A birthday scavenger hunt at home: hide the gift, leave the clues
Three free sets of printable scavenger hunt clues for any home: five to seven riddles and a gift in the last hiding spot. Pick a route, print the clues and hide them in 15 minutes.
- 31 clues
- 15 minutes
- free
Pick a hunt: a ready-made set of clues for your home
A route is a ready-made chain of clues. You hand over the first one, each next clue waits where the previous answer points, and the last one leads to the gift.
7 clues · medium riddles A kitchen, a bathroom, a hallway and a bedroom: almost every home has them.
Tap a number on the map to read the clue
In short. A gift scavenger hunt is 5–7 riddle notes hidden around the home: the answer to each one is the place of the next note, and the last one leads to the gift. Preparation takes 15–30 minutes. On this page: three free printable sets of clues (universal, for kids, for a husband or wife), tips on hiding spots, and a look at how the GIFTbase app builds such a hunt around one specific person and occasion.
Indoor scavenger hunt clues for any home: three printable sets
The first set fits any home and any person: kitchen, bathroom, hallway, bedroom. Hand the first note over in person; every next note waits at the place that answers the previous riddle. The answers under the notes are shown only here on the site; on the printable sheet they are listed separately at the end.
7 cluesmedium riddleskitchen → bedroom
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1hand it overCase No. 1. The beginningTop secretA gift has gone missing. All we know is that it is somewhere in this home. The first clue waits where it is winter even in July, and where yesterday's dinner is kept.
Answer
the fridge -
2the fridgeClue 2Top secretIt spins but never goes anywhere. Everything that goes in comes out cleaner than before. Look inside.
Answer
the washing machine -
3the washing machineClue 3Top secretHundreds of other people's stories stand shoulder to shoulder and keep quiet. The next clue is hiding between the two thickest ones.
Answer
the bookshelf -
4the bookshelfClue 4Top secretThey leave the house more often than you do, but always come back in pairs. Check the left one.
Answer
shoes in the hallway -
5shoes in the hallwayClue 5Top secretEvery morning here you meet the one who knows all your secrets and never tells.
Answer
the bathroom mirror -
6the bathroom mirrorClue 6Top secretThis drawer holds what no tea party can do without: small, shiny, always in the company of forks.
Answer
the cutlery drawer -
7the cutlery drawerThe finaleTop secretThe case is almost closed. The last clue is where you rest your head every night.
Answer
under the pillow
Gift under the pillow
If the gift is too big for a pillow, put the final note there instead with the exact spot: "balcony, the box under the chair". For a child, swap the washing machine clue for "the place where your toys sleep" and drop the joke about secrets.
Scavenger hunt clues for kids aged 6–10
Five notes with no tricks: each describes the place so a child recognizes it on their own. Hide them in one or two rooms and keep the finale the easiest.
5 clueseasy riddlesone or two rooms
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1hand it overNote 1Top secret
Hello, detective! Someone hid your present. The first clue is waiting where your toys sleep at night.
Answer
the toy box or toy shelf -
2the toy box or toy shelfNote 2Top secretThis is where the spoons and forks live, and the thing you eat soup with. Look in that drawer.
Answer
the cutlery drawer -
3the cutlery drawerNote 3Top secret
I am big and white, it is always cold inside me, and I have one door. Open me!
Answer
the fridge -
4the fridgeNote 4Top secret
Where the lamp glows in the evening and your bedtime book lies.
Answer
the bedside table -
5the bedside tableFinaleTop secretAlmost there! Your present is waiting where your coat and hat hang.
Answer
the coat rack or hallway closet
Gift the coat rack or hallway closet
Treasure hunt riddles for adults: for a husband or wife, with ciphers
Five harder notes: words backwards, missing vowels, anagrams. Write into the last one, by hand, the thing only the two of you know.
5 clueswith ciphersyou finish the last one
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1hand it overNote 1Top secret
The case is open. The first clue is encrypted, read it backwards: EGDIRF.
Answer
the fridge -
2the fridgeNote 2Top secret
The vowels have gone missing from the next place: SF. It is where we watch our shows. Check under the cushions.
