I need to plan a treasure hunt - any ideas?

Question

I am planning for around 8 kids, ages 9-11, for up to an hour. Prizes are chocolates/sweets. Any ideas?

Answer 1

This website is awesome - it goes step by step and gives all types of different options!

Treasure Hunt Ideas

There are many different ways to plan a treasure hunt. For younger children, an adult can hide clues in different locations.

Plan a treasure hunt with each clue leading to the location of the next clue. You can buy a set of plastic Easter eggs, but you don't need them. Just make the clues easy to identify (use orange paper).  Children as young as 2 can play this game by using pictures instead of words. (e.g. Put a picture of a bathtub in an egg.  The next clue should be in the bathtub.)  The final clue would lead to the treasure (plate of cookies, invitation to go to water slides, movie pass, lemonade).  For older children, the clues could be riddles they need to solve.  In the beginning, limit the number of clues to the age of the child ( 7year old could follow seven clues to the treasure).

Make a treasure map (or list of directions) that would lead to the treasure.

Use a single type of paper to make the letters that spell out the location of the treasure (e.g. guest bed). The kids need to find the letters, than unscramble the word to find figure out where is the treasure.

Write up a list of common objects and have the kids find every item.  If there's lots of kids, divide them into teams, and then give each team a list.

Get a roll of 100 pennies or any collection of coins.  Either hide the change around the house, or toss it on the lawn or a gravel driveway. Kids will spend lots of time making sure they've found every coin.

Hide the clues in Treasure Balls.

Make each clue a riddle with the answer being the location of the next clue.

Clues could be short poems with missing words to figure out.  

Use musical notes on a staff to spell out words.

Write the clues in code.  Create your own, or use Egyptian hieroglyphs or Mayan hieroglyphs.

Answer 2

Hmm. . . hide fake coins or little pieces of paper around the yard in little easter eggs or other small containers that says how much sweets or chocolates it's worth.

Answer 3

Under a cuddley toy,in the oven,in a cupboard,in a sock,in a shoe,in a coat pocket,

To make it more exciting leave good clues !!!

Answer 4

1. Make a theme- pirates is a popular one

2. Make teams- four kids in each- or you can just have them run around as eight kids. But for some reason I think 8 kids will get into an argument about who should read each clue.

3. Get creative- take pieces of paper and put the first one on the kitchen table or wherever the hunt begins. Make sure to label it number 1. Write on it some kind of hint like- "this is where we store the food"- or a straight out word like "pantry".

4. Clue number two should be hidden in the pantry, and should be labeled with a 2. This should continue on for a long time. As a kid I always loved long treasure hunts rather than ones that ended fast.

5. If the kids like Pirates of the Caribbean, maybe you could say the chocolate has been stolen by Captain Barbossa and Jack Sparrow needs it back...etc.

6. Also, if you decide on two teams, you need two sets of clues. One set should be blue, and the other red. Then assign each team a color so they don't read the wrong clues.

7. Whoever gets to the chocolate/sweets first wins! Of course, everyone gets candy in the end

8. Have fun! :-)

Answer 5

under a pillow

under the can opener

in a shoe

in the microwave