Archive for the ‘Party Ideas’ Category
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
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
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
Sunday, September 16th, 2007It went great. It was a summer end employee treasure hunt party and at the end the treasure was a chest full of $1 gold coins. Each employee got part of the treasure. I had to modify the clues to make it work at my resort but it went great. The employees loved it. The only thing I would do different would be to number the clues. A couple of groups found a clue that was not the correct one. If I numbered them, they would know that it wasn’t the right clue. However, the team that actually won didn’t skip any clues so that part was kinda funny.
Darlene Downs, Idaho 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
Wednesday, September 5th, 2007It was so nice to get your email today! I have been stressing over the exact theme of my treasure hunt. I have decided to stick to the Winter Theme but need the names of the teams to not be related to Christmas. I will have four teams in lieu of six - RED, BLUE, YELLOW, & GREEN. I will still have six stations as we will have plenty of time to play. We will be in a three story cottage with four bedrooms and four baths. Main floor has kitchen, living room, dining room, and master bed/bath. Upstairs has two bedrooms and two baths. Downstairs has a family/game room w/ bedroom and bath. I thought since we would not be using the washer & dryer, I would hide the clue in the dryer. Thanks again for checking on me!
Tina Franklin, North Carolina 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
Friday, August 10th, 2007Party was last Friday, boys had a blast! I cut and paste from your scavenger lists to make a great mall hunt! Funny to see 11 year old boys looking for sale items, washing hands in sink at Bath and Body Works, getting nails painted, etc…Thanks for your help!
MariBeth Smith, Arizona USA
Tuesday, August 7th, 2007Nikki,
I purchased the Halloween game in addition to the treasure hunt. I am having a children’s Halloween party and maybe you could give me some pointers since you plan parties all the time. The agenda that I have come up with goes as follows:
Arrival 5:pm.
Upon entering the house each child will get a Halloween printed painter’s smock and flashlight.
Children will then go through the haunted house. (in the garage)
Once they come out of the haunted house they will go in to the living room which will be set up as a carnival, there will be different booths with different activities. These will include things such as, the fishing game (easier for the young kids), painting mini pumpkins and little wooden snakes, face painting, draw a pumpkin on a paper plate on your head, penny toss, we are still deciding on the others.
After they play and run around for a while visiting the different booths, getting little candies and toys to fill the pockets of their smocks.
Then it will be time to eat. (while the kids are eating, the Halloween game is being set up)
After they are done eating. The kids are split into their groups and the activity begins. They visit each station completing the activities. Once they have completed the activity they get a clue. (one of the cards from the treasure hunt game) once they have completed each station they will then fallow the clues on the cards they have received. At the end will be a treasure box hidden for each team.
The children then have the option to go though the haunted house a few times before the party ends.
I have never thrown a children’s Halloween party, so this will be fun. The ages range from 2 years to around 8 years of age. The majority of the children are between 5 and 8.
Kathryn Sepulveda, Nevada USA
Sunday, August 5th, 2007Nikki,
I was able to get several good ideas for my treasure hunt. I’m putting together a birthday party for my son and two nieces on the last weekend of January, (the 27th & 28th). My son turns 16 on the 20th, one niece turns 18 on the 23rd, and another niece turns 17 on the 26th. This party will consist mostly of teenagers, and their parents with a total group of about 35-40 people. My son and both nieces wanted to invite all their friends who have ATV’s, and play games that could involve ATV’s. We have a wooded area that consists of about 320 acres, and most attendees will be staying and camping on Saturday night. The treasure hunt seemed like a good idea.
Since most everyone participating will be riding an ATV, I wanted to limit the number of teams to only 3 or 4, with responsible adults leading each group. I need to emphasize that this is not a race because I don’t want anyone riding too fast and risk anyone getting injured. Also, only about 1/2 of those attending are familiar with our land. Some of those attending has never even been there before.
At this time, I’m thinking I will probably use GPS coordinates to direct each team from one location to the other. On our property, we have a small pond, we have 4 access gates (chain link), an old cabin with an old outhouse, and several deer hunting stands that would all make for good hiding places. By the way, our party is in East Texas.
