Archive for the ‘Treasure Hunt Party Game’ Category
Wednesday, July 11th, 2007Hi
We had the treasure hunt party last Saturday. The kids all loved it!!!!
Also - I think that once you plan the first one, they should all be a lot easier in the future now that we know what we’re doing.
Thanks for the ideas!
Pamela Gamble, Wisconsin USA
Wednesday, July 11th, 2007Yes, indeed, our Treasure Hunt was successful and fun.
We had about 10 children ages 4 to 14. The event was a neighborhood block party. I broke them into two teams and started them in different spots of the hunt. They only were to pick up the clue for their color team. I’m attaching the list of clues that I used. It seemed hard enough and yet easy enough so as to not frustrate. Both teams found a clue and a puzzle piece put in a plastic bag at each spot. For the puzzle I glued two pages together–one side was a picture of a pirate and the other was the final clue to where the treasure map was hidden. I then cut that into puzzle pieces that I put with each clue. They were to put the picture puzzle of the pirate together then turn it over to read the clue to the treasure map. The final clue or treasure map I typed in several different fonts and printed it large. There were about 10 pages that I taped together and rolled it into a scroll. It took them to their treasure of candy and necklaces and gold chocolate coins. I will attach the final clue/ treasure map as well.
It certainly entertained the children and had them running all over the neighborhood. Both teams completed the hunt
Mary Ann Anderson, Illinois USA
Tuesday, July 10th, 2007I am planning a surprise 16th birthday party with a pirate theme for my daughter. The pirate treasure hunt will take place in a park in Yucaipa, CA. The party is for girls around my daughter’s age. I have planned a treasure hunt around the park, enlisted some helpers and plan to ‘bury’ the treasure in a painted styrofoam chest filled with gifts from the .99 cent store under some bushes. We will begin by kidnapping my daughter from a local ice cream shop and proceed to the park for the treasure hunt. I think it will be great fun and I hope the girls will dress up in pirate garb. If not, I have some props for them. I’ll let you know how it went after Friday.
RobAnne Burns, California USA
Tuesday, July 10th, 2007Hi Nikki,
It was a GREAT party!! We live in the bush, we had 2 teams of boys going to 6 stations to get the map to find the treasure….the theme was a dress as someone from a Medieval Castle…so it was the Shields and Spears….albeit we weren’t encouraging high competitiveness….swimming in the dam followed…
After the last ones left we were dancing the dance of joy, delight and exhilaration….a couple of boys came back to say it was the best party they had ever been too.
Thanks for spreading your expertise which in turn is spreading joy in the world.
Regards,
Belinda Gross, Victoria Australia
Monday, July 9th, 2007Yes, I’m working on setting up the Treasure Hunt. Have read it through twice and am making lists of things to do and items to buy, and understanding how to begin the game and follow through.
The party will be in Fairview Park (a suburb of Cleveland), Ohio, on Saturday, December 9, 2006 in my home.
The special occasion is the 43rd Annual Donahue Family Party- for immediate family only: parent, 5 children, spouses, and grandchildren. There will be a total of 22 people. The age range is 10 years to 70. There are 7 teenagers, 12 adults, 3 children. The theme of the party is ‘Memories.’ The theme will be played out with old photos, funny family experiences, music and penny candy from the eras of the attendees.
The party consists of cocktails and appetizers, followed by games, dinner, gifts, more games, and sometimes entertainment. Last year we had a juggler/magician. This year I think the Treasure Hunt, Mystery game, and a couple of other games will be enough.
I am still working on clues and challenges. I think I understand how the game works but will email you if I have a problem. Sounds like it will be fun.
Thank you for your email
Julie Donahue, Ohio 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
Sunday, July 8th, 2007Hi Nikki:
We had a fantastic time. Our Pirate themed treasure hunt party was a ‘treasure!’ The hunt was superb and the tools that you provided made it easy to customize to our group. The children loved it! I appreciate that you kept checking with us to make sure things were progressing well as we planned the event.
Again thanks!
