Kids Treasure Hunt Clues

From LoveToKnow Kids

The key to a successful treasure hunt and a good time had by all is well thought out kids treasure hunt clues.

Not Just for Pirates

Whether your party theme revolves around swashbucklers or fairy princesses, a game of treasure hunt is a good way to challenge your guests and to get them up and moving. Kids work in teams to figure out clues and follow the trail to the ultimate prize. Typically each team is given a starting clue that leads to the second clue and then the third and so on.

The kids treasure hunt clues can follow a theme, such as quoting lines from Harry Potter books may lead party goers down a merry trail of magic and fantasy. For example, “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” This quote from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban might lead to a second clue taped to the back side of a table lamp. The second clue might be "One simply siphons the excess thoughts from one's mind, pours them into the basin, and examines them at one's leisure." This quote from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire might lead to a third clue hidden beneath the bathroom sink.

The Treasure Plan

Once you decide on a theme, look at scope of the hunt. Ask yourself these questions:

Are the players old enough to look for clues outside of adult supervision, or should you plan on including an adult in each group? If the game takes children out of your immediate supervision, are there adults to go with each group, or do you have the consent of the guests' parents to allow them to go alone? For example, if you set up a treasure hunt for a ten-year-old birthday girl in a mall, requiring each team to gather a shopping bag from three specific stores and a tube of purple lipstick, some parents may feel more comfortable if an adult accompanies each group of four girls.

If the treasure hunt is limited to the home, have valuables and personal items been put away, or can the search be limited to just one or two rooms of the house? The whole concept behind a treasure hunt is to go through stuff, but no one wants a group of young children digging through a rare collection of stamps, nor would you want to find a tween boy reading your daughter's diary.

Where do you want it to end? Lay out your clues to lead kids in a circular path, beginning and ending close to the party base.

How much time do you have? Is this the main entertainment for the evening and you've got several hours to devote, or a twenty-minute activity while the cake and punch is being set up? Plan your clues accordingly.

When is enough enough? The younger the child, the shorter the attention span.

Kids' Treasure Hunt Clues Complexity

A well-planned treasure hunt should be challenging without being too frustrating. Consider the ages of the players. If the party is for a group of four-year olds who can't read yet, consider visual clues. Think of it as pirates meet Where's Waldo. Before the party, take snapshots of different items and tape them to colorful placards. Hand these out to the teams and let them look around the room or area for the items pictured. For example, you might take a picture of footstool, then the second picture clue would be taped to the side of the stool.

Older kids might enjoy a science treasure hunt in which the clues are the scientific names of local foliage. For example, the clue Bellis perennis might lead children to pick daisies in the backyard. Either leave a second clue in the flower bed or have the kids come back to you with a daisy to exchange for the next clue. Make it really interesting and provide a special prize for the first team to turn in ten treasures.

The Treasure of Team Work

A treasure hunt is a great exercise in team work, and well-thought out clues can also make it a great learning activity. Consider the occasion and the interests of your guests, then create your clues around them.

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