The Brookline Scavenger Hunt

A competition against joylessness! Foster curiosity. Explore Brookline.

How to Play

Rules: Do it whenever, at your leisure, with any size group you wish. It's untimed and no sweat!

The Reward: For each category that you complete, you will win a unique-in-the-world token (specifically designed for this hunt by Caroline Barnes of BrooklineTurkeys.com with a hole for a necklace string). Finish all four to become a Brookline Legend!

How to Submit: Send photos, videos, or links to a shared folder to [email protected] that show proof of what you've done and discovered. We are "easy-breezy" judges—we just want to see you capture the spirit of the clue!

Get a Printable Copy: Download it here!

Image source: https://buildingsofnewengland.com/2025/12/06/brookline-public-library-1910/

📍 Places

  1. Take pictures of the Boston Skyline from 3 different locations in Brookline (as in: at least a quarter mile apart from each other).
  2. Find the location of these three words: bond.grant.herb. (Hint: 'What three words'?)
  3. Visit every public Brookline elementary school and pose as their mascot.
  4. Find the final resting place of Mary Boyleston (b. 1648).
  5. Find the Brookline "path" with the most steps, and take a team photo at the top.
  6. Find where Bach's Toccata in C was performed on Feb 16, 1900. Get a team picture there.
Image source: https://www.brooklinema.gov/1408/Brookline-Reservoir-Park

🌳 Nature

  1. Identify and photograph these trees: American Sycamore, Linden, and Cypress.
  2. Find a 2-foot square patch with 5 different species visible at once, and document them.
  3. Get a picture of yourselves with a live turkey in the background. (Keep a safe distance!)
  4. Document the entire length of the Emerald Necklace within town limits.
  5. Paint or draw a still-life of vegetables from Allandale Farm.
Image source: https://brookline.news/photos-brookline-day-fills-harvard-street-with-crowds-and-fun/

👥 People

  1. Find a Brookline resident with a team member's first name and the last name Schwartz, Johnson, Patel, Rivera, or Lee. Give them a small gift!
  2. Spell a word using human bodies on a grassy field.
  3. Bring a baked treat to the members of the Brookline Select Board.
  4. Conduct a 2-question survey, ask it of at least 20 local folks, and chart the results.
  5. Introduce yourself to a Barista, Construction Worker, Crossing Guard, Librarian, Spiritual Leader, and a Puppeteer. Ask each of them to give you a recommendation (on any topic)!
Image source: https://www.brooklinema.gov/3818/Lets-Dance-Brookline

🎨 Activities & Things

  1. Play a game of The Mind at Knight Moves with one of the staff. (Mention the Scavenger Hunt, and they won't charge you the game fee.)
  2. Build a model of Brookline architecture using food.
  3. Create a 1-minute audio-visual piece of art (choreographed video, stop-motion clip, multi-track song) about something related to Brookline (historical fact, place, person, personal Brookline story, etc).
  4. The "Fusion Recipe": Combine one or more ingredients found at each of Paris Creperie and Mike's Deli into a new home-cooked dish.
  5. Make a three-story human pyramid in front of a town building.

🏆 The Hall of Fame

These intrepid explorers have defeated joylessness and claimed their tokens: