Scavenger hunts in Rome to make the city fun, interactive and interesting for kids! Find, on this page, free Rome scavenger hunt printables, self guided and live guide city tour with scavenger hunt in Rome. No matter what budget you are working with, I am sure you’ll find the perfect one for your family!
I have always loved exploring cities with my kids and the best tool I have found to keep them engaged as we explore are scavenger hunts.
My two children, and my daughter in particular, love scavenger hunts.
I noticed having a cute printed sheet with things to find has more than once sparked excitement for a museum visit or sightseeing expedition, setting the right energy and mood for the day.
Once out, she likes to have a little task to complete and that satisfaction of being ‘on a mission’ tends to keep her walking a lot longer than if just having them along for a stroll.
My daughter was notorious for her constant refrain ‘I don’t want to walk!’ (Non voglio camminare) so, as you can imagine, something that help keeping her moving was important to us!
The scavenger tasks really worked for her. So much so, that I call my scavenger hunts ‘walking prompts’!
Especially in a city like Rome, where walking is basically a full time activities, walking prompts are basically my secret weapon for family outings!
In Rome, there are several ways to get the kids involved in scavenger hunts: some free, some requiring a bit of a higher budget.
In this article, I share all my best scavenger hunts in Rome for kids. I hope you love them and find one that is perfect for your family!
Please note: this post contains affiliate links (one, to the Mostra di Leonardo hunt). Should you make a purchase through it, I might make a small commission. I only recommend services I have personally used and enjoyed with my kids.
Budget friendly scavenger hunts for kids in Rome by Mama Loves Rome (me!)
I am a Rome mama, so when it came to scavenger hunts for kids in Rome, of course the first person I turned to was myself!
I have two children and I have always loved exploring Rome with them. With this aim, I made for them some scavenger hunts that we could use in the center and in some of the main sites.
I like to use them instead of tours, for those sites that we have already visited or that I feel comfortable visiting based on my own knowledge (I am from Rome and a Roman history graduate from the University of Rome, so I have the right background!).
I have made many scavenger hunts and I am delighted to be able to gift some of them to you!
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The following Rome printable scavenger hunts for kids come with free printable sheets you can download at the following links + scavenger hunt keys on this website which are basically fact cards with what you and your kids may enjoy learning about each item.
You can print the scavenger hunt sheets in color for your kids to use, while the keys/fact cards are on this website (this is what allows me to give them for free, thank you for reading!)
Need to know! The printables are on Dropbox – when you click on the link, you do not need to sign up or pay for anything, just go on download file.
- Colosseum Scavenger hunt for toddlers printable
- Colosseum with toddlers tips for parents (due to the age this is aimed for, there are no fact cards for this one; instead, I have a lot of tips for parents, so you can plan your visit at best!
- Trastevere Neighborhood scavenger hunt printable
- Trastevere Neighborhood scavenger hunt keys/fact cards
- Animal Statues in Rome scavenger hunt for kids printable
- Animal Statues in Rome scavenger hunt for kids keys/fact cards
New! Our scavenger hunts are now on Etsy! Check out our shop with Rome Bingo Sheets, Rome neighborhoods scavenger hunts, Colosseum Scavenger and kids booklet and more! Find them HERE
Budget Rome scavenger hunt and e-guide
The hunts above are free and require to check this site to access the key and fact cards.
However, there is another way to access all of them all in one place and without using data for the fact cards: getting my Rome with kids ebook!
My ebook is available on Amazon for less than 5$ and includes several printable scavenger hunts by area (as well as tons of tips for parents including family friendly restaurants, changing areas and more).
I have prepared them for stretches I know you are going to cover on foot and have items you find that will help you get from A to B with kids and also teach them about Rome along the way.
To give you an example of how they differ from the free ones, the guides in the book cover areas such as ‘From the Pantheon to the Trevi Fountain’. They basically work as a hunt, an e-guide and an itinerary all in one!
You can get my books on Amazon here >>> Best of Rome with kids, practical travel guide guide for parents (with printables)
Self Guided Rome Treasure Hunt with Mostra di Leonardo (mid-range/ high budget)
If you prefer a more elaborate type of hunt you can also involve older kids and become a family game, I highly recommend the self guided treasure hunt by Museo Mostra di Leonardo.
Then museum hosts a permanent exhibition about Leonardo da Vinci’s machines and since it is right in Rome city center, it came up with the brilliant idea of creating a treasure hunt that starts and ends at the museum (and includes it), yet also helps you discover the city.
At the start of the hunt, you get an iPad which is loaded with a very comprehensive, interactive map of Rome. On it, you find marked a large amount of spots, each of them with a button you can click and that reveals a fact and a question.
You can pick the spots you want, meaning the hunt leaves you complete freedom to explore parts of the center you wish to see the most, and you can choose what questions to try answer and which ones to skip, for instance if some are too hard for small kids or requite entry somewhere with a long line. You always have other questions to choose from, you will not run out!
The questions are multiple choice, things to find, tasks such as ‘take a photo posing in the same fashion as the statue xyz you are in front of’ (see photo below!) so they are fun for all ages.
The hunt has a cost as the tech development behind it is impressive. Depending on how many in your group, this can be a mid-range or expensive option. >>> Check prices here (booking essential as they only have a limited number of iPads)
Guided scavenger hunt tour of Rome (mi-range/ high budget)
If budget allows, you can also take a guided scavenger hunt tour of Rome city center. The one we love is by a company called ‘Mariaclaudia Tours’ (named after the founder and creator of the tours, Mariaclaudia).
This tour this is a fantastic private or semi private tour for children age 6 to 11. Younger kids can tag along, however, since the tour is a way to teach the kids about Rome, kids younger than 6 usually do not get too much out of it and Mariaclaudia herself recommends against it.
The upper age of 11 is not as strict and teens who enjoy this type of activity can still get a lot of out it.
The tour leads you around popular areas of the center such as Trevi Fountain and Piazza Navona and it done as a scavenger hunt and a kids vs parents game. Fabulous! You can reach out to Mariaclaudia directly on Facebook, tell her Marta from MamaLovesRome sent you. She is on https://facebook.com/mariaclaudiatours
You can read here >>> our full review of our tour with Mariaclaudia
I hope you enjoyed these resources and found the perfect Rome scavenger hunt for you and your family. Safe travels!