Steve Carver, Texas USA
Saturday, August 4th, 2007Hello.
I read your book yesterday. I will being doing the Scavenger Hunt some time in July. I have until then to get it together. I am doing it for an age group of 12-17 both boys and girls. There should be approximately 6 girls and 6 boys. If invite another group it could potentially be more. For two years I had a neighborhood girls ministry. We use to do all kinds of things. That has been over for about 2 years. Recently I had a bible study for 12 year old boys in my home. That’s been over for a month or so. Both groups have asked me to have ’something’ for them this summer. They miss me, ahhhh. ha ha just kidding - they like being entertained. Anyway, both were bible study type deals in the past. The hunt doesn’t have to do with the bible BUT I am sending them a paper with some short scripture fill in the blanks…that will be their ticket to come to the hunt. I’m thinking about having it in our downtown area - we live a small community. We can be at the park and they will have access to the city building, library, post office, tennis courts, river front, businesses, restaurants, etc… They can work for a while - break for lunch - and go again. I think it will be the boys against the girls. I have a lot of ideas running through my head. I’m going to need to go back through your book and write things down this time. I still need to think about what they have to do, why, what the prizes are etc… Lots to do yet.
Thanks for taking the time to help.
Michelle Green, Kentucky USA
Wednesday, August 1st, 2007Nikki -
We are planning a Scavenger Hunt Party for a bunch of 8th grade girls (14yrs old). 10-20 girls. The area will be around our neighborhood. We were thinking about having the girls take digital pictures of the things they need to find, or tasks they need to perform. Then setting up slide show of the pictures when they get back, so they can all have a laugh. Thanks.
Rich Russell, USA
Tuesday, July 31st, 2007Nikki,
The pirate treasure hunt was great. The kids had a lot of fun. The only thing I changed is I had the kids put their colored bandannas on first so everyone would know what color they were. I also replaced the gold earrings with tattoos at that station. The winning team really got into digging up the treasure. It was great to see girls really get into the game. Thanks for everything!!
Catherine Ferguson, Utah USA
Sunday, July 29th, 2007Hi Nikki,
Yes we are planning a secret agent party for our ten year old boy, Matthew.
We plan to set up the stations as ‘training grounds’ with tasks of mental, physical, disguise, agility, teamwork and code breakers. We will be using our yard and house as the playing area. We have a dark little room downstairs where we are planning to set up a ‘laser grid’ for them to master and then get to one of the activities (which will be set up under a single light :).
We will have about 10 boys all together who are pretty bright and agile so we are trying to come up with some good puzzles, etc… We are having trouble thinking of a teamwork challenge but otherwise, we have supplies for the spy disguises (mustache, dark glasses, spy hats, fake ids, etc..) and we will use the walking on a line activity in conjunction with our physical training (ie, obstacle course, which includes low crawl, jumping rope, push ups, etc…). We are excited about all of it–my husband is helping me think up some ideas too.
I was thinking of wrapping chocolate bars in gold paper to look like gold bricks to put in the ’safe’. All of your ideas were a great jumping-off point to go with our theme. Thanks so much for the boost’
Kim Lloyd, Illinois USA
Tuesday, July 17th, 2007I had my husband’s 35th birthday party yesterday, a surprise scavenger hunt that was unbelievably successful! I had three teams set up, and I made it so that each team had to have my husband with them to complete certain selected tasks (which were typically different for each team). I traveled with my husband as he kept getting cell phone calls to run off and meet this team or that team, so I got to interact with every team pretty extensively during the hunt. I have never seen so many people having such a good time and laughing so much in my entire life. As the organizer, it was the best feeling in the world! One guest wrote an email and said: ‘I wanted to tell you what a FABULOUS time we had yesterday. It was, in my humble opinion, the perfect party. Thanks again for everything. You really, truly outdid yourself.’
From your tools, I combined suggestions and sample items from the photo hunt, the hunt at the mall, and the hunt downtown. I think the teams had the most fun (and got the funniest pictures) from these items:
- Convince a downtown bartender to invent an original drink in honor of Jason. Write down the ingredients, and get a picture of Jason sipping the drink with your team.