Youth Pastor, Bonsack United Methodist Church
Tim Burns, Virginia 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
Saturday, July 7th, 2007I just downloaded the info and skimmed it - will seriously read it all today and start planning my party. I give lots of different types of parties, mostly for my family. We have had our own Survivor and Amazing Race parties, and others.
I plan to have the treasure hunt on Jan 22 for my husband’s 58th birthday. We live in Hawaii - have a 2 acre property at Mokuleia which is on the north shore of Oahu. The age range of my gang is 2-68…a real challenge for team games.
I will be happy to send you details of our hunt, if you wish, once we’ve done it. We have a very competitive and enthusiastic game playing family! Thanks for sharing your expertise with us!
Aloha,
Ibby Jenkins, Hawaii
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
Thursday, July 5th, 2007I am planning a picnic for our church group, and it will be over 100 people there. We are having it at a local park and will have access to it only 1 hr before people will start arriving. The park is a large grass area with a shelter in the middle.
Calvin Hairston,
Thursday, July 5th, 2007Hi Nikki,
I am just getting started on planning the pirate themed treasure hunt for my sons 6th birthday party. I appreciate all your email and hope it goes smoothly. We will be doing it in a park with different color pirate teams depending on how many kids are coming. I am changing the tasks a little bit. Also instead of burying the treasure we are going to have a hanging treasure box pi?ata in a secret location at the end of the hunt. I am in the process of collecting all the materials and need to decide where the treasure will be hiding so I can work on drawing a treasure map. I cant decide if the 6 clues are going to be actual pieces of a puzzle showing the place the map is hiding or 6 cards with riddles so they can solve them and put all clues together to find location of map. This is a lot of fun for me too! This is the activity for the party so I hope it will keep them busy for an entire hour. I will keep you posted!
Nomi Gilbert, New Jersey USA
Wednesday, July 4th, 2007Nikki,
Thank you for checking on me. I was really reluctant to agree to the treasure hunt, but after getting your manual, I am getting excited.
I have an idea where I am going to bury the treasure and have decided to prepare 6 individual treasure chests and these will be buried in a bigger treasure chest.
I purchased a disposable ice chest and will spray paint it black, brown or gold, not sure yet on the color. I bought the smallest one available because it had a rope attached to it and I wanted to make sure it is not too heavy for the kids to pull it up.
I will fill each treasure chest up stuff for the winners and place them all staked on top of each other in the ice chest. I will then place filled individual goodie bags on top of the treasure chests that the winners get to ’share’ their spoils with others. The individual bags will contain coins, gems, etc and a thanks for participating note.
I have read your instructions several times and think I have a good handle on it and feel pretty good about what I need to do to make it successful.
I haven’t told my children that I’ve planned this for their party because if I tell them anything in advance, they will ask day and night millions of questions and will not allow me a moments peace.
Angel Epps, California USA
Wednesday, July 4th, 2007Dear Nikki,
Just wanted to let you know we used your treasure hunt at a party yesterday and it was a big hit. There were twenty ten year olds and we put them in five teams which was great. It all went well and it really was enjoyed. Your pack was great and I was happy with the product and would do it again.
Thanks,
Monica Eskin, New York USA
Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007Hello Nikki,
It’s taken awhile for me to respond, but my daughter reminded me of it today so I thought I should reply before I forgot again.
I had my treasure hunt for my 10 year old daughter?s birthday. It was a bit unorganized but hey I had to work the morning of the party. We had 17 kids over. My husband was uneasy about how we were going to keep them all entertained and having fun for 5 hours.
It was great! I scattered the stations all over the place. Finding the treasure map was the best. My husband hid it in a bird house. It took them like 10 minutes to clue in. They ran around it who knows how many times. The next best thing was the actual location of the treasure chest. Instead of burying it we strung it up in a tree. Of course, no one thought of looking up. It was right in the middle of all the action throughout the whole hunt. We were laughing. It was a blast.
