Archive for the ‘Children’ Category
Thursday, October 11th, 2007Hi Nikki
Party was yesterday and thankfully was a great success. As you would expect weather very unpredictable in Ireland for Nov but we were blessed with a dry if windy day. Have taken some photos and will email them to you this week.
Thanks so much for package which I must say was very thorough. The hardest part for me was trying to contain the children (21 in total) when they arrived at party and explain how the treasure hunt worked. Your website details have been passed to several parents so hopefully you will reap the rewards. Thanks again and photos will follow.
Anne Goodwin, County Kildare Ireland
Wednesday, October 10th, 2007Dear Nikki:
I’ve downloaded the planner and at first glance, it looks like there are lots of ideas that will work for our event after I tailor them to our needs.
Every July our church puts on a camp called, ‘Summer Hummer’. Ages 4- 5 stay only half a day, and each day I need to develop a new treasure hunt because the same children repeat the activities every day.
Ages 6 to 14 stay all day and the treasure hunt will be an activity the age groups participate in once. The groups are divided up, such as: ages 6-7 is one group, ages 8-9 is another, etc. All together there will be close to 900 kids! Wow, that takes my breath away. It’s really a blast, kids have a ball and so do the counselors. About 300 counselors participate. There’s craft people, snack people, story tellers, water slides, zip lines, luge racers, all sorts of field games: soccer, races, etc.
A theme is established by a company called Gospel Lights where we purchase the course. This year’s course is ‘Sonforce Kids’. During the week we emphasize a different element of the course. Monday is Trust, based on Exodus 1-2:10: Moses: Boy in a basket.
Tuesday is Unite, based on Esther 2-8: Esther: Queen at risk. Wednesday is Train, based on Daniel 1: Daniel: Servant of God. Thursday is Follow, based on Jeremiah 36-39: Jeremiah: Prophet in trouble. Friday is Lead, based on Numbers 13-14:9: Joshua: Spy in a strange land.
The setting is on a space station full of adventure and high drama leading the children to make good decisions based on the day’s Bible stories. I’m going to attempt to fashion clues and puzzles with a space theme.
I’ll have some help during the treasure hunt itself, but it will be up to me to figure out all the details and logistics of the hunt. It should be great! Thanks for all you do, you’ve given me some confidence and the beginning of some ideas to pull this off. I’ll keep you posted.
Regards,
Patty Pynch, Washington USA
Tuesday, October 9th, 2007Dear Nikki,
Yes, we played the Instant Treasure Hunt twice with a group of 10 year olds. They were so smart that they breezed through most of the clues, but they enjoyed it!
Thanks for the fun!
Amy Paikuli, Hawaii USA
Monday, October 8th, 2007We are having our treasure hunt in Albuquerque and Corrales, New Mexico this Saturday about 1ish. It is a ‘back to school’ gathering for our 4th/5th grade class and their parents. Our theme is Knights and Castles!
Trish Nickerson, New Mexico USA
Saturday, October 6th, 2007Hi Nikki
We used the instant treasure hunt outdoors for My Daughters 8th Birthday Party - I used the 5-7year old hints and they were perfect
Thanks
Richard Rude, Connecticut USA
Friday, October 5th, 2007Hi Nikki,
The pirate treasure hunt party is long over. It was a great success. I did make some changes which I thought I would pass along to you. I had all of the girls together, divided them up into their teams and as a big group they dressed up as pirates and continued as a big group to the flag making station. So they were outfitted and had their team flags before starting the hunt. My treasure chest was a pi?ata which, after they put the puzzle together they broke open. It was a lot of fun and my neighbor asked where I got my ideas from. Thanks
Catherine Grote, Kansas USA
Thursday, October 4th, 2007Our treasure hunt is in Kansas, a birthday party with guests ranging from 4 - 14 yrs. We will be having a pirate theme
Selena Varady, Kansas USA
Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007Hi Nikki,
Thank you for your treasure hunt book. We held our treasure hunt a couple of weeks ago and it consisted of 12 groups of 10 year old children, a total of 110 kids. The treasure hunt was a culminating activity of our term’s unit ‘What is your treasure?’
We had 6 stations and made up fun challenges at each stop, the children received a piece of the last puzzle each time they successfully completed a challenge. The teams eventually ended up in the principal’s office where they found a spade and a beautifully tea-stained treasure map that directed them to a sand pit on the school property where the treasure was buried.
The winning team received the contents of the treasure chest and each participant a love heart with the words ‘Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also? Matt 21:6 with a chocolate bar attached to the back. The children absolutely loved the hunt and it was a highlight of the term. The book was so helpful in setting up the treasure hunt, which was quite complex with so many children involved. We will definitely use all of the tips again when we run the treasure unit next year.
Thank you for all of your help and your follow-up emails which ensured the day was a huge success!
Kindest regards,
Anna Payne, Queensland Australia
Sunday, September 30th, 2007Hello Nikki,
We are planning a party in Brussels, Belgium, which is where we are based although we are British and all the children are English speaking.
It is for my daughter’s 7th birthday party on 3rd July and we are expecting 14 (maybe 15) children between the ages of 6 1/2 and 7 1/2.
I have read through the book a couple of times and I think it looks good. Some of the games look at bit tricky for them, perhaps the message written backwards is too hard, but I guess we could substitute it for another.
The only real concern I have is that the children’s reading skills may not be up to it (they start reading late here - they’ve only been at it since September), so I thought I could incorporate lots of symbols to help them.
Also, does it matter if the teams are not of equal sizes? I was thinking of 2 teams of 4 members and 2 of 3 members. Will it still work?
I’d be grateful to hear any comments you have.
Best regards,
Philippa Stewart, Belgium
Saturday, September 29th, 2007Hi Nikki
It was a big hit at my son’s 7th Birthday party. It was a pirate themed b-day and I used some of the riddles and I made a treasure map that at each station had gold coins to collect and then ended at a real treasure chest that my son had ask for filled with treasures and gifts for him and his friends….he loved it and they all wanted to play again…..thanks for the help!
Jennifer Troutman, Pennsylvania USA
Friday, September 28th, 2007Hi Nikki,
We had the Halloween treasure hunt party the day after we ordered your planner. It was my son’s 12th birthday party and he complained that he didn’t want to play any games, but I didn’t want 10 children running through the house for 3 hours. Our party was held in an old convent in Pennsylvania, USA. The guests were aged from 6 to 35. We had a Halloween theme, since Shane’s birthday is October 31st. The guests had to search for Uncle’s Seymour’s Last Will & Testament.
The rooms were named Mad Scientist’s Lab, The Doomed Room, The Porthole to the End of the Universe, The Asylum, The Chamber of Horrors and The
Graveyard. We followed all your suggestions for the challenges, teaming older players with younger ones. The puzzle pieces led the players to the chapel (we have a real chapel with stained glass windows and oak pews in our home), where we had hidden the Last Will & Testament with directions to Uncle Seymour’s most treasured worldly possessions.
My two sons, my husband and I dressed in Halloween costumes and supervised the rooms. Even after one team had located the treasure, the others were having so much fun that they asked if they could complete the remaining challenges (the one with the peas seemed to be everyone’s favorite). Everyone had a great time, but what made me happiest was that my son kept thanking me the next day, telling me how much he loved me for throwing such a great party for him. Thank you for the great plans - they were well worth the money!
Gratefully,
Ildiko Mulligan, Pennsylvania USA
Thursday, September 27th, 2007Hi Nikki! Our party is this Friday. My Daughter is 11 and celebrating with 15 of her 5th grade friends. I planning on incorporating things to hunt for that represent spring, the year of 1996 (the year she was born) and March. I am not very far on my list yet!!
I am very nervous because I don’t have a full plan as of yet. Your planner was helpful but still I need to be more creative. Perhaps I am over thinking things too!!
We are planning to split the kids into groups and giving them colored t-shirts saying ‘We found a great time… or Searching for Great Time.. And we still have to figure out prizes etc.
I purchased ‘Riddle me’ but didn’t like it nearly as much as I like yours so thank you!!
I also appreciate you helping me figure out what to purchase 
I will keep you posted,
Lori
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Hi Lori
Just look through all of the many scavenger lists and choose about 15/20 items that appeal to you and work with your theme. For spring - there are several nature hunts so you can choose items from them. Obviously some coins for the year she was born - is there anything else around the neighborhood that is 11 years old?