Answer
the sofa -
3the sofaNote 3Top secretAnagram: HELFS. That is where the books you have read stand next to the ones you have not. Between the two thickest.
Answer
the bookshelf -
4the bookshelfNote 4Top secret
Only consonants survived: MRRR. It looks at you every morning.
Answer
the bathroom mirror -
5the bathroom mirrorFinaleTop secret
The case is almost closed. The last clue is where you charge your phone every night. P.S. Write here the thing only the two of you remember.
Answer
the nightstand with the charger
Gift the nightstand with the charger
How a gift scavenger hunt works
You hide the gift, and the birthday person gets the first note. It holds a riddle whose answer is a place in your home. The second note waits there, and so on for five to seven steps until the last note leads to the present. Kids get simpler riddles with pictures; adults get twists, ciphers and inside jokes only they will understand.
The one rule. Every riddle must have exactly one answer. If "a warm place" could mean the radiator, the blanket or the oven, the hunt breaks on step two.
How to hide the clues so the hunt does not break
Walk the route yourself
Place the notes and read each one as someone who does not know the answer. One ambiguous spot and the chain snaps.
Number the notes
If they stumble on clue five before clue three, the number tells them they skipped ahead.
Avoid places other people use
In a family of five the fridge gets opened before the birthday person gets there. Put the note in a container with their name on it.
Keep a list of hiding spots
When they get stuck, you can nudge without giving away the next step.
Make the finale the easiest
By the end, excitement runs higher than patience, so make the last riddle the easiest.
One room for kids
Five notes in one room beat seven across the whole home: a child will not get tired or upset.
Build your own route
Scavenger hunt clues by hiding spot: under a chair, in the microwave, in a coat pocket
The three sets above are ready-made routes. If you need to swap one hiding spot, add a couple of steps or build a hunt around your own home, take clues from here: each one is written for a specific place, in any order you like. The name of the spot only shows on this page; when you print, just the clue text remains.
- Under a guest's chair
- In the birthday kid's room
- In a coat pocket
- In the microwave
- In the oven
- In the wardrobe
- Under the doormat
- In a flower pot
- Under the sofa cushions
- In the freezer
- In the garage
- In the toy box
- In the glove box
- On the bathroom shelf
When you build the route, alternate rooms: two hiding spots in a row in the kitchen get dull, and the finale should be the easiest step. For a party with guests, start with the note under a chair: everyone is in the game at once.
What to hide at the finish: Christmas gift ideas
A hunt lands best when the gift at the end is spot on. Gift guides with prices and store links:
In the GIFTbase app
Scavenger hunt clue generator: how the app writes a hunt around one person
The clues above fit any home and any person, which is exactly why they are not very personal. The Apartment Detective scenario in GIFTbase does the opposite: the riddles are built on what the person loves and on the story you two share. Here is what it looks like in the app, step by step.
A ready-made scenario or a hunt built around the person
Ready-made clues
- The same for everyone who downloads them
- Do not know your home: not everyone has a bookshelf
- Generic riddles, no story and no inside jokes
- The gift has to be figured out separately
- But free and ready in five minutes, like the sets above
A hunt in GIFTbase
- A plot around the recipient's interests and your shared story
- Your hiding spots: from the list or your own
- Three riddle styles and three difficulty levels
- Gifts picked for the person and the size of the stashes
- A preparation checklist and a printable sheet with a "Case closed" certificate
Start with the free clues, and when you want a hunt about one specific person, build it in the app: the first gift searches in GIFTbase are free.
What you end up with
The plot: a gift has "vanished" from the home and the birthday person is appointed detective. Five to seven notes lead along the route, each with a riddle in the chosen style, and the finale holds the gift and your message. The hunt is saved in the app: open it for the next celebration, change the hiding spots and build a new one for the same person in five minutes.
What it costs
The clues on this page are free: print them and use them. Generating a hunt around a specific person is part of the GIFTbase subscription, together with monthly gift searches and the recipient questionnaire. The calendar, wishlists and the first gift searches are always free.