This party took place middle of July. On this past Monday, one of kids mentions to my daughter that that was the most fun at a party. Now the other kids want treasure hunts too. Next year it will be even better since we had the trial run and it went over amazing. Thanks for your help.
Doris
Doris Traeger, Ontario Canada
Sunday, July 1st, 2007Well Nikki,
I had 6 ’stations’ and adults at each one, and we had a challenge at each station. (eat a donut that was hanging from a limb by a string, blindfolded and after being spun around, answer at least 80% of some tricky questions, get the cherry out of a cream pie without using your hands, 2 stations were Halloween scary where you just had to be brave enough to get your color-coded flag with the next clue attached and get out of there! And the final station where after solving the clue you knew that the next clue was under a chair, only to find out there were A LOT more then just a few chairs to look under!
The party was a great success (or so the kids & their parents say). Some of the kids are already asking for it to be an annual event. If I do the hunt again I will give myself even more planning time and make the teams smaller (I had 8 in each). I also will add some kind of ‘playing field’ map to START with, as some of the teams made it too hard by reading more into the clues and looking too far and wide. The Instant hunt was actually the most helpful, with the planning guide filling in some details. I will say your customer service dept has the world’s fastest response time.
Thanks,
Sandra Wellman, North Carolina USA
Sunday, July 1st, 2007I haven’t had time to read the book yet. Was hoping it wasn’t an on-line book, but…
We have a TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) group with 50 people. This is held outside on a large lawn. In case of rain, it is held in a large…huge garage. So teams are not a problem.
I’ll be in touch when we move on, but won’t review until after the weekend.
Thank you for asking.
Shelley Chorney, Maine USA
Saturday, June 30th, 2007Nikki ~ Just so you know it was 10 through 14 year olds that we had this for and since there were (4) birthdays in the group of cousins we spent a little more time to make every team a winner.
It was in Granbury, Texas, September. It was birthday celebrations for a set of 10 year old twins, a 13 year old niece and a 14 year old niece. Everyone was there - 8 years old through Grandparent
We combined the Treasure Hunt with a scavenger hunt and skill/speed competition, I have to tell you the kids had a ball. Thanks for everything it worked out great!!!!
Erin Linney, Texas USA
Friday, June 29th, 2007Nikki,
The Treasure Hunt was a smashing success -thanks. We took most of your ideas and changed them a little to go with our group (we still did the 6 stations but made one station food related [they had to make a pirate delicacy from foods that were on the table without labels - crushed up Oreos looked like dirt, etc.]). They also had to name the delicacy, write out the recipe and 1/2 of the team had to take a bite in front of the First Mate!
We also decided to have 6 different treasures (one for each team so the game didn’t end when the first team found their treasure). The 6 clues lead all the teams to the same location for the treasure Map but each Treasure Map had a different team’s name. So, they had to locate their team’s map which lead them to their own treasure. The teams didn’t know this so they were quite surprised when they found loot at different locations.
Thanks so much!!
Judith Block, California USA
Thursday, June 28th, 2007Nikki,
It is Sunday and we are recuperating from the Halloween Party we hosted for our 10 year old son. The boys loved the treasure hunt! Thank you.
I had the boys eat and drink gross looking candy ( a bug, blood and vomit). I also bought 2 paint guns (they are manual and without CO2 or battery) and had them shoot at a skeleton that I painted on a piece of plywood (very easy). I am considering an adult party next year. Any advice? Thank you,
Patty Lamp, Illinois USA
Wednesday, June 27th, 2007Hello,
I did receive the party planner as well as the Halloween pack and the pirate pack as I wasn’t sure which one I would do. After a vote from all the adult chaperone’s, the pirate theme won out. We are planning the party in MI on Oct 28th. It will be a Halloween party for my son and his friends from middle school. The age range will be from about 8 (siblings of his friends) to about 15. We usually get about 25-30 kids each year so they expect us to top last years spectacle. Its gets harder each year as they get older and don’t fall for ‘kiddie games’ anymore.
