A (photo) treasure hunt for an animal lover!

Pine Tree

If you have a beloved family pet, this easy treasure hunt is for you!

Simply photograph your dog (or cat, horse, bird, etc.) near a few recognizable landmarks in your yard (or inside your house/apartment). 

Wood Pile

Sad Garden

Old Barn

You can either upload/print your photographs OR use "Insert Picture" in Microsoft Word.  Put each photo on a separate page and print the pages single-sided on a color printer.

Hiding the present/clues is easy (I typically work backward).  Using my four-photo example above, let's say that I had hidden a present for my son near the old barn.  That means that I would need to plant the "Old Barn" photo in the sad garden.  I would plant the "Sad Garden" photo near the wood pile and put the "Wood Pile" photo near the pine tree.

In a perfect world, this is how it would work:

1)  I would hand my son the photo of the "Pine Tree", which will lead him to the first location...
2)  At the pine tree, he will find the photo for the "Wood Pile".
3)  He will locate the wood pile and find the photo of the "Sad Garden".
4)  At the sad garden, he will find the photo of the "Old Barn".
5)  He will search near the old barn until he finds his present!

Somehow, I am making this sound more difficult than it is!  I typically use between 4 and 8 photos/clues depending on how much time I have to get ready.

In an upcoming post, I will show you an option to make this treasure hunt more more difficult for a teen.

If you are making a dog-specific treasure hunt like I did, I will also show you how to make a bone that is big enough to hold small prizes (or large amounts of money)!  Here is a sneak preview:

Have fun!

Games | Treasure Hunt

Paint Chip (Color Match) Scavenger Hunt

This is a fun game to have in your repertoire for

when your kids need a quick indoor or outdoor activity.

(Keep a stash of treats and/or cash on hand for prizes, too!)

When you are at any kind of store that sells paint, send them to the paint aisle to pick out six-ten random paint chips.  (Note:  If you plan to play this game outside, it is slightly easier to keep the colors in the "earth tone" range.)


I held the paint chips in my hand like a deck of cards and they took turns picking their colors.  After that, they raced around the house trying to find things that matched the colors on their paint chips. 

Because my kids chose bright colors, their prize for playing this game was a package of Skittles, so they could...

 "Taste the Rainbow of Fruit Flavors"

(Note:  If your child babysits, send this game along...it keeps little ones entertained for longer than you'd think!)

Games | Treasure Hunt

The Morse Code Treasure Hunt

Uncover hidden treasures using the power of Morse Code!  Decode the dots and dashes for a "tree-themed" treasure hunt example featuring Morse Code.

My second child was born in May and I was having trouble of thinking of something special to do.  May in Minnesota and it was freezing!  May Day - huh, no flowers in sight!  May...Day, Mayday.  S.O.S.!  Morse Code!

Using the Morse Code cheat sheet (below), I typed two messages using dots and dashes (with a "/" between words and four spaces between letters).  The clues would lead to two different trees in our yard.

I started by handing out an envelope with a printout of the cheat sheet (above) and the first clue.  Simply snip the image above, paste it into your word processing program and print it out, take a screen shot, or use a similar one from AllFreePrintable.com.  Remember I used four spaces between letters and a "/" between words.

Birthday wishes for a TREEmendous kid!

Clue #1:

Thanks to sunshine and April showers,

I'll soon bloom with pretty, pink flowers!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

After decoding the clue (TREE was an extra hint), this brought them to my flowering crab tree (which still hasn't flowered yet!).  The next clue (also written in Morse Code) was hidden here:

I was once sturdy and strong,

until oak wilt came along!

The actual birthday card was hidden here.  (We lost a fair number of trees to oak wilt that year...sad.)

STICKing with my theme, I also folded the "treasure" into a tree shape (instructions here).

I'm going to go out on a LIMB and say that this would be a fun treasure hunt for older kids (or even adults).

This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on one of these links and make a purchase, I receive a small commission on the sale at no extra cost to you. Read my full disclosure policy here.

Note:  There are some great Morse Code gift ideas on Etsy!

• To My Son Bracelet
• "Strength" Bracelet
• "Loved" Necklace

Cheers!  Karen

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

Games | Treasure Hunt

Easy Cryptogram Treasure Hunt

This is a very simple treasure hunt to create.  There are many cryptogram generators on the web, but this is one that I like:

http://kidzone.ws/puzzles/cryptogram

• Type in the hiding place of your treasure under "Build your own cryptogram".
• Click "Create"
• Click "Solution included in code table but blanks are not filled in" (this option is the easist to solve)
• Click "Build Cryptogram"

Here is an example of one that I created...

CRYPTOGRAM

A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R	S	T	U	V	W	X	Y	Z
2	11	22	8	10	13	19	7	6	3	12	4	5	26	15	24	20	14	9	1	18	25	21	17	16	23

__	__	__	__		__	__		__	__	__		__	__	__	__	__	__	__
4	15	15	12		6	26		1	7	10		5	2	6	4	11	15	17

Answer:  "Look in the mailbox"
(The prize was hidden there.)



This one is sooooooo easy, that you can use it for things that you'd be giving them anyway.

