Methven Scarecrow Trail
Easter Saturday April 4 – April 19 (School Holidays)
The Methven Scarecrow Trail is a hugely popular and fun family event run in the April school holidays. It is suitable for all ages and in 2025 all generations came into their own with the 2025 theme of Heroes / Heroines and Villains (characters from children’s movies).
Every year, members of the Methven community build scarecrows to a particular theme and these scarecrows, usually around 30+ in number, are scattered around the town for families to find and try to identify the name of the character represented by the different characters. Families or small groups purchase a Trail Map/Entry form from the iHub Information Centre and there are sponsored prizes for the most correct entries and for the most popular scarecrows.
The trail is designed to be an activity that can be done easily by walking the route, with a well timed stop for lunch, within a day, but some groups prefer to spread it over several days if they can. We love seeing groups of children of all ages, often with parents and/or grandparents for added input, out walking with their maps trying to guess the correct identities of the scarecrows.
The scarecrows are all located within the town boundaries for safe walking but some young children find the distances a bit long unless they use bikes or scooters. Some groups like to walk the route in the central village and then use the car to find the more remote scarecrows if the small children (or adults) are tired.
Our makers range from the talented and artistic to the enthusiastic and willing and include business owners, families and school and preschool children.
While in Methven there are many other great activities – check out the Methven Things to Do page on the Methven NZ website for some inspiration, the great range of cafes and restaurants to keep you going, or why not try out the popular Ōpuke Thermal Pools and Spa and treat yourself to some well deserved relaxation after all that walking around the area!
2025 Methven Scarecrow Trail Images & Video
How many scarecrow characters did you get right? Check your guesses against the correct answers below.
Marking the entry forms can be an interesting exercise. We always allow for creative spelling, as long as it is clear you have identified the correct character. Some of you identified the character and named the movie, just to be sure, but it was the character we needed in order to be correct. Amazingly, 2025 was a record for the most correct answers ever. 91 of you got all the answers right.
The next best previous result was 61 correct back in 2017…
#1 – Syndrome
#2 – Manny
#3 – Zipper
#4 – Babe
#5 – Darth Mawl
#6 – Zorro
#7 – Batman
#8 – Kakamora
#9 – Mumble
#10 – Mayor Humdinger
#11 – Scar
#12 – Mrs Trunchbull
#13 – The Lorax
#14 – Power Puff Girls
#15 – Cruella
#16 – Lego Joker
#17 – Ursula
#18 – Evil Queen
#19 – Everest
#20 -Captain Underpants
#21 – Hopper
#22 – Spiderman
#23 – Mrs Incredible (Elastagirl)
#24 – Boo
#25 – Azrael
#26 – Bert
#27 – Hulk
#28 – Tin Man
#29 – Ariel
#30 Darth Vader
#31 – Marshmallow
#32 – Doc McStuffin
#33 – Gru
#34 – Catwoman
2025 winners
The overwhelming winner by a landslide this year is:
#2 – Manny by Todd Holmes. What a MAMMOTH effort haha…
The winner for the third consecutive year, Todd’s creations are getting bigger and better each year and we can’t wait to see what he comes up with next year.
WINNER – Manny made by Todd at Jackson Holmes Congratulations!
Prizewinners
1st – #2 Manny (Todd Holmes)
2nd – #13 The Lorax (Our Lady of the Snows School)
3rd – #27 – Hulk (Garage Gym)
Top Ten Awards
Manny by Todd Holmes
The Lorax by Our Lady of the Snows School
Hulk by Garage Gym
Everest by Mt Hutt Staff
Darth Maul by Lisa Bee
Tin Man by Methven Primary School
Gru by Leap Ahead
Lego Joker by Methven Primary School
Doc McStuffins by Methven Medical Centre
Azrael by Ashburton Intermediate School
Judges Special Awards
Everest (Mt Hutt)
Hopper (Hammer Hardware)
Like and follow our Facebook page to stay up to date with all the latest information for the 2026 Trail.