Fun Summer Activities for Kids: Design a Treasure Hunt

Mysterious clues, secret hiding places, and a special treasure at the end make for a great summer activity for kids. Best of all, they will be able to use their creativity to make a big puzzle to stump their friends and siblings. Children can either work solo to design a treasure hunt or work in teams, which is especially good if you have younger children who would love to be involved but can't do the project on their own.

Design a Treasure Hunt: Gather Supplies

The first task when designing a treasure hunt is to gather preliminary supplies. Of course this can be continued throughout the process as well, but to begin, your children will need to find an item to serve as the treasure at the end, and a number of pieces of paper to write the clues on.

Design a Treasure Hunt: Pick a Hunting Area

Next, they will need to define the limits on the area where the treasure and clues can be hidden. This can range anywhere from one room to your entire house and yard. If your children are making two treasure hunts and don't want to accidentally see where things are being hidden, one team could work outside, and the other inside.

Design a Treasure Hunt: Work Backwards

The theory behind the activity of designing a treasure hunt is that you first hide the big treasure, and then write a clue that will reveal where the big treasure can be found. Then you hide that clue and write another clue that tells where to find the first clue. This can continue for as long as you want, and generally a satisfying treasure hunt will have at least four or five clues. The last clue you write is not hidden, but is instead given to the person (or team) who will be going on the hunt for treasure.

Design a Treasure Hunt: Tips to Write the Clues

There are a number of methods for writing clues, which can range anywhere from the obvious to the obscure. For younger children, the clue could be as simple as "look in the cookie jar," whereas older children will want to get a little creative. Clues can involve poems and riddles, or even simple puzzles and codes. One idea is to scramble each of the words of the clue so that "look under the sink" would read "oklo drune het knis" and the treasure hunter would have to figure out how to read the clue.

Design a Treasure Hunt: Go Treasure Hunting

Probably the best part of making a treasure hunt is watching somebody carry out your hunt and find the treasure at the end. This can be an activity for the whole family, with each child or team getting the chance to be the treasure hunter, and everybody else tagging along to see how it goes. Make sure all the people who are not the treasure hunters don't give any hints unless the treasure hunter is really stuck and asks for help!