This virtual Pentecost scavenger hunt is a wonderful way to make Pentecost more meaningful for family members. It can be done either as a home-based family activity or as part of a zoom session.
When doing the home-based activity, bonding will happen as family members scramble to find the 15 different items. Ask them to prove way their success by taking and submitting a photo with all the items.
For the zoom activity, participants are challenged to share particular items during a zoom session or to find particular items during the session.
Pentecost Related Items to Find:
- Bible left open to Acts 2:1-12.
- 50 items of some small object (pasta, pieces of cereal, coins, etc.) since Pentecost is 50 days after Easter.
- A fan as a symbol of the wind that came from heaven when the Holy Spirit descended.
- A hand drawn picture of a flame to symbolize the tongues of fire that came to rest on each of the Apostles.
- Something that rhymes with dove or has the same last 3 letters as dove. The dove was used as a sign of the Holy Spirit in the story of Jesus’ baptism.
- A wrapped gift box to symbolize the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
- Photo of someone that demonstrates one of the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit (Wisdom, Understanding, Right Judgement, Knowledge, Courage, Reverence, and Wonder & Awe)
- Find and put on a red or white shirt which are the colors of Pentecost.
- Birthday candles on a cake, cupcake muffin or bun because Pentecost is the birthday of the church.
- A rock because Jesus said to Peter “And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16: 18). These words made Peter the first Pope of the church.
- A baptism candle or other light to represent that when we act by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can be light for others.
- A small cross surrounded and supported by cotton ball clouds to signify Jesus’ ascension to heaven which happened 10 days before Pentecost.
- A fort or a tower built out of cans, Legos, boxes, or whatever you have. Then read Psalm 91:2 together. When we are moved by the Holy Spirit, we need to trust in God as our fortress.
- Something that starts with the first letter of your last name.
- Something to write with to remind us that God wants to include us in His story when he inspires us to serve others by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Family Scavenger Hunt Challenge:
Challenge your families to this assignment:
- Read Acts 2:1-12 from your Bible.
- Gather the Items listed. Be creative!
- Take a picture of yourself with your items. Feel free to include as many family members as desired in the photo.
- Email your photo to the youth minister by the day of Pentecost. All entries will be eligible for a drawing to win prizes.
**For an editable Word (docx) version of this checklist, please see my store on TeachersPayTeachers in order to download.
Fun ways to submit photos
We had families email their photos, but other ways could be:
- Instagram: have everyone post their photo using the same unique hashtag. The hashtag will help aggregate them simply by using the hashtag in Instagram searches.
- Padlet board: create a fun web posting board and let families post their photo to the board using the padlet link you provide.
Zoom Session Pentecost Scavenger Hunt Challenge:
If your youth are meeting via zoom sessions, then this activity can be easily adapted to any session where you will be discussing the Passion of Christ and/or Easter. Here are some options:
- before the Zoom meeting, ask participants to choose and find 5 items from the list to share at the Zoom meeting
- before the Zoom meeting, pare down the list to 5 or 6 items and ask the zoom participants to share those items at the Zoom session.
- during the Zoom meeting, challenge the participants to find a particular item within 2 minutes and then show it to the rest of the group via screen sharing.
Additional Pentecost Family Activities
Some other family based projects can be:
- Make Pentecost eggs
- Find a Pentecost activity from these posts:
- Nine things to do with your kids on Pentecost by Teaching Catholic Kids
- 10 Pentecost Activities for Kids and Families by Traci Smith