Secret Santa Hunt

Are you doing a Secret Santa with a colleague, friend, family, neighbour??  Do you want to find a sneaky way to send them hints as to who you are, without the trouble of leaving mysterious notes around, or to help lead them to the surprise gift? If you both have cell phones, why not send them “mysterious” text clues from “Secret Santa”?? You can use a tool like TextClues in order to send your Secret Santa clues from an unknown phone # to them, so they will have no idea who you are, but keep them on their toes at the same time!!

How would this work with, perhaps a colleague at work? Let’s get started!

Clue: Hey there! This is your Secret Santa sending you on your first hint about me :) Head over to your desk, second shelf. My eyes are the same colour as the package awaiting you.

Answer: Brown

Clue: That’s right. Know who I am? Probably not. The next clue can be found behind your phone. What year does it say on the sticker?

Answer: 1970

Clue: Yep, now you know the year I am born! :) Those are all the clues for today.  Stay tuned tomorrow!

You can stop this hunt after this first set of messages, and schedule a second hunt to start the following day by using the scheduler on TextClues to schedule when the next message should be sent :)

Clue: Welcome back! Know who I am? My favorite food is sitting in the kitchen fridge, in a red container. Feel free to have it and respond what I am.

Answer: Brownie

Clue: Yum indeed! Alright, final clue – you may know me as the “good with numbers” guy at the office. Head to Josie for the final clue.  What did you get from her?

Answer: A dollar

Winning Message: Right! Lastly, and you better get it right now, but my last name rhymes with the last answer :) Come find me for your prize! And if you don’t guess who I am, well, I may just as well be keeping it :) Happy Holidays!

Try our text message scavenger hunt demo.

Holiday Scavenger Hunt

Christmas and the Holidays are quickly approaching and you may be trying to think of a more unique way of presenting your gift to loved ones, instead of the typical “under the tree” theme.  What better way to give your gift through a surprise text message scavenger hunt, using a tool such as TextClues?  Not only will the individual receiving the gift be so happy to receive your gift at the end, but they will have a blast trying to find it in the first place!

Let’s get this started!

Clue: Merry Christmas, baby! Thought I didn’t buy you a gift this year? Think again! What year was the photo taken that is sitting on the fireplace?

Answer: 2008

Clue: Great! Now head on over to where that mistletoe is hanging in the house. What did you get?

Answer: A kiss

Clue: That’s right. Don’t worry, that’s not your gift :) Look inside the cookie jar in the kitchen. What is the odd one out in there?

Answer: A chocolate kiss!

Clue: More kisses for you! Take a look under your favorite sofa. What is there?

Answer: Slippers

Clue: Yes! Your feet are always cold so here are some slippers to keep them warm. Speaking of warmth, could you use a cup of hot chocolate right now? Head to the kitchen.  How many marshmallows are floating in your cup?

Answer: 4

Clue: Right! Enjoy that cup :) Ok, head over to your night table drawer. What’s inside?

Answer: A key

Winning Clue: Yes, and what jewelery box does it unlock? Look inside for your surprise! Hope you have a great holiday. Love you! xx

Try out our text message scavenger hunt demo for free.

Car Rally

A car rally is usually a fun treasure-hunt type of event in which friends get together and conduct a car hunt with the winning team getting a prize usually at a party after the car rally. Friends are divided into teams, each with a car, and these teams race to find and complete their list. Players can find businesses, landmarks, signs, or other things and you are limited only by your creativity.

TextClues can be used to provide instructions and questions to the driving teams by cell phone, once they have texted back the correct answer they are provided with their next instruction and question until all the questions have been correctly completed. The first team to Toboggan Aquatique Gonflable Pas Cher answer all the questions correctly is the winner. The rally can last hours or be a short rally dependent on the time you want to devote to the rally. Below are a series of directions with questions and associated answers to illustrate a very simple car rally.

Directions and question: Go to City Hall, how many windows are on the front façade of the building?
Answer: 12

Question: Go to McDonald’s on the corner of Main and Union, what is the building number on the first house to the East?
Answer: 261

Question: What sign is on the northwest corner of Trinity and 6th Avenue?
Answer: One Way

Question: How many soldiers are listed on the World War II Memorial in Central Park?
Answer: 173

Question: Rounded to the nearest mile how many miles from Central Park to the Wal-Mart on Highway 1?
Answer: 12

Question: How many traffic lights do you pass between the Washington Bridge and the Starbucks on Avenue Rd?
Answer: 12

After all rally questions have been answered correctly a text message could be sent to the winner advising him or her of the prize for winning the rally. The TextClues demo should answer any questions you may have, otherwise visit the TextClues site for more information.

A Scavenger Hunt for Food Lovers

Do you live in an area filled with an abundance of restaurants, pubs, and lounges? Are you and your friends or coworkers lovers of all food? Why not make a game out of it for your next foodie adventure! With a tool like TextClues, you can create a scavenger hunt using text messages on any mobile phone to have your group scavengering around town looking for the latest eats ;)

Before the scavenger hunt begins, you’ll need to inform the group that for each clue they must pick up a take-out menu of the restaurant in order to complete the clue.  If the restaurant Parc Aquatique Gonflable Pas Cher does not provide take-out menus, be sure to tell the groups ahead of time to bring a camera. If the restaurant has a menu posted on the outside of the restaurant, taking a photo of the menu item would be just as good to satisfy a clue.

Let’s see how this would work:

Clue: Welcome to the City vendita gonfiabili per bambini Food Scavenger Hunt! Find a place that serves apple crumble on the menu. Reply “done” when complete.
Answer: Done
Clue: Find a place that serves fois gras on the menu. Reply “done” when complete.
Answer: Done
Clue: Find a place that serves milkshakes. Reply “done” when complete.
Answer: Done
Clue: Find a place that has a dessert for under $5 on the menu. Reply “done” when complete.
Answer: Done
Clue: Find a place that has a “Menu for 2” or “Menu for 4” dinner combo. Reply “done” when complete.
Answer: Done
Clue: Find a place that serves a bottle of wine that cost more than $100. Reply “done” when complete.
Answer: Done
Clue: Find a place that serves stuffed chicken as one of its menu options. Reply “done” when complete.
Winning message: Head back to Bob’s place to enjoy some wine (winner gets a free bottle!) We’ll go through the menus to decide our next dinner place to check out!

With TextClues, you can also make use of the “scramble” functionality so that groups won’t necessarily be going to the same places in the same order! Of course, the scavenger hunt above can be varied in so many different ways to satisfy your food lovers. You never know, but you can find a restaurant out there that you may never have even considered before. Try it out today and you will be craving for more!

Music Text Quiz

Do you know someone who’s a huge fan of a music band? How about sending them a text message quiz with TextClues!

Here’s an example for someone who loves The Beatles:

Question: Welcome to The Beatles quiz. Are you ready? Reply “start” to play.

Answer: start

Question: In what English city were The Beatles formed?

Answer: Liverpool

Question: In what year?

Answer: 1960

Question: What German city did The Beatles spend years playing in before they became popular?

Answer: Hamburg

Question: What was the name of their manager?

Answer: Brian Epstein

Question: What was their first single in the UK?

Answer: Love Me Do

Question: Who was their producer?

Answer: George Martin

Question: When was Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band released?

Answer: 1967

Question:  What was the band’s final album release?

Answer: Let It Be

Question: Last question! When did The Beatles break up?

Answer: 1970

Winning Message: You’ve won! Congratulations. Come see me for your prize :)

To create your own text quiz try out our free demo.

Outdoor Bible Scavenger Hunt

If you’re looking for a fun outdoor activity with the kids this summer then a bible scavenger hunt is perfect for you. It won’t take long to set up and will have the kids playing for hours if you make it long enough.

The premise of the hunt is to have the kids look up the items they need to collect using bible versus. Then they collect all the items and turn them in to collect the prize. You can go through the bible and fin your favorite versus but here are a few examples to help give you an idea.

  • Leaf – Proverbs 11:28
  • Five Smooth Stones – 1 Samuel 17:40
  • Grass and a Seed – Genesis 1:11

This is a great way to teach kids how to look up passages in the bible. You can also use it as a way for them to read some of your favorite parts of the bible. Once you have all the items listed that the kids will collect you can start working on the clues. You can either write the clues out on paper or use the TextClues service to send the messages using text messages. The clues can look something like this:

Clue: Read Proverbs 11:28 and find a green L___ . Respond with what you need to find.

