Try out this super fun LDS Scripture Treasure Hunt

If you’re a youth leader in your ward, here’s a super fun activity idea that combines spiritual with fun and it’s super easy! It’s an LDS Scripture Treasure Hunt and all the clues can be found inside your church building. Check it out!

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we hold weekly activities with the youth in our congregation ages 12-18 years old. We like to focus on four different areas: spiritual, social, physical and intellectual. That’s the awesomeness of this activity. It’s a fun way to incorporate all four areas. It’s kind of like a scripture scavenger hunt without the treasure map. And we have everything you need to get started in one printable. Check it out!

Print your free Scripture Treasure Hunt printable

Everything you need to host your own treasure hunt is included in this comprehensive guide printable below. Just click on the link at the end of this blog post and you’re on your way.

This digital download printable includes detailed instructions on the first page and a list of the scriptures, clues and the location of each of the clues for each of the four teams. It also includes a page of clues for each four teams.

Cut and hide the clues

There are five different clue cards for four different teams. All of the clues lead the teams to a different area but everyone should end up in the Relief Society Room at the end. Print the clue sheets for each team and them cut each clue into strips.

Next, use the instruction sheet to figure out where to hide each of the clues. For example, the first clue for Team Blue is Psalms 6:6. This scripture says:

“I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.”

So … Clue #1 for the Blue Team should lead them to the couch in the lobby of the church. That is where they will find the second scripture, Clue #2, which is Leviticus 26:31. The answer to that clue is a garbage can. So they need to look for Clue #3 on, in or under a garbage can somewhere in the church. You get the idea. All of the scriptures are in the Bible or the Book of Mormon.

Divide your youth into groups and get started

Don’t forget to tell your youth to bring their scriptures. They can also use the scriptures on their phones if they forget. Divide your youth equally into four small groups. You can do less groups if your youth group is smaller.

Give each group Clue #1 and tell them to look up the scripture and figure out where the next clue is hidden. Make sure they know that the scripture clues are all inside the church somewhere. You can give all of the leaders the instruction sheet so if the youth can figure out where a certain clue is, they can help them.

Make sure the kids remember that they need to be reverent in the church and don’t run or yell. I also call other leaders in our area to make sure there weren’t any meetings or other functions happening that night because we basically used the entire church.

Also, remind the youth that if they find a clue for a different team, to just leave it there.

Finish the treasure hunt in the Relief Society room

Everyone’s final clue should lead them to the Relief Society room in the church. You don’t want to give away the final location of the treasure hunt, so try not to set up anything in this room that would tip them off. As they start arriving in the room, you can have quiet music playing and some chairs set up to sit down on.

You can basically make whatever prize you want for the end of the treasure hunt and thank them for their hard work. The first team to finish wins! They sell these really cute treasure boxes on Amazon and you can put a treat or prize inside of there for everyone.

You could also print some tiny strips of paper that say, “Treasure the scriptures” and glue them around some Hershey’s Nuggets. And you could also give them a bookmark for their scriptures.

If this LDS scripture treasure hunt doesn’t take very long, you can take some time at the end for everyone to share their favorite scripture story. Our youth group of latter-day saints really had a lot of fun with this activity. We had our class presidency hide the clues and they got really creative. One of the girls said, “I didn’t think this was going to be very much fun but it ended up being better than I thought.” Well, I’ll take it!

I hope this blog post helps you as you are planning your next LDS youth activity. Here is the link to the download that you can purchase and print at home. No physical product will be mailed to your home. Good luck!

Print your LDS Scripture Treasure Hunt

Even if you don’t work with the youth in your ward, this is a great family home evening activity or for activity days that you can do in your LDS church building. Other similar activity ideas you could plan is a photo scavenger hunt or an Easter scavenger hunt. Perfect for older children or young kids.

Want to learn more about our beliefs?

If you are not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you can learn more by visiting churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist. Here you can learn more about our beliefs, find a church near you and/or request a copy of the Book of Mormon.

Related link: Start a Friendship Basket with your LDS Young Women group today