QR Code Easter Egg Hunt

As a Catholic School Teacher I am able to incorporate in our Catholic holidays within the curriculum and Easter is no exception.  One of my favorite activities that I do with my kids is our QR Code Easter Egg Hunt.  However, if you aren't able to celebrate "Easter" this could easily be adapted without using that word. :-)

Making the QR Codes with riddles and the final prizes.

I begin the day by grouping my students into groups of four.  After that, they are given a puzzle or activity of some sort that they need to solve.  Once they have figured out the answer, they bring it up for me to check.  If the answer is correct, I give them a QR Code that I created.  When they scan the QR Code, they are given a riddle of sorts which will lead them to another teacher's room.  When they get to that room, one student goes in and tells the teacher what the password is that they were given on the riddle.  If the password matches what I told that particular teacher, they are given their groups colored egg (each group is assigned a color so they only get their eggs). If it doesn't the teacher tells them they have the wrong teacher.  Within the plastic egg are letters which they will use for the final puzzle.  After getting their egg, the group comes back to me for the next puzzle.  Once they solve that, they get another QR Code from me with a riddle and it continues through six puzzles or activities.  They collect six eggs total (some contain more than one letter).  The final puzzle requires them to unscramble the letters they got in the eggs, which spell out the final location of the prize - PRINCIPAL. :-)

The students truly enjoy this activity and it's pretty simple to set up.
Here is what you will need:

My clues - each leads to a different teacher
and the final to the Principal

• 6 plastic colored eggs in 4-5 different colors (depending on how many groups you want. I usually do groups of 4 or 5 kids)
• Letters to put in the eggs which will spell out the final location of the prize when unscrambled. 
• 7 different riddles - the last one should lead them to the prize.
• 7 QR Codes (I color code mine) that when scanned give the students the riddle
• 7 different puzzles or worksheets that need to be completed accurately
• Prizes for the winners (I do class cash, free homework pass, and fun pencils. Depending on the place the group comes in, it gets less and less for each one)  
• I do 4-5 new QR Codes that when scanned tell the group what their prize is.  So one code is for 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place and so on. 

QR Codes for the riddles

My favorite activities are usually freebies from Teachers Pay Teachers.  However, rule of thumb - if you grab a freebie from TpT, be kind and leave some feedback. :-)  My all time puzzles that I do are the Hink Pinks and Hinky Pinkys.  I particularly loved these ones: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Easter-Hink-Pinks-Hinky-Pinkies-223996

I used them for three of my puzzles and the students would solve four at a time.  They are challenging but fun!  For the other activities I would usually do an unscramble of sorts, a brain puzzle, and a math worksheet.

Leave me a comment if you give this a try. I would love to hear how you adapted it for your classroom.

Katie

QR Code Hunt with a Valentine's Day Theme

Last year around Easter I did an activity with my students in which they had to solve riddles that would lead them to an activity they had to complete.  The riddles would bring them to another part of the school (usually another teacher) and they would receive a plastic egg that would either contain the activity or would contain the name of the activity and they would get the sheet they needed from me when they returned.  Once they complete it and I checked it over, I would give them another riddle and off they would go.  The winning team was that who solved all the riddles first and completed all the activities correctly.

Multi-colored QR Codes

My students absolutely LOVED it!  However, since this year I'll actually be on maternity leave during Easter (only 3 more weeks before my due date!!!) I wanted to do something similar with my current class.  And of course, since we are addicted to QR Codes in my classroom right now, I knew I wanted to involve those as well.  So, in honor of Valentine's Day my students completed The Valentine's Day QR Code Hunt.

First, I created eight sets of QR codes using QRStuff.com so I could make them in different colors.  Each QR Code was encrypted with a riddle that would lead the students to another teacher or faculty member at the school.  After I created the QR Codes, I printed out enough of each one for my students and visited each staff member to give them a copy of the QR code and the activity they would give my student.  It was important that I gave the other teachers a copy of the QR Code that would lead the students to them so they could make sure it was the correct color.  If a student arrived with a QR Code with a different color, the teacher would send them on their way because they solved the riddle wrong.  (It did happen a few times.) 

I started the hunt out by giving my students the following sheet.  It explained what they would be doing, gave them a hint as to what the activities were and finally a place to put the QR Codes after they had solved each riddle.  This also helped me because when a student completed an activity, they would bring it up to me, I would QUICKLY check it and if all was done to my expectations, I would give them a new QR Code.  I could easily scan what QR Codes they had already been given because they were all in different colors. 

 

This allowed me to randomly hand out the QR Codes so my students weren't all going to the same teacher at the same time.   Now regarding the activities that the students were completing they all contained the same theme of Valentine's Day.  I mixed together puzzles with math and language arts.  And the best part about all of them - they were FREE!!  (Not signed up for TpT??? - what are you waiting for - click here to do so now and find out what you've been missing!) I was able to download all the activities off Teachers Pay Teachers without spending a dime.  However, I did make sure that I went back and left feedback thanking each of the teachers for putting in their time and effort in creating the products and listing them for free.  Here is a list of the activities I used. 

1. Valentine Mystery Word Search
2. Hink Pink - Valentine's Day Themed
3. Valentine's Day Tangram
4. Valentine's Day Wordplay Activities
5. Valentine's Day Multiplication Math with QR Codes (this one is my own creation) :-)
6. Valentine's Day Wordsearch
7. Valentine's Day Acrostic Poem
8. Valentine's Day Budget Activity

This type of hunt could be done at anytime of the year or for any holiday.  It took me less than 20 minutes to get it all set-up (as a matter of fact I did it that morning).   It kept the students engaged for a couple of hours while still having them learn.  A win-win for us all in my book!

What did you do for Valentine's Day? Have you ever done a hunt like this before with your kids?

Check out more QR Code activities here - my collection of Task Cards.