I have read the books thru and we are keeping few of the games suggested (scavenger hunt, flag creation and walking the plank). We are just adding ‘features’ to each of those three to slow them down a bit. Then I created 3 other games to replace the ones in the book that I know they wont like or will do so fast that they will be doubling up at the ports. So in an effort to not overwhelm my lovely adult volunteers, I need to keep them at each station for about the same time. The three new games should keep all ports on the same time scale (at least I hope it will).
Thanks for the great ideas, they got me going in the right direction. Overall I hope it goes over well.
Lisa Marten, Michigan USA
Tuesday, June 26th, 2007Hi Nikki,
Treasure Hunt was a hit, thanks. We had five stations that were in our back yard, front yard, neighbours and out in the kids hide-out in the bush behind our house. They had to do a basketball challenge, measure the driveway (28m), a crossword challenge, word unscramble and a balancing challenge.
Instead of having a competition to be first to find the treasure, we had two teams and one had to solve the riddle to find a map that lead them to the treasure, the other team had to solve their riddle to find a map that lead them to the key that unlocked the treasure. This way there was no losers and no unhappy party goers.
The treasure and the key (which was in an old gumboot) were hidden in the bush behind our house. (Not just one bush, I mean bushland, sorry, I used Aussie term).
When they had the treasure and the key they met in the hide-out to open the treasure. The treasure was filled with fake pearl necklaces, fake gold necklaces, glass stones (they were meant to be diamonds) and gold coins (chocolate filled).
Thanks again
Tania Keenan, NSW Australia
Monday, June 25th, 2007Hi Nikki,
I just wanted to let you know that we had our Pirate Party this past Saturday and had 160 in attendance. We followed your suggestion of only having the 6 stations, making sure to have enough room and supplies for two teams to be at any given port at one time. Because of the size of our party and the broad range of age groups from 4 to 15, we slightly modified the activities at some of the ports, and the party went splendidly following your schedule. Each color team had an arm or headband in their team color and the team carried a team flag which we affixed to 5-ft sticks (so if anyone had to take a break to go to the bathroom they could easily find their team flag when they came back into the room.)
As each guest arrived we gave them their arm/headband based on the child’s age, then sent them to the tattoo parlor for a fake tattoo. We had a professional photographer ready to take individual photos, then fed them a nautical lunch of fish sticks, macaroni and cheese, and tator tots, following by dirt cups (choc pudding with crushed Oreo on top and a gummy worm stuck in) and also pirate cookies. Once everyone finished eating, our team leaders held their flags high in the air so all of the participants could find their team and then the fun began.
We gave out a puzzle piece at each port once the team completed each activity, and once they finished all, they put their puzzle together. The little ones’ puzzle gave a simple clue to directly go to find their treasure. The older kids puzzle was the first clue in a series of clues that led to their treasure. We had a different treasure location for each color team.
The feedback on Monday at work was unbelievable. Everyone had a fantastic time. The parents loved it too and still say ‘ARRRRR’ to me every time they pass me at work. Parents said the kids were thrilled with their treasure bags and most did not want to take off their pirate outfits when they got home. Our next party will be a Halloween party in October. I don’t know how we are going to top this one!
Our photographer took over 300 pictures at the party and we get them back tomorrow. I can’t wait!
A million thanks!
Judy McEvoy, New York USA
Monday, June 25th, 2007I used your treasure hunt game for my son’s 12th birthday party. We were doing a haunted Luau theme and I used the Hawaiian Islands as the places that they had to visit. It was great. The program to customize the hunt worked great and was very easy to use. I had about 15 kids that were doing the hunt. They had a really good time. I was having a little trouble trying to come up with a treasure but a friend suggested lottery tickets.
The kids went nuts over them. I had three sets of three lottery tickets tied together for the team that figured out the location and dug it up. But I also had single tickets in the box so that everyone got one. It was a great party game for that age group. I was really pleased with the product.
I am planning on using the Halloween games bonus that I got for my son’s Halloween party at school. Thanks.
Kathy Stover, West Virginia USA