- Photograph at least 2 members of your team playing Dance Dance Revolution.
- Photograph one team member dipping a bare toe in the canal.
- Photograph at least 3 members of your team posing in front of Victory Field as if they were playing baseball.
- Photograph a member of your team jumping up in the air in the place where creativity blossoms. (This was the Arts Garden. They really got into jumping high for the shot while trying not to distract the people listening to the classical pianist inside!)
I also had a funny misunderstanding. I gave four points if you could get your whole team into pictures in these three situations 1) with a stroller; 2) with a clock that read 2:45; and 3) with a couple who have been together less than 2 years. One team thought you had to have all three at once (my fault), so they nabbed a father with a stroller, ran into a clock store, borrowed a clock and set it for 2:45, had the hands of the clock fall off in the process, bribed the father not to leave, got another clock, set that, and grabbed a young couple. They definitely won the prize for ‘best story’!
I am attaching a few pictures. Thanks for making yourself available and providing great tools, which not only gave me good ideas but boosted my confidence in the process. All the adults had so much fun that my son is now demanding a scavenger hunt birthday party for kids on his upcoming birthday.
Best regards
Ann D’Angelo, Indiana USA
Saturday, July 14th, 2007Thanks for all the emails and help. I am interested in your help and ideas. Our event is an annual event (which if all goes well I would like to make the scavenger hunt an annual part of it).
The name of our event is called ‘Livin, Lovin, Luau’. It is a luau for Dads and kids ages 0-6 years. We host it at our local YMCA. We are confined to one large gym. My idea was to have all the dad/kid teams who wanted to participate follow a series of clues that would lead them from one station to another throughout the room. Some of the stations or games that we will have are: Play dough station, Coconut Bowling, Crazy Totem Poles, Fish craft, Infant Island (area for small child and infants to explore), coloring station, Photo station (we always take a picture of each child/ren with their dad to take home), Pin the Tail on the fish, Ring toss, Snack area, Fish Flying, Limbo, Shave your dad, Fishing game, Reading area, Pin the Banana on the tree, Hanging Monkeys.
I am sure I can come up with a great hunt. The last item would be at the area where the dad fills out an evaluation of the event and the child gets a special treat bag of goodies. Thanks
Cori Laux, Wisconsin USA
Friday, July 13th, 2007I appreciate your service.
I had a New Year’s Eve treasure hunt with about 50 young adults from church. Good times! It was a success! I tweaked the hunt so that it was ‘global’, so the teams were traveling to different world countries, and the challenges ranged from a basketball free-throw challenge (Lithuania) to a suduko challenge (Japan) to creating an encouraging note for our missionary friend in Africa (Tanzania).
An interesting thing happened at the end…one of the more enterprising guys figured out where the treasure map was hidden without having all the clue pieces (i.e., his team hadn’t completed the last task, but he still figured out the clue). Thank goodness for the combination code…it saved me from having to make up rules on the spot. He couldn’t take the map without having the combination code. As it turned out, another team won instead!
We had a good time…thank you for sharing your organizational skills with all of us!
PS: If I get some photos, I’ll email them to you
Christine Brackett, California USA
Monday, July 9th, 2007Nikki,
We are having a St. Patrick’s day theme. March 17th, they will be searching for ?the pot of gold?. I have purchased a black pot from Hobby Lobby and filled with candy with hopes of the children sharing (age 9).
I wrapped the candy in the top with gold wrapping paper to resemble gold. We have all the stations taken care of. The teams and stations all fit around St Patrick?s day. I now need to get the clue and the treasure map done. We have a huge back yard fenced and that is where we are planning to have the entire treasure hunt. I was just going to set stations up around the back yard.
My husband has said that he was going to put the treasure map around some bricks in the back yard. Also the pot of gold will be in the shed in the back yard. (my husband has built a shelf over the door and that is where the pot of gold will be! This is the first treasure hunt, and I will be planning another one (Easter) three weeks later for my 11 year old
Jennifer Hatcher, Alabama USA
Saturday, July 7th, 2007Nikki:
Have purchased your guide, and am I’m planning the treasure hunt for this weekend. Details are below.
