A Crafty Treasure Hunt
The seasons come and go bringing with them an overabundance of crafty things to do with little fingers. Easter hails the chocolaty goodness of Easter egg making and palm cross origami, Halloween screams for spooky, ghostly crafts and Christmas is all about making the perfect angel for the top of the tree. (Or a Santa out of a clothes hanger like I did when I was five and my mother still hangs in her house for my five year old to admire.) Children love having things to do to keep them busy and out of mischief and to that end here is a crafty treasure hunt idea inspired by Maggy and Red Ted Art.
- Choose a theme, Christmas, princesses, pirates, Disney characters, vintage cute; any theme works. The seasons can influence the sort of treasure hunt you do, a Christmas hunt would be great for a rainy winter’s day and an Easter egg hunt would be wonderful at Easter.
- Make a set of treasure stamps using the technique in the easy wrapping paper post. This needs to be done before the hunt and would make a great morning activity or, if the hunt is for a party it would be a great thing to do with your children the day before. Make the stamps as treasure-like as you can and have some washable gold and silver paints for dunking. Hide these stamps in their hiding places just before the hunt starts.
- When the hunt is about to begin give each child their own “treasure chest”, a small notepad or note card in which they can “collect” the treasure during the hunt. The children can then move through the house solving clues and finding the treasure stamps as they go. They can stamp these into their “treasure chests”.
- Gather the children and give them their first clue to set them off. If you stick to the house and garden you can leave clues in each room and theme the clues to lead them to the next room; for example, “look for the big white ship that contains the sea” could suggest the bathroom. You could float small boats in the bath and leave the treasure somewhere in the bathroom with the next clue. For smaller children something like “Rub a dub dub, where is the duck in the tub?” would work well.
- The last clue could send them to the party tea where they can feast and refuel and perhaps be rewarded with as many chocolate coins as they have ‘collected’ in their “treasure chests”. These coins could be added to their party bag with their book to take home and enjoy.
Children just adore a little mystery and intrigue, little mini Sherlocks will definitely love the reward afterwards.
If you want to host a big, bright and fun treasure hunt but you don’t have the space, The Big Domain has a huge selection of party houses with large gardens and grounds. The grown-ups can enjoy their own gathering after the children have been tucked up in bed with some treasure of their own.
Kelly Quance
writes for The Big Domain but has two little Sherlocks of her own who insist on making, sticking, drawing and covering themselves in glitter on a daily basis. Thank goodness for Red Ted Art!