For example, the "treasure" could simply be a note that says:

"We're going to McDonalds!"

(or DisneyWorld) :-)

(Note:  At Easter, I cut up my phrase and placed the puzzle pieces inside plastic eggs.  First they had to find the eggs, then work together to solve the puzzle.)

This is an easy way to make something ordinary a little more fun...try it and let me know what you think!

Games | Treasure Hunt

The Ghost Writer Treasure Hunt

Channel your inner ghostbuster and create a fun and easy "Ghost Writer" treasure hunt for some spine-tingling Halloween fun!

For this treasure hunt, simply write a message with a sharp white crayon on a piece of white paper (press hard!).  If you sit near a bright window, you will be able to somewhat see what you are doing.

I hid a small treat (see below) and handed my kids what looked like a blank piece of paper.  They may not be able to figure out what to do next, so have fat, Crayola-type markers at the ready!  Tell them that a friendly ghost wrote them a secret message and they may need to scribble across the page to reveal it.

Note:  This also works using a white colored pencil (press hard) instead of a crayon, but it's not quite as readable.


Example:

Write some version of this message depending on where you hide your gift:

This note was written with invisible ink,

Using a ghostly color to make you think!

Now that it's solved, you'll find a reward,

Just look in the cupboard where towels are stored.

This is what the Ghost Writer brought my kids (found at Walmart, Amazon, etc.)...

Other ideas:  Ghost Peeps, Ghost Reese's, Halloween Oreos.  Be creative!

Happy Halloween!  Karen

More Halloween Fun:

• Pumpkin Gifts
• BOO-ze Gifts
• Witch Gifts
• Mummy Gifts

Games | Treasure Hunt, Holiday | Halloween

Bird's Eye View Treasure Hunt

Bird's eye view is defined as a "view from a high angle as if seen from a bird in flight".  Aha - let's turn this into a treasure hunt map!

If you are a tiny bit competitive with your partner, this is a fun treasure hunt to work on together.  I sketched what I thought was a pretty good "bird's eye view" representation of our yard.  When I showed it to my husband, he said that my "proportions" were all wrong, so he re-drew it.

His was actually better - ha!  I don't have our versions anymore, but here is an example of what your drawing could look like if  you are artistic:

Simply hide your "treasure" somewhere outside and mark an "X" on your map representing where it is.  Depending on the age of your treasure hunter, you may have to explain that this is what a bird sees when they fly over your yard.

I made a free printable with the bird and rhyme below for you to use!  Simply print it out and then draw your map on the bottom...

Flying over your house was really neat...
Then I looked down and saw a treat!

It's marked with an "X" and especially for you...
Just look at the map from a bird's point of view!

Note:  If you wanted to do this same thing inside, just draw a simple floor plan of your house and mark an "X" where the treasure is hidden.

Have fun!  Karen

Image courtesy of www.clker.com

Games | Treasure Hunt

Mall Scavenger Hunt

For a birthday surprise, I created a photo scavenger hunt at the Mall of America.  This would work equally well at any mall near you!

Note:  Go EARLY!  Most malls open even before some of the stores.  This will be a quiet time to run around the mall, with just the "walkers" for company.

What I did:  I went to the website for the Mall of America and looked at the site map with store names and locations.  I wrote a few clues for stores with easy names and mixed them up so we'd have to walk between different levels and sections (wear comfortable shoes).  On his birthday, I gave him one clue.  He had to figure out the name of the store and then walk there for a picture.  When he accomplished that, he would get an envelope with money (do you see a pattern with my kids?) and the next clue.  This is what I used:

A.    A trace of an organism from a past geologic age (such as a skeleton or leaf imprint), embedded and preserved in the earth’s crust.

B.    One of these a day, helps keep the doctor away.

C.    A person who trains athletes and calls plays in a game.

D.    You cross this to win a race.

E.    Our best family vacation was a magical experience!

F.    “A Wild Place to Shop and Eat”

G.    A place where elderly sailors might shop.

H.    A place where you can “build imagination!”

I.    Clay likes these shoes…

J.    Let’s eat!  The chicken place we went with Cindy!

Everyone had fun with this one...try it!!!

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

Games | Treasure Hunt

The Money Tree Treasure Hunt

This treasure hunt was a popular one!  When my kids were younger, I typically gave them a gift on the first and last day of school.  However by the time they were in middle school, I was running out of ideas - plus they were all about the money (money).

Since I have two kids, I simply picked out two different trees in the backyard.  After deciding how much money to give them, I just clipped it to the low hanging branches of the trees (using little binder clips from any office supply store).

When they got home from school, I brought them to the backyard and handed them each an envelope with this message inside (either handwrite it or retype it into a word processing program and print it out):

Trees grow fruit and trees grow leaves,

But money is neither one of these.

Don’t give up and you could find,

A tree full of money that’s one of a kind!

Once they figured out the clue, they ran from tree to tree until they noticed one with money in it.  They had a grand time collecting their cash!

Note: Remember how much money you put in there, because it does kind of blend in!

Fun for all ages!  This would be great for a birthday, too (even for your spouse)!

Karen

Games | Treasure Hunt