Mother's Day Games and Activities - Mother's Day Treasure Hunt

This might sound really corny, but a treasure hunt on Mother's Day is always great fun! It is a great way of bringing the family together, and the kids just love the secrecy of hiding objects/ pictures/pressies etc and 'helping' Mom find them!

The Treasure Hunt needs a bit of preparation in advance. The children and supervising adult must first decide what sort of treasure they are going to hide, and also to ensure that Mom finds it. The treasure needn't be expensive either. A pledge from a child like 'I will clean the bathroom for a week/month/year' means more to Mom than just about anything!!'

Ideas for Treasure

Ideas for 'treasure' could include:

1. Mother's day cards and pictures drawn by the children

2. Photographs of the children and their mom

3. Audio tapes/ cds of the kids reading poetry or telling a story.

4. A bunch of flowers/or a plant

5. Jewelry made by the kids - or the real thing!

6. Chocolates - cos all Moms love chocolate

7. Vouchers for e.g. hairdos beauty treatments, book/garden/cinema vouchers.

8. Pledges made by the kids - like 'I will do the dishes every day for a week,' or, even harder, 'I will keep my bedroom tidy!'

9. Vouchers for babysitting - so that Mom and Dad can have a night off.

Its best to get the kids to draw pictures/ write poems and stories a couple of days in advance. Then the night before Mother's Day, get all the family together, send Mom out for the evening, and start plotting and planning how and where to hide your collection of treasure.

Nominate one responsible person to write down where each item of treasure is to be hidden. Just in case anything gets missed! Then get the kids to write out the clues on pieces of colored paper.

Clues could be by rhyme, e.g. in the kitchen, near a chair is something special for your hair...... or clues could be written to make Mom laugh - e.g. hidden in the messiest room in the house, in the bit that never gets cleaned...... or 'where I sometimes hide my sandwiches'......

It's best to make one card for each clue. On Mother's Day you can either give all cards to mom at once or give her a card only when she has found the last item!

Then hide the items in the special hiding spots. Make sure that the supervising adult has a record of all the hiding places. Then make sure that all the children get to bed early so that they have a good night's sleep before Mother's Day. Cos you don't want kranky kids!!!

Next morning, on Mother's Day, give Mom breakfast in bed. Put all the clues for her Treasure Hunt on her breakfast tray. Then wait for the fun to begin!