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Author Topic:   Scavenger Hunts
T
Knowflake

Posts: 1341
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Registered: Apr 2009

posted October 07, 2009 09:09 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for T     Edit/Delete Message
I'm interested in hearing your experiences with these. I'm in the middle of constructing an extensive scavenger/Treasure hunt for an 8 yr old (he just turned 8 last week) and thought maybe your experiences would help with some new ideas. He recently expressed to me that he's not quite sure there's a such thing as a real Santa, but I think he could still get into this one of these.

A couple of years ago I made one for a six yr old while he was at school and it was a lot of fun (for the both of us). Now I wish I had taken more time with it like I'm doing with this one. That one was simple & spur of the moment, using maps spread out all around his yard with clues and a small dollar store "treasures" at each location. At the end of the hunt was a wooden treasure chest we had painted together a few weeks prior filled with goodies. He loved pirates and we dressed up as them and armed ourselves with swords and bags before we went. I took some paper and burnt the edges of it and rolled them up and tied each one with string. This time I also stained the paper to give it a more realistic old world look. This hunt will involve us getting in my car and driving to a park with hiking trails up the road at one point, which i will go to tomorrow before he comes home to place some of the maps in (hopefully no one sees me doing this ). One of the clues will involve a rhyme about a mirror and hopefully he will figure out that the cryptic-looking clue can only be deciphered by holding the piece of paper up to one (or hopefully I write it in a way that it is hard to read unless you do it that way).

If anyone has ever done something like this or has any ideas or has a story to tell about a scavenger hunt theyve been on, i'd be interested in hearing about it. This isnt exactly a scavenger hunt, more of a treasure hunt, but I'd like to incorperate a bit of that into this to spice it up and make it more fun. I'd like this to take a few hours and for him to be able to get into it or get excited about it and have to really think about the clues in order to solve them.

Thanks!

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T
Knowflake

Posts: 1341
From:
Registered: Apr 2009

posted October 07, 2009 09:45 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for T     Edit/Delete Message
When I meet him at the bus stop tomorrow, I will have a sealed envelope that a mysterious pirate-looking-like man delivered to the door asking me to give to him. And in case he doesnt believe me, I am printing out a picture of a "pirate" (man dressed up as one for halloween) to prove it to him, only because I figured he might be skeptical about it.

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T
Knowflake

Posts: 1341
From:
Registered: Apr 2009

posted October 07, 2009 10:01 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for T     Edit/Delete Message
A few days ago, instead of boringly making him an afterschool snack while he plopped in front of the TV, I decided to play the waitress role (of which I am oh so familliar with) and came up to him with an introduction as if he were a king, read him our specials of the day and welcomed him to our restaurant and took his order. It wasnt too long before he really got into it and started ordering more courses and helped me make up a dessert menu, then had me come back and present it to him. I wrote him up a check and asked him if he would be paying with cash or credit tonight, he said he wasnt sure, then came up to me a little while later with a hand drawn check he made out. I accepted it, even though he only payed for the exact amount and didnt leave a tip.

Good times.

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T
Knowflake

Posts: 1341
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Registered: Apr 2009

posted October 07, 2009 10:15 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for T     Edit/Delete Message
Okay, this can turn into a thread in which we share fun stories we've had with the children in our own lives.

In the meantime i've found these links with some great ideas:
http://kids.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Treasure_Hunt_for_Kids

http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/html/scavenger_hunt.html

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-an-Amazing-Treasure-Hunt-for-Kids

Those of you with young ones might be interested in them.

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jane
Knowflake

Posts: 181
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Registered: Jul 2009

posted October 07, 2009 11:04 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for jane     Edit/Delete Message
Oh, T. I have nothing to contribute, but what you have planned sounds like much fun.

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T
Knowflake

Posts: 1341
From:
Registered: Apr 2009

posted October 08, 2009 03:35 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for T     Edit/Delete Message
Jane , it should be! His father is in on it now too - helping me formulate the plans, which may be getting a little too complicated. lol! His Virgo Sun happens to exactly conjunct my Moon - details, details, details. He's very creative himself and also has some great ideas for hiding spots etc, that I wouldnt have thought or knew of. We are now at the point were we've decided to break the hunt up over two days so he can be a part of it when he gets home from work early on Fri (his idea).

I wouldve loved for someone to do this for me when I was a kid.

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PeaceAngel
Knowflake

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Registered: Apr 2009

posted October 08, 2009 06:03 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for PeaceAngel     Edit/Delete Message
I've never been on one either. It has that fantastical element to it. Would be so much fun.

It sounds awesome T.

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cpn_edgar_winner
Knowflake

Posts: 1628
From: Toledo, OH
Registered: Apr 2009

posted October 08, 2009 06:38 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for cpn_edgar_winner     Edit/Delete Message
you are without a doubt the coolest nanny in the world!

don't forget to food color pasta and make art with him when the weather is crap!!! remember doing those? cheap fun craft!

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PeaceAngel
Knowflake

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posted October 08, 2009 06:39 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for PeaceAngel     Edit/Delete Message
We've done that at school with the kids - they love it, cpn.

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T
Knowflake

Posts: 1341
From:
Registered: Apr 2009

posted October 08, 2009 07:40 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for T     Edit/Delete Message
Hey ladies! Yeah, we had a lot of fun. Great idea cpn!

Day one, mission one, was successfully completed. I changed a couple of things I had planned on doing last night. He got his surprise mission out of the mailbox, i thought that would be more believable. It went off w/o a hitch and took a couple of hours to complete. He kept saying "I want to know who is behind all this!!" and had a list of suspects (all except for me. as i gave him reason not to think it was) and gave me reasons why they could be behind it. We eventually drove down the the park with the trails as instructed and he was convinced the mastermind was somewhere in the woods hiding and following us, so we hid out for awhile with a pair of binoculars hoping to catch the guy. On our way to the trails there was a small rainbow in the clouds, right above our destination that was still there on our way home. That made everything a little more magical and mysterious. While he was nearby searching for clues in the woods, I was hiding them on him. T'was a fun day.

Magical Mushrooms on which a clue later appeared.

Pic of the rainbow taken with my camera phone. Not the greatest quality, it was much prettier in person.

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jane
Knowflake

Posts: 181
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Registered: Jul 2009

posted October 13, 2009 11:34 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for jane     Edit/Delete Message
quote:
He kept saying "I want to know who is behind all this!!"

He's adorable. And a rainbow! C'mon. That's just too much beauty in one day, T. Really, you make me sick. Have you no sense of restraint?

You listed your Virgo influence, but don't forget that Leo Mars of yours. Your kind is gifted at whipping up entertaining shenanigans.

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T
Knowflake

Posts: 1341
From:
Registered: Apr 2009

posted October 13, 2009 11:57 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for T     Edit/Delete Message
quote:
Really, you make me sick. Have you no sense of restraint?

Sorry, not really or not usually (Mars square Uranus)

He now expects a new "mission" everyday and wonders when the next one will be. He's unsure but I think he suspects it was me now. I also have to play waitress/Diner with him everyday now too (and he expects a handwritten receipt each time), which is getting a little old. :/ LOL

Been thinking about telling him our restaurant closed due to health code violations or that his waitress found a new job.

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