Gardner Village Elf Scavenger Hunt

Gardner Village is a huge themed village in West Jordan, Utah. From the end of November until December, they have a free Elf Scavenger Hunt! You print off the scavenger hunt list online at home, and then follow the instructions once you arrive at Gardner Village. If you happen to forget, the huge restaurant nearby has the instructions outside in a pile to pick up. There are over 15 different elves to locate to win a free salt water taffy!

Gardner Village is very big. It took my friends and I about an hour and a half to locate all of the elves and walk through all of the village. Most elves are outside and are pretty big and easy to spot. But, some can be hidden in little secret corners around the village so be sure to look everywhere! There are elves ice skating, on a merry go round, baking cookies, sleeping in elf sized beds, hanging up lights, hanging from the trees, skiing, playing cards, camping, playing games with each other, making food, roasting marshmallows, decorating a house, playing with toys, writing a letter to Santa, and elves skiing on the tops of houses and roofs.

As you go through the village, there are many other things to do as well. There is a cool little lighthouse to explore and walk around in. There is also a craft shop. In the craft shop, there are coloring lessons, drawing lessons, watercolor lessons, sculpting lessons, and ceramics lessons. The lessons are available at an additional cost. This shop also includes some gelato available for purchase. It is around $4 for a cup of gelato.

The sweet shop is across the village. This is the biggest candy shop I have ever seen. There are some really cool candies available for purchase. The free salt water taffies from completing the scavenger hunt are available here as well as samples of the salt water taffy. The salt water taffy puller sits in the middle of the shop and is really cool to see as it pulls and stretches the taffy. There are giant stuffed animals and a few elves who hide inbetween candies and on top of giant caramel apples. One of the coolest things at the candy shop is the goggles that allow you to see surprises when you look at Christmas lights. Be sure to find them in order to see the cool hidden objects inside Christmas lights!

There is an ancient doll shop that is cool to walk through. I really enjoyed the dancing and talking Santa machine that stands outside one of the shops. Kids can push a button and he will talk to them and do a fun little dance for everyone to see. The Mystique Dinner is found in Gardner Village. This is a really fancy dinner and show event. It includes magic shows and plays.

This was probably one of my favorite events to go to so far this year. I recommend it to anyone and for all ages. Most of it is outside, so be sure to wrap up!