You could also use the numbers 1996 - e.g. one clothes peg, 9 paper clips, 9 daisies and 6 balloons (or whatever item you choose).
Some fun tasks recorded by camera always go down well. Look at the task based hunts for some ideas.
As for prizes - give each team $11 to purchase an item - you state the theme - fun / pink / biggest / smallest / cutest etc. Winners get their pick of the purchased items.
I hope this helps
Best Wishes
Nikki
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I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your help. You work like I do and I love that about you. I am going to share your website with everyone!
Lori
Lori Logan, California USA
Wednesday, September 26th, 2007Hi Nikki:
Thanks for your e-mail. My ‘concept’ is to search the world for the treasure chest. Each room in the house will be a different country (with appropriate props and decorations) - China, France, Italy, United States, Africa, Egypt etc. I only have 5 children (girls- sleep over) -no helpers-I thought I would have the girls go from country to country with each girl having a clue that leads them to another piece of the map, then they put their pieces together, complete the map then follow the map to the treasure. Don’t know if I can bury it (altho I would love to). I may have the treasure chest in the exercise room (separate little cottage from the house) because they will have to leave the main house to get there - no risk of discovery prior to the completion of the map. That ‘place’ would be another exotic place - a tropical island. It may make more sense to have all the girls with the same clue running to the next country to find one piece of the map - perhaps each ha ving a different piece in each room is a bit much….
I need to find something to serve as the treasure chest (I’ve been looking). I am having small duffle bags/tote bags made with each girls name on it. They will be given the bags when they arrive. As they start the hunt they’ll carry the bags from place to place-with each discovery of a map piece (and completion of a challenge (forgot to mention the challenge at each place) they will earn a prize - little wrapped gifts that will go into their duffle bags along the way. Then the ‘treasure chest’ at the end will be filled with goodies for all to go into their individual bags. These and other prizes will make up their goodie bag take aways…I’ll hit it hard this coming weekend (the party is next weekend on the 4th).
Any advice will be most appreciated - I love your book and service - terrific and innovative.
Thanks,
Roni Agress, USA
Monday, September 24th, 2007Hi Nikki,
I have just started to go through the manual. I’m not in a hurry. I plan to do the treasure hunt somewhere between now and the end of March.
I’m planning to do the treasure for my two boys because I have 2 tickets for Disneyland and I want to give the tickets to them in a special, fun way.
They don’t know anything yet about the Disney trip. I would like to create special memories for the trip and I thought that including a treasure hunt to start with would be a good idea.
I will keep you updated on how it goes, I might have some questions for you though in the near future, I’ve never put a treasure hunt together before, but I do believe it will be a lot of fun for all of us….
Kind Regards,
Joke De Frenne, Idaho USA
Saturday, September 22nd, 2007THANK YOU so much! This is so great, exactly what I needed. My son’s 11th scavenger hunt party should be a blast.
Thanks for sending the one I had intended, I will tell others about the site.
MariBeth Smith, Arizona USA
Friday, September 21st, 2007Hi Nikki,
The treasure hunt party went great. We had about 19 kids and two 4th grade teachers participate. I could tell they really loved the idea and had a lot of fun.
thanks for your help!
Tracy Nekula, Ohio USA
Thursday, September 20th, 2007We had the scavenger hunt party this past sat. Everything went great. The kids (and adults) loved it our neighborhood was really good about letting the kids have fun and knock on their door trying to gather stuff. We had 25 11-12 yr olds show up it was a lot of fun.
Thanks,
Misty Whitlock, South Carolina USA
Monday, September 17th, 2007My daughter’s 10th b’day scavenger hunt party was yesterday and it went great. I had 42 kids at my house + put them into 6 teams. They went out w/ an adult chaperone to peoples houses to find the items. They had a blast. The book was very helpful. Thanks again!
Tammy Kaufman, Florida USA
Saturday, September 15th, 2007Mystery treasure hunt in Georgia for 7 year old’s birthday party
Sean Bates, Georgia USA
Friday, September 14th, 2007We had a great time with the treasure hunt. Our big birthday party involves my two daughters, now 2 & 6, and their dad. All birthdays within 10 days.
We had about a dozen kids into the treasure hunt - some were a bit too young. Setting up three teams with an adult to lead each one, using the same locations but different clues, it worked out really well. Instead of giving out prizes along the way, we gave them tickets for achieving goals, which were used to get prizes from the treasure chest at the finish. This eliminates the problem of ‘I don’t like this’.
