Archive for October, 2009
Sunday, October 18th, 2009Dear 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
Saturday, October 17th, 2009Our 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
Friday, October 16th, 2009it was a hit and I will be using it again in June and September. 
Sandy Andrew, Wisconsin, USA
Friday, October 16th, 2009Our treasure hunt was a success! Thank you! The kids had a great time. It got a little crazy once the red team told the helper they had all 6 pieces of the clue because another team was very
close. They all ran to the area where the treasure was buried and there was some heated debating about who actually won the right to dig! It was a very competitive frenzy at one point, but we got
through it! The red team dug up the treasure only to find that it was a ‘fake’ treasure full of fake money and candy! The map was in the treasure box and on the other side of their clue pieces was the code to decipher the map to find the real treasure…which was a pinata hidden in the house. Of course, all the kids received the candy from the pinata!
If I were to do anything differently, I would have made sure every kid was very clear about the rules of the game and I would have bought better toliet paper for the mummy game! The cheap rolls broke really easily and wouldn’t stay on the kids! Thank you so much for your ideas! I thought it was a great fun and different thing to do with the kids.
Kathy Fowler, New Jersey, USA
Thursday, October 15th, 2009Thanks Nikki-
This is actually the 6th one for my son who is 11 but the past have been a little on the younger side and they are ready at this age for more difficulty and I’m going to make it an hour long at my house for his pool/scavenger/manhunt party…
I have to read through your stuff and as I’m traveling up to CT for the weekend I will have more comments by Monday and maybe ask for some assistance or I will definitely let you know all the details, etc. I’m also enlisting my neighbors, using a camera, and a park behind my house…this is
more work than my real job
This was one of the best I saw, so I look forward to this~
Thanks!
Elsa Pine, Connecticut, USA
Thursday, October 15th, 2009I want to tell you about the party we gave for our grandsons. The whole evening turned out wonderful for both the kids and adults. Everyone tells us they cant wait until we have our next party.
Winnie Jones, California, USA
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009Hi Nikki,
The scavenger hunt is taking place in NYC on May 6; it is a night time activity for a corporate event during that week. Age range is 22-50’s and there are about 25-35 people participating.
The part I am still trying to figure out is if groups should just use their phone cameras to take pictures or something else. Any thoughts?
The theme is really just sight around the city - this is the list of places and the clues that I have so far. I got a few ideas from the planner and most of them are just from research. I am trying to keep it to midtown and lower manhattan and will provide subway cards for each person but I tried to keep some of the sights within walking distance of each other.
Whitney Chernoff, New York, USA
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009I want to tell you about the party we gave for our grandsons. The whole evening turned out wonderful for both the kids and adults. Everyone tells us they cant wait until we have our next party.
Winnie Jones, California, USA
Monday, October 12th, 2009Thanks so much, I really appreciate all of your prompt attention. I recommend your game to everyone!! Also, your customer service is impeccable!!
Sincerely,
Nancy Franklin, New York, USA
Sunday, October 11th, 2009Hi - We had a great party last night! We decided to have four stations with four groups of two boys (ages 11 and 12). This was for a sleepover so when the kids sat down for dinner they each had either a red, green, orange, or blue flashlight with them. Their flashlight determined the teams. Also, each team had it’s own had unique treasure maps so they would all win the same treasure eventually. Armed with the map pieces and a clue on the back, they all found their treasure of nerf guns and then spent at least an hour outside playing after the treasure hunt. The boys had a great time and the structure your documents provided for the treasure hunt was really helpful. After the boys traisped through the woods and found their treasure, one boy shouted "This is the best party ever!". I was thrilled and my son had a great time. Thanks for your help!
Alison McLaughlin, Massachusetts, USA
Saturday, October 10th, 2009Hi Nikki
We had a fantastic time! The treasure hunt went very well, in an idyllic setting on the beach here in Phuket, Thailand and kids loved it - when they found the treasure they were going crazy. Here is a link to the pics ….
The whole concept was very easy to follow - because the kids were only around 4 years old, I added pictures to each port, so they could follow the pictures to the next place, and modified some of the challenges. All of the parents said how great it was and a fabulous time was had by all. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this to anyone who wants to do something a bit different for their next party. Thanks very much for a great product!
Kind regards
Krista Hunter, Phuket, Thailand
Friday, October 9th, 2009Love the ideas even though I had a good idea of what I wanted to do before I purchased the