Kids Treasure Hunt Clues

Are you looking for great treasure hunt clues for kids? All children from preschoolers to teenagers love to go on treasure hunts. With fall about to end, it is time to set your kids outside to play in the last few days of nice weather and sending them on a treasure hunt is a great way to accomplish this.

If you are going to set up a treasure hunt, first you need to decide whether your treasure hunt will be themed or not. If you are doing a pirate hunt, a Halloween hunt, an autumn hunt etc. This will help you narrow down the treasure hunt clues that you will need to give. If your children are little and have not learned to read yet, you may consider making a treasure hunt out of pictures instead of words. 

Once you have decided on a theme, then you will need to decide if your treasure hunt will be outdoors or indoors? Will it be only in your yard, or will it take your kids around the neighborhood? Will your treasure hunt be long or short? Once you have answered these important questions, then it is time to decide what your children will be finding. (You will have to pick the treasure!!) Any item in the house can be exciting treasure. From grandma’s costume jewelry to their favorite snack in the fridge, treasure for your treasure hunt can be found everywhere.  When you are setting up kids treasure hunt clues, remember to use these tips to help you:

1. Always use clues that are not too easy, nor too hard for your child. If your treasure hunt clues are impossible to answer, your child will get frustrated early on and give up on the game all together. Use age appropriate clues whenever possible and pictures if necessary.
2. Make up clues that allow your child to learn something worthwhile. While it is nice to use “Sponge Bob Square ____” as a clue for your child…it is much better to use homework problems or history lessons whenever possible. For example… The famous Boston ____ Party was in 1773. ( This clue would of course be answered with Tea and your child would run to the cupboard to find the next clue placed on the front of a tea box.)
3. Once you have written clues, file them away for future children or swap them with a friend for hours of treasure hunting fun.
4. Email some of your friends who have kids and ask that everyone write a treasure hunt and share them with the group. That way you might get 10-15 treasure hunts complete with clues and you only have to write one!
5. Make the treasure hunts challenging, but don’t make them last all day ( unless your kids are teenagers). Small children often have small attention spans no matter how fun the activity is!

Once you have written your kids treasure hunt clues and sent your children off on their Hunt, prepare a special snack and drink for your eager explorers to devour when their game is done. If treasure hunts are getting boring, try changing them into scavenger hunts. A scavenger hunt is just as easy to write as a treasure hunt, only your child will be bringing you all the objects you ask for, so don’t forget to make those objects light and easy to carry. My favorite scavenger hunt is an outdoor backyard scavenger hunt that requires kids to bring home leaves, sticks of certain legnths, worms, etc.

Kids treasure hunts can be a great way to entertain your child, get them outside to play and have them learning their homework ALL at the same time. If you have any treasure hunts or scavenger hunts of your own…share them with us! Happy Hunting