Other possible themes are: Disney princesses, dinosaurs, ancient Egypt, jungle, Indiana Jones, carnival, camping, fairies, mystery, current events, tv shows, videogames, etc.
Choose the number of clues according to how much time you have and how many players are participating. Try to make the clues stick to the theme of your treasure hunt. If you are making a dinosaur treasure hunt, relate each clue to a different dinosaur. An example of a riddle is, “I have a face that never frowns, hands that do not wave, no mouth but a familiar sound. I can’t walk but I move around. ” An example of clue sequence would be: Clue #1: When your hunger strikes your mood, it leads you here to get some food. (Place Clue #2 in the pantry. ) Clue #2: Hooray, you’ve made it to number two. To get to number three, put these on before your shoe. (Place Clue #3 in the sock drawer. )
Prizes can include candy, pencils, toys, coins, light-up necklaces, glow sticks, sports tickets, or more lavish prizes like a vacation . If you design your own box, you can ask other players to help you decorate it. You may also skip using a single treasure chest and use individual prize bags. For a no-frills approach, simply decorate brown paper bags and fill each with prizes.
You can get the kids to eat a snack or plant the clues while the kids are at school. Make sure that they are always supervised so you don’t risk having someone wander over to sneak a peek at you while you are hiding the clues.
Get the players to be in costume if you are doing a themed treasure hunt. Make sure each player gets a chance to read a clue out loud. Also, ensure that everyone is participating and that brainstorming is fun and no one is being picked on. Don’t let a single person dictate all the answers and directions. Make sure each team works together and cooperates. Cheer them on and don’t give away answers.
For example, you could ask different departments from your office to scour the city for landmarks or have a class of second graders take pictures of certain furniture or shapes around the house. You may also choose activities, like forming a human pyramid, to take a picture of. You may make harder to get photos worth more points and make sure to give a time limit. The team with the most points at the end of the given time wins.
First team to find everything on the list wins. A list can include an old magazine, the smallest or largest fruit in the house, funny pictures, a person wearing a certain uniform (firefighter for example), or whatever else suits the age and skill of the players.
For example, the first clue may be something similar to, “walk 40 paces to the east and turn to your left and walk two paces. Climb the big log and look under the green statue for clue number two. You may also find useful maps online that can be applied to your classroom or home.
You may create two sets of clues for each team or sets of clues for each player if the group is small. This way the kids can exchange stories about what they find after the game. Make sure that everyone gets to partake in finding the treasure. Very small kids will easily become jealous or feel left out so have them be involved in finding some part of the treasure.
