A Scavenger Hunt Birthday Party

Planning a birthday party for a 13 year old can be a challenging task at best. In our household we plan a treasure hunt for the 13th Birthday party. My younger kids look forward to this as they watch their older siblings have treasure hunts.

I have my birthday person draw up a guest list and give them a choice of themes for the party. Some of our favorites have included Renaissance Festival, pirate, or some such theme.

After deciding on the theme the invitations are drawn up and delivered to the attendees. The invitations might be in a scroll form or a treasure map form depending on the theme of the birthday party. The guests are invited to dress up in the appropriate attire for the theme. The birthday party is then in the planning process. I gather my advisors (my older kids and husband) and we plan out a treasure hunt for the birthday party.

At the beginning of the party, the birthday person is given one clue on a piece of paper. The clue is always in a riddle form such as “a tisket a tasket a basket in a basket” which leads them to, what else, a stack of baskets. We have used license plate numbers, addresses, cross streets and other creative ideas for our clues. The entire entourage of birthday party attendees then assist the birthday person in the search for the next clue. Some of the clues might require them to go to a certain address and sing a song, whereby the person answering the door will give them the next clue. Another idea might require them to do a good deed at a local food bank or shelter. Whatever the clue, they won’t get the next one until they comply with all of the requirements for the clue. To keep it fun we vary the requirements and make some of them very simple, such as going to a specific address and “asking for a lemon”. When the person gives them the lemon it comes with a clue attached. This works great if you are planning lemonade at the party, by the way. You could plan out all of the food this way if you like.

Since the person is turning 13 it is only appropriate to have 13 clues. Each clue is plotted out carefully and will lead the birthday party attendees throughout the neighborhood. My neighbors enjoy the fun of being in on the plan too. The second to the last clue leads back to our house. I usually use our address and have a silly question they must ask me. The last clue leads to the birthday person’s major gift.

By this time the birthday party attendees are somewhat tired and much easier to control. We then have cake and ice cream and open gifts. The kids go home with a new experience and often ask their parents to give them a treasure hunt for their next party. I have had more than one phone call from a parent asking me for ways to create a treasure hunt birthday party.