Number of children: 8
Ages: Mostly 5-6 year old boys, plus 2 3-year old girls (who won’t probably participate as much as just ‘run with the pack’)
Theme: Lewis & Clark/Exploring (it’s my son’s 6-year birthday party and he’s very ‘into’ Lewis & Clark at present). He is also a big fan of treasure hunt-type TV programs, e.g. The Amazing Race and Treasure Hunters.
Location: We have a very large garden (>1 acre) on a hill so there are plenty of places to hide things. It’s fairly ‘woody’ (lots of trees) around the house, so I thought to bury the treasure in one of the more woody sections, with the clues hidden more in the garden proper.
Ideas: It’s not a big group so I’m not sure it makes much sense to do teams. Rather I thought (in keeping with the Lewis & Clark theme) the boys could be a band of explorers, and they all have to work together to solve the puzzles, find the clues, and locate the treasure.
What with the size of the garden and the hilly locale, the game could be pretty tiring. I’m thinking about 6 clues total - does that sound about right? Basically this is the basic plan:
* hide a series of ‘artifacts’ around the garden in the form of foreign coins or similar items. (This is stolen from the ‘Treasure Hunters’ TV show.) When the team finds the artifact, they can turn it in to me for their next clue.
The ‘artifacts’ would be hidden at locations that lend themselves to clues - for example, ‘I’m white and curvy and used to live in the sea’ (seashell), ‘Where the birds go to eat’ (bird feeder), etc.
* when each artifact is found, the team gets a clue to the next artifact, and a piece of the treasure map. At a couple of points in the game, the team has to either solve a puzzle or complete a task in order to get the next clue. Ideally, the tasks would be ones where the whole team could participate simultaneously (for example, the picking-up-peas game) and then once any one person (or perhaps two people?) have completed the task, then the entire team gets to move on. Other ideas I have in this genre would be kicking a soccer ball into a goal from a distance.
Thanks for your help!
Howard Sewell, Washington USA
Friday, July 6th, 2007Hello,
I recently ordered both the treasure hunt and pirate package from you. The material I received helped because this Treasure hunt is for 25 of my two sons close friends ages 12-14, which means the hunt is in a 3 mile area around our neighborhood and the clues (15 in all) need to be challenging.
I drew out 4 maps ( with burned edges !) giving the familiar landmarks different names, i.e… a church is renamed The Holy Ground, the firehouse is named The House of Hose and Ax, a big clay mound located near a baseball field is called Blood Mt…. The teams will have different colored bandannas and each team member will be giving a title and responsibility during the hunt.( I want this to be a team building experience) so..
The Captain holds and read the map, The Scholar is read all the clues out loud and hold on to them, the Pathfinder holds and uses the compass for the team, the Musician plays and holds an instrument (a plastic
flute) when called upon, the 1st Mate?s job is to make sure all rules are followed and to keep the team together.. etc…
Coming up with the clues was very time consuming because I wanted them to be challenging and to rhyme. (The first clue for one of the teams is ‘Proceed SW as swift as you can, till thou is standing on sacred land. Get close to the bronze statue made up of three, then search for a clue below the knees’ ) Also, the clues couldn’t be the same because each team?s path is different and I had to make sure that the distance traveled was fair (there are hills), as well as having them come from a different direction towards the ‘treasure’, and I walked each path myself.
The treasure is a real wooden chest, a size of a bread box, filled with play jewels and candy. It will be hidden near a bank of rocks under some foliage.
I’m excited for The Hunt to begin and I hope everything goes as planned!! If this turns out to be a big hit among the kids, I might start my own business planning treasure hunts!
Thanks,
Lisa, Alabama USA
Friday, July 6th, 2007I’m still working on the details. I have 12 9-10 year old girls coming to a birthday party. We are going to have the presents ’stolen’ while they are eating dinner and the teams have to work to find the gifts. I’m working on coming up with 6 or so different things they must solve to get a piece of the final clue.
Michael Cox, Illinois USA