Max and the Missing Colors

Chief Gallery Explorer Max

A sneaky color-thief has scattered the museum’s brightest clues across MoMA, and the trail is hiding in plain sight. Max is the only explorer bold enough to map the secret before the colors vanish into the galleries forever. Chief Gallery Explorer Max, find the clues, solve the mystery, and bring the missing story back together.

0 / 38 pts

0 of 14 challenges completed

Bonus Find or Do

Quick wins for easy checkoffs before the main story challenges. Each one is worth 1 point.

First Clues

Deep Gallery Hunt

Secret Unlocked

1.
Challenge 1 of 14: Find a sculpture outside that looks like it could cast the biggest shadow. Count how many big open spaces you can see through it.MoMA’s Sculpture Garden is a real outdoor art space in the middle of Manhattan.
2.
Challenge 2 of 14: Find the artwork with the swirly night sky. Point to the brightest swirl and tell a grown-up what it reminds you of.Van Gogh painted tiny marks that can look like moving light when you stand back.
3.
Challenge 3 of 14: Find the soup cans and compare two of them. Which one looks the most different from the others?Warhol repeated ordinary objects to make them feel surprising and new.
4.
Challenge 4 of 14: Find the chess set. Predict which piece is easiest to spot first, then check if you were right.Man Ray made chess pieces that turn a game into sculpture.
5.
Challenge 5 of 14: Stand near the big mural and watch for 10 seconds. Count how many different shapes or figures you notice without moving your feet.This installation was made across several years, so it can feel like a giant picture-map.
6.
Challenge 6 of 14: Find the object that looks like it could be soft but is not. Touch the air in front of it and make your best guess about what the mystery clue is saying.Surrealist artists loved making familiar things feel strange and dreamlike.
7.
Challenge 7 of 14: Find the place where moving pictures belong. Compare this room to a gallery and name one thing that feels different right away.MoMA shows not only paintings and sculptures, but also film and media art.
8.
Challenge 8 of 14: Pick one sculpture and copy its shape with your arms for three seconds. Freeze like an art statue.Outdoor art changes depending on the weather, light, and where you stand.
9.
Challenge 9 of 14: Find the family-friendly café area and count how many chairs you can spot at one table or nearby. Then point to the busiest-looking part of the room.MoMA’s family tips mention Café 2 as a place for a lunch break.
10.
Challenge 10 of 14: Find one artwork that uses only a few colors. Predict whether it feels calm or busy, then check your feeling with your eyes.MoMA’s collection spans painting, sculpture, photography, design, film, and performance.
11.
Challenge 11 of 14: Find one artwork with lots of one color and one artwork with almost no color. Which one helps the color-thief’s trail feel closer?MoMA’s collection has almost 200,000 works, so one visit only reveals a tiny piece of it.
12.
Challenge 12 of 14: Walk through a few different spaces and find three kinds of art forms. Count them like this: painting, sculpture, and one more kind.MoMA’s collection includes art from many media, so the museum feels like several worlds in one building.
13.
Challenge 13 of 14: Return to the entrance area and scan the space like a detective. Find the spot that feels like the start of the whole map, then point to it as your final clue.An entrance plaza is the perfect place for a mission to begin and end.
14.
Challenge 14 of 14: Solve the mystery by pointing to the place where the missing color story was hiding all along. Say out loud which part of MoMA felt like the heart of the adventure.The Sculpture Garden often works like the museum’s open-air secret room.

Bonus Find or Do

Starry Night
Campbell’s Soup
Chess pieces
Museum Store
Café 2
Art Lab
Film room
Gallery 501
Tiny label
Pose like a statue
Copy the swirl
Family art photo
Soft sculpture selfie
Spot the smallest frame
Big art grin

Chief Gallery Explorer Max, you and Max solved the missing-color mystery and mapped the secret trail from the first clue to the heart of MoMA. You found the hidden story, followed it across the museum, and brought the colors back home.

Open this hunt:

https://familyscavengerhunt.com/hunt/2xm7noTJcpgp

Always follow venue rules, stay with your group, and skip any challenge that doesn't feel safe or appropriate.