How to Plan a Treasure Hunt

Treasure hunts are a great activity that can be planned for kids two years and up and it doesn’t matter if you have a small group or a large group it is always lots of fun.  There is no one way that a treasure hunt works and the more creative you are when planning yours the more fun it will be for everybody.

The steps to planning a great treasure hunt;

Know your audience.  The first and most important step when planning your party is to know your audience and plan around it.  Some factors that should be taken in to consideration when planning your treasure hunt is age, gender, appropriate loot and any potential food allergies.

The age of the children is an important factor when planning a successful treasure hunt.  This is not a one size fits all activity.  If you are going to provide clues for children too young to read you should draw simple pictures.  Another very simple option is to bury small toys in a large sandbox and have kids dig to find their “treasure”

Plan your treasure hunt for a set time limit. This is particularly true with young children who have short attention spans, the older the children the longer the game can last.  It doesn’t matter how fun your treasure hunt are the truth is that kids can get bored.

Choose a location. When choosing a location set boundaries and parameters for kid’s safety and to help them find their clues, treasure hunts should always be supervised by an adult or teen.

    ·       2-4 years old- should be in a house or familiar environment

    ·       5-8 years old- plan your treasure hunt inside your house and out

    ·       9-12 years old- your treasure hunt can be planned at a local playground or mall, you can allow kids more freedom just be sure they are safe at all times.

Plan your treasure hunt around your theme.  For example, if you are hosting a princess party, have kids go looking for Cinderella’s shoe. For a cooking party you can have kids find all the things they need to make their surprise.

Use a variety of clues for older children.  There are four types of clues you can choose from;

     ·       Hunt long clues- clues don’t provide a location but should be found en route

     ·       Navigation clues- clues move players around from one   location to the next

     ·       Location clues- things to be found at each location.  Example; find letters to spell a word such as “gold”, “chest” etc.  Riddles and objects also work great.

     ·       Leave your mark- kids must prove that they made it to each clue; this eliminates any chance of cheating or skipping a step.  Kid’s can leave their clue from a previous location or leave a picture.

Do you want to incorporate games in to your treasure hunt? Relay races and obstacle courses are always fun to include.

More Helpful Tips for Planning Your Treasure Hunt

·       General rule of thumb- the number of clues you use should be decided on the age of the children, one clue for each year.  For example, at 5 years old 5 clues.

·       If you are planning your treasure hunt for a large group of kids you should consider dividing them in to teams

·       Competition can be fun for older kids, have teams race one another to finish the hunt first. Note: competition is only appropriate for older kids, 9 years and up, young kids don’t understand the nature and feelings will get hurt.

·       Clues should be easy to identify, plastic Easter eggs work great, they are easy to see and protect the clues from any damage.

·       You can make secret codes by marking on paper with a crayon that will not show up, give each team a highlighter to color over the code to see it.

·       Plan your clues in reverse order starting from the “treasure”.

·       Award each child equally