How to write your own clues: five tricks
If you want notes about your home and your person, these are the tricks, and the app uses the same ones.
Describe, do not name
"It is winter there even in July": the object is described by what it does or how it feels, never named. The simplest trick, works for kids.
Backwards
EGDIRF. Takes a minute to read but looks like a cipher. Good for the first note.
No vowels
BTHRM CBNT: bathroom cabinet. Difficulty depends on the length of the word.
Anagram
HELFS: shelf. Keep the words short: almost nobody solves a long anagram.
A word in parts
NIGHT + STAND = nightstand. Or by description: “behind the doors” + “the very top inside” = the top shelf of the closet. Works for teens and adults.
Occasions it works for
Birthdays are the classic case, but a scavenger hunt with notes around the home works anywhere you want to hand over a gift with a story instead of a bag.
- Birthday
- Anniversary
- Valentine's Day
- Christmas
- Mother's Day
- Father's Day
- For a husband or wife
- For kids
- Just to surprise
In the app the plot is built around the person — their interests and your shared story — so the same hunt never repeats from one occasion to the next.
More clues and ready-made hunts
Detective hunt: “The Case of the Missing Gift”
An illustrated printable kit: a letter, 10 clue puzzles, a search warrant and a detective ID. Name and spots fill in.
Scavenger hunt clues around the house: 90 riddles
A library by room and age with a hunt builder: pick the spots, get a print sheet.
Scavenger hunt for kids at home: by age
Pirates, detective and space for ages 4–6, 7–9 and 10–12 — clues, props and a parent’s checklist.
Scavenger hunt for your husband or boyfriend
A romantic eight-clue gift hunt with ciphers and a cipher tool.
Scavenger hunt for your girlfriend or wife
Three hunts from him: a good-morning hunt with coffee, your places and a secret admirer with one cipher.Frequently asked questions
Yes, from about six. Use five notes instead of seven, keep them in one or two rooms and replace riddles with a twist by descriptive ones: "where your toys sleep". The app has an easy difficulty level for exactly this.
Five to seven for an adult, four to five for a child. Fewer than four and the excitement never builds; more than eight and people get tired and start asking for hints.
It is the most common case. For an adult the hunt is harder and more personal: riddles about shared trips, jokes only the two of you get, and a message at the end. The app has a "personal touch" for this: the shared story goes into the plot and the message lands in the final note word for word.
Print this page straight from the browser: the notes are laid out as cards with cut lines, and the rest of the page is hidden in print. A hunt generated in the app prints as one sheet with stamps and a "Case closed" certificate.
Agree on hints in advance, for example three "warmer or colder" hints for the whole hunt. Keep the list of hiding spots so you can nudge without revealing the next step.
No. The clues on this page work on their own. The app is for a hunt built around one specific person: their interests, your home and a message in the finale.
Yes. Birthdays are the most common case, but a scavenger hunt around the home works just as well for an anniversary, Valentine's Day, Christmas or a random Tuesday: in the app the plot and the notes are built around the person, their interests and your shared story; the holiday only sets the mood.
Yes. The "Download the printable sheet" button opens a print page: all three sets of notes with cut lines, and the answers as a separate list on the last page. Save it as a PDF or print it straight from the browser.
A ready-made scenario is the same for everyone who downloads it and knows nothing about your home or your person. GIFTbase writes the plot and the riddles around one specific recipient: their interests, your shared story, your hiding spots, with your message in the finale word for word. Plus a preparation checklist and a printable sheet.
Yes, inside GIFTbase: the Apartment Detective scenario writes 5–7 riddle notes around your home, the recipient’s interests and your shared story, in one of three riddle styles and three difficulty levels, and lays them out for printing.
Yes. The clues describe places in a home, so the same sets work for Christmas morning, an anniversary or Valentine’s Day. Change the first note to set the mood and put the final note where the gift is.
Updated October 24, 2026
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Build a hunt around your person
GIFTbase writes a chain of riddles for your home and their interests, and picks the gift itself. The first gift searches are free.