We even had a ‘real’ pirate to hand them out - a friend is a member of a Pirates of the Caribbean ship. The remaining booty in the treasure chest was used for goody bags for the young guests. The kids had a great time and were ready for cake afterwards. Between the bounce house, riding a real horse (we have a friend who brought one), and the treasure hunt the kids were totally worn out.
Then it became Dad’s party, and the adults had a great time also. We did a treasure hunt for dad, and he was completely confused (we meant to do that) and had a great time.
It was wonderful that I was able to set this up with very little effort. By setting it up so that it doesn’t matter if something goes wrong, everyone wins - everyone enjoyed it. I received lots of compliments on how great the party was. I look forward to using this on other occasions, as well as when the kids are just bored.
Thanks for your efforts - which saved me from making them
Sandy Walkington, Texas USA
Wednesday, September 12th, 2007attached I have the list for the scavenger hunt. Most of the kids are 12 and 13. I thought I could come up with names for teams and have them draw them out of a hat to make the teams fair. I am going to try to get a digital camera for each team to take the 2 pictures from each list. I will have my sister come in and print the picture 8 X10 to hang up in the party.
We are planning on giving each team a walkie-talkie and a one hour time limit to roam the neighborhood.
Thank you!
Amy Evans, Texas USA
Friday, September 7th, 2007Dear Nikki,
We had a great time!! The treasure hunt took about 3 hours to set up. I had 25 children over. We used compasses and shovels. The groups of kids went from clue to clue. Some were even tied on a balloon and placed an a pond to float around. (The actual clue was in a ziplock bag tied to a balloon) Each clue had an additional piece of a ‘clue’. When each group collected all 6 pieces of their additional ‘clue’ we met at the main pirate ship (the garage, which was decorated). Each team put their 6 pieces of the ‘clue’ together (we had 6 teams so 36 pieces total). The ‘clue’ was Spongebob’s theme song. They had to sing it. The reason for the additional clues was that a Spongebob pinata actually held the real treasure map and a key to the truck the treasure was hiding in. All the kids took a swing at spongebob and finally it broke. Candy and a treasure map an key came out. They read the map and unlocked the trunk for their treasure. The party was 3 hours long.
Thanks
Chantel Prater, Indiana USA
Thursday, September 6th, 2007Flashlight/tag treasure hunt in Newport Beach, California on Jan 28. My 12 year old’s birthday party
Diane Brown, California USA
Tuesday, August 14th, 2007Nikki,
I have been working on the Treasure Hunt all week, and I’m finishing the final touches on the map tonight.
I am going to have 18 children ages 5-10 years. We are having the hunt at our farm around a creek. I will set up the stations tomorrow. I am excited about using the mummy challenge. My son wanted to have all physical challenges so I put all the younger children in a group, all the girls in a group and split the boys into two groups. I think there will be less competition within the groups. Sometimes boys tend to get too competitive. I have chosen five other physical challenges including a multilegged race, a musical water glass, an egg race, a water balloon toss, the mummy challenge, and a water race.
I am going to hide a key for each team, which will open the treasure chest with their goody bags in them.
I have enough adults for each station. I think that will help.
The rest of the party includes a hotdog cookout, a hay ride, a hike in a really cool creek with caves, frogs, and lizards, and the treasure hunt, not to mention the cake and icecream and the presents. I hope it doesn’t get dark before we’re finished.
I used many good ideas from your ebook. I copied the station names onto yellow cardstock and laminated them. We will attach them to posts which are in place already.
Thanks for the great ideas.
Sincerely,
Shelley Grellner, Oklahoma USA
Sunday, August 12th, 2007We have tried out the game for my son’s 6th birthday. It was great! We had three teams of three or four kids and one adult each. I had mixed up the clues and starting points and they all lead to the same end point — a pirate treasure trunk filled with lots of treasures! The kid’s had so much fun. Some of them were readers and had fun reading the clues for the rest of the group. The hunt went from inside the house to outside around the yard, gardens, trees, fences, flower pots, wheel barrow, etc. The Instant Treasure Hunt Game was perfect in helping me with this party activity!
THANKS!
Anna Quist, Texas USA