Answer: Leaf

Clue: Great go find one! Then read 1 Samuel 17:40 and find F___ S_____ S_____ . Respond with what you need to find.

Answer: Five Smooth Stones

Clue: Great go and find them! Then read Genesis 1:11 and find some G____ and a S___

Answer: Grass Seed, Grass and a seed

Clue: Congratulations, hand in everything you found and collect your prize!

We hope you are able to enjoy this scavenger hunt with your family and come up with some fun clues of your own. Remember to try out the TextClues Demo and you might find it is a great way to keep your kids interested!

Scavenger Hunt around Town

Scavenger hunts can be used for so many different occasions and events including:
– Easter Scavenger Hunt
– Birthdays
– Anniversaries
– Team Building
– Bachelorettes
– For some general fun
and many more events…

There are so many different ways that you can run a scavenger hunt these days, however now that the majority of the population has access to a cell phone, why not save yourself some trouble setting up a scavenger hunt with paper clues all over the city and have automatic clues sent via the cell phone? This can be done through an easy-to-use tool called TextClues. With TextClues, all you have to do is input the cell phone #s of who will be participating in the event, enter all of the clues, schedule the scavenger hunt and away you go!  If you want scavenger hunt teams to not necessarily set off on the hunt in the same order, you can use the Shuffle feature to mix up the clues so everybody will be running around town in all sorts of different ways.

Once you have the teams setup, and everyone setup on TextClues, it is time to start the scavenger hunt around town. Away you go!!!

Clue: Collect a take-out menu from a pizza shop. Reply “done” without quotations when found.
Answer: Done
Clue: Collect a coaster from a local pub or restaurant. Reply “done” when found.
Answer: Done
Clue: Take a group photo with a statue. Reply “done” when complete.
Answer: Done
Clue: Collect a flyer for an upcoming event in the city. Reply “done” when found.
Answer: Done
Clue: Take a photo with a man or woman wearing a pink shirt. Reply “done” when complete.
Answer: Done
Clue: Purchase an item that cost less than $0.50 and keep the receipt. Reply “done” when complete.
Answer: Done
Clue: Take a photo with someone’s pet. Reply “done” when complete.
Answer: Done
Clue: Collect the business card for a chinese restaurant. Reply “done” when complete.
Answer: Done
Winning Clue: Head on back to Joe’s apartment to see if you are the first one back to win the prize!!!

The clues can so easily be tailored to places that might be convenient and accessible around your city or town.  A scavenger hunt can be created within a matter of minutes, but can provide fun and entertainment for a group of people for hours! Use TextClues and a scavenger hunt for your next event, and we guarantee you will have a very satisfied group of people that will be craving for more!

Text Message Math Quiz

You can use TextClues to send your son or daughter a text message math quiz to test the skills they’ve learned in the classroom. Here’s an example with some geometry questions:

Question: Welcome to the cell phone math quiz! No calculators are allowed. First question, how many sides does a pentagon have? Reply with the answer.

Answer: 5

Question: What’s the sum of angles inside a triangle?

Answer: 180, 180 degrees

Question: What’s the square root of 36?

Answer: 6

Question: What’s the remainder when dividing 22 by 10

Answer: 2

Question: What’s 3 x 4 + 7 – 8 x 2?

Answer: 3

Question: What’s pi to two decimal places?

Answer: 3.14

Question: What’s the area of a square with side lengths of 7?

Answer: 49

Question:  What’s the perimeter of a square with side lengths of 8?

Answer: 32

Question: Give a circle has a radius of 5. What’s the circle’s diameter?

Answer: 10

Question: For a rectangle with side lengths 4 and 3, what’s the length of the diagonal from one corner to the other? (Hint: use the Pythagorean theorem)

Answer: 5

Winning Message: Congratulations! You’re a math whiz! Come to the kitchen to get your prize

To create your own fun text message math game try our demo.

Father’s Day Scavenger Hunt

Continuing the theme of Father’s Day, here are some more ideas for scavenger hunts for dad on his special day.  With Textclues set up your clues ahead of time, make sure he’s got his cell phone and sit back and watch the fun.

