/desert-boys-birthday-bash.html). I like the bike idea, we might try that next year. More outside activities and less sugar for a birthday are always great!
I’ve seen outdoor passports before. REI had them in their stores a couple of summers ago and were free.
Great idea to keep the kids active and outside without having to worry about not having enough room for everyone and a less expensive alternative than going to something like Chuckie Cheese.
This is a great idea! I’ve always wanted to do a scavenger hunt but was never sure on how to set it up within public places. I guess I could hide the things so they didn’t get lost. Might try one for our next birthday!
We try to do outdoor birthday parties as much as possible. Bunny, who has an august birthday has spent her last 4 or so at the beach, which is great because no activity planning needed – just tell everyone to bring a suit and towel and give everyone sand toys as their “loot” when they arrive. Parents (and siblings) usually end up staying to help supervise, because hey – who doesn’t love a day at the beach!
Beans is a bit tougher, since early April in Ontario is a bit spotty weather wise – she’s had downpours and snowstorms on her birthday – so for the last few while she was little we rented an activity room/playground at the rec centre or a skating rink (which was awesome). This year we did a nature themed party, because I figured they were old enough (6) to spend it outside even if it snowed: http://beansandbunny.blogspot.ca/2014/04/beans-nature-party.html
I’ve done this as an adult party and it was a hoot! Never thought of it for my kids although that’s probably because their birthdays are in March and we are in Chicago which means it could be 80 degrees or we could have 3 feet of snow. Love the idea of an inexpensive party though.
OOOO! That’s a GREAT idea! I see a 4th of July party idea brewing… 😉
I wished I had seen this post, earlier! We recently had our 5yo’s party at a bike park and it was a good day of folks getting out and trying new terrain. I love this idea so much that I think we’ll do an event/BBQ this summer with our Outdoor Families group! Thank you!
Love the idea of a bike scavenger hunt. My son’s birthday is coming up and he would love to do this with his friends.
Such a GREAT idea! I’m looking forward to planning their birthday now! Thank you for the tips and ideas!
Great idea! We have had plenty of outdoor parties but never a biking scavenger hunt. I have two toddler grandsons who would love these bikes!
this sounds like a total blast!
Do you have a copy of the clues you gave?
I don’t just because they are so specific to our area. But I will work on making some general ones!