Virtual Museum Scavenger Hunt

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Locate specific cultural artifacts within online museum exhibits using visual search and coordinated team navigation.

Use it when: Use during remote or distributed sessions when the group needs an active, exploratory cooperative task using web browsers.

Skip it when: Skip if participants lack dependable internet access, dual screens, or basic familiarity with window navigation.

Group arrangement: Teams of 2 to 4 participants working in parallel breakout rooms.

Timing: UWT suggested 30-minute running time; source lists an open race format.

Materials and tools

• One computer per participant with internet access and a web browser
• Prepared copies of the Museum Scavenger Hunt Checklist template as shared online documents or slide decks (one per team)
• Direct URL links to publicly accessible virtual museum collections or tours
• Screenshot tool or screen-capture shortcut on participant computers

Before participants arrive

1. Verify that the chosen museum virtual tours load correctly without paid logins or plugins.
2. Duplicate the scavenger hunt checklist template into individual shared documents for each breakout team.
3. Test permissions so participants can view and paste images into their team document.
4. Have links ready to paste into the main meeting chat.

Say this to open

Today we are running a virtual museum scavenger hunt. You will work in small teams to explore an online museum exhibit and locate a list of visual items. When you find an item that matches a prompt, take a screenshot and paste it into your team checklist. You will have fifteen minutes to locate as many as you can.

How to run it

1. Form teams and explain rules 4 minutes

   Say the opening script. Place participants into teams of 2 to 4. Post links to the museum tour and team-specific checklist documents directly into the main meeting chat. Ask teams to decide on roles before searching, suggesting options such as one person sharing their screen while others guide, or everyone searching independently while one coordinator pastes screenshots.

2. Explore and document artifacts 15 minutes

   Open breakout rooms and start the fifteen-minute timer. Teams navigate the online tour, locate matching items, take screenshots, and paste them beside the corresponding prompt on their checklist. Teams stop searching when the timer ends or when all eight items are found.

3. Verify submissions and score 6 minutes

   Bring all participants back to the main room. Open each team's shared document on screen. Spend up to one minute per team doing a quick verification scan across their eight items to confirm valid screenshot evidence. Award one point per verified prompt match.

4. Debrief and compare finds 5 minutes

   Invite two or three volunteer teams to highlight one unusual or surprising artifact they encountered. Facilitate a brief discussion using one or two debrief questions.

Debrief questions

• Which item was hardest to track down, and how did your team locate it?
• What unexpected artwork or detail caught your attention during the search?
• How did your team coordinate searching to cover ground quickly?

Finished output: Completed digital checklists containing screenshot evidence of matched museum artifacts.

Remote

Run via video meeting breakout rooms. The facilitator drops the museum link and team document links into the meeting chat. Teams navigate the online museum URL in their breakouts, capture screenshots, and paste them into their shared team file before returning to the main room.

Hybrid

In-person attendees pair with remote colleagues on laptops, or in-person pairs share one laptop while remote pairs collaborate in virtual breakout rooms. All teams submit evidence to identical shared online checklists.

Access and participation choices

• Participants who prefer not to navigate fast 3D virtual spaces can serve as the checklist coordinator, pasting images and tracking prompts.
• Participants may choose to observe silently without speaking or operating controls by letting their team know in chat.
• If screenshot pasting is difficult, participants may type the artwork title, gallery room, and artist name instead of an image.

If the session gets stuck

A 3D virtual tour crashes or loads slowly on older computers.

Switch that team to the museum's static 2D online collection database or search catalog.

Team members struggle to paste screenshots into the shared document.

Allow them to type the exact artwork title and artist name into the checklist row instead of an image.

Terms used here

• Virtual Tour: A browser-based interactive exhibition or 360-degree digital walkthrough of physical museum galleries.