 

Give him clues that lead him all over the house and plant a few outside too. Each clue should lead him to the answer, and at the end of the hunt you could have a gift bag with his cards & gifts inside.   Here are some ideas using clues and riddles.  With some of the clues the answers are written on paper and dad would text back the answer, then he would receive a text with a riddle to solve, after solving it then the new clue would be sent by text to him and so on until the scavenger hunt is done.  Just explain to him he has to reply to the text with the answer each time to get the next clue.

Here’s a sample

Clue:  For your first clue go check the garage and look under the car, text the word that you see written on paper there

Answer:  (written on a note under the car):  Shoe

 

Clue:  Solve this riddle for the next clue:  A farmer had seventeen sheep, all but nine died, how many did he have left?

Answer:  nine, 9

 

Clue:  Well done!  Now go find the white shoe which has the next clue and reply with it too.  (Hint) check the laundry room

Answer (written on paper hidden in shoe):  Deck

 

Clue:  Another riddle for you:  Take off my skin – I won’t cry, but you will, what am I?

Answer:  An onion

 

Clue:   Outside on the deck under the BBQ I want you to check, whatever you find text me back

Answer:  cup

 

Clue:  Can you answer this riddle:  What can you catch but not throw?

Answer:  A cold

 

Clue:   Check the cupboard where the cup belongs and look up, text me the word you find there

Answer: ” Teapot”  (write this word on a piece of paper you can stick to above the shelf holding the cups in the cupboard)

 

Clue:  You’re good at riddles so I’ll test you on this one:  What travels around the world yet stays in one corner?

Answer:  A Stamp

 

 

Clue:  The teapot contains a nice clue which tells you the next thing to do, look for it & once you find it text the answer which is inside.

Answer:  Basement

 

Clue:  The basement has your next clue, check beside the light and we’ll see if you get it right, text the word you see there

Answer:  Mirror

 

Clue:  Beside one of the mirrors in our house is the last clue you’ll need to do, when you see what is says text your answer and receive your last riddle to answer for a prize.

Answer:  Prize

 

Clue:  Here is your last riddle to solve:  What has to be broken before it’s consumed?

Answer:  An egg

 

When he answer this last riddle, a text is sent leading him to his card and gift.

Final Text:  Congratulations dad!  Check inside the trunk of the car for your gift!!

Try a free demo now.

Bachelorette or Girl’s Night Out

It’s a girls night out – perhaps a bachelorette party or even just a night out on the town and you and the girls want to make things interesting ;) Why not make a little game/hunt out of the outing? It’s a hassle to have to carry a pen and paper out to a lounge/bar/restaurant however we all know that we MUST carry our cell phones and cameras on a girl’s night out/bachelorette party to capture the moments of the night (although, perhaps some of the photos may be a “what happens this night, stays amongst the group” kind of night :) TextClues is the perfect tool to use for your night out – all you need is your cell phone and away you go :)

How would this work? Start by thinking of different things you girls might want to capture and find of the night.  Once you have this in place, all you need to do is set up the clues on the easy-to-use TextClues screens, schedule the hunt for when you want it to occur, enter in the phone numbers of your friends, and away you go ;)

Here’s just a little example of how you would use the tool for your night out :)  We’ll assume that you are already at the venue that the party is to take place.

Clue: Welcome to Girls Night Out, Addition 1 of many. We’ll start easy – Head to the bar, each girl buys a shot, and get someone to take a photo of you girls. Type “done” once complete.
Answer: Done
Clue: Perfect! Next, one of the girls has to find a guy to dance with her. Take a photo to capture this. Type “done” once complete.
Answer: Done
Clue: Great! Get one or more girls to get on the stage or podium and dance away ;) Take a photo to capture this. Type “done” once complete.
Answer: Done
Clue: Head back to the bar. Get the bartender to make you girls a special drink. Take a photo WITH the bartender. Type “done” once complete.
Answer: Done
Clue: Time to head back on to the dance floor! Find a guy to give you a kiss on the cheek. Take a photo to capture this. Type “done” once complete.
Answer: Done
Clue: Great job! Now enjoy the rest of the night and make it one you’ll always remember :)

When you and the girls get back home, you’ll have all of your photos to re-live the night and remember how much fun you guys all had going out. Or, if it is for a bachelorette party, the bride-to-be will have photos to always remember this night out :) TextClues can help make this a night to always remember, so try it out today and you won’t regret it!