Ever since I was a little girl my Grandma would do treasure hunts at our family reunions. She would cleverly plan and prepare them. Often times the hunt was more fun than the treasure. Since then she has passed this tradition onto me.
A birthday party is a lot of fun, but a treasure hunt can make it even more fun. There are so many ways you can do one and they can be adapted for many age groups.
The first thing to do is to decide what you want to hide. I usually hide the goody bags from the party. Your goody bags should reflect the ages and gender of the children present. Also if you have a theme, keep that in mind too.
After the goody bags have been filled and a hiding place has been selected, it’s time to plan the treasure hunt.
There are several different ways to plan a treasure hunt. The first and easiest way is to draw animal prints or footprints, cut them out and make them into a trail the children can follow. This is a good type of treasure hunt for a preschool party. I did this when my daughter turned two and used Blue’s pawprints from Blue’s Clues.
Another idea is to draw a map of your house or yard with directions to the treasure. For added fun with this type of treasure hunt you can cut up the map into puzzle pieces and hide them so the children have to find them. After they put the puzzle together the map will lead them to the treasure. This is a great treasure hunt to do for a Pirate Party.
A treasure hunt with clues is a lot of fun. The clues can be as simple as one word to lead to the next clue or as complex as a riddle to lead them to the next clue. This one is good for older children and is my children’s favorite type of treasure hunt.
Another cool idea is to set up activity tables where the children have to do something before following the next clue. The activities can be as simple as run in place or jump up and down five times, to a craft or game. This will spice up your treasure hunt and make it more active for the children. With this type of treasure hunt you can incorporate many different party games into the hunt, making finding the treasure all that more enjoyable in the end.
So next time you plan your child’s Birthday party remember that a treasure hunt is a good way to make a party fun.
Not only will your child’s friends take home a goody bag from your party, but will also take home many memories of their fun time. A treasure hunt is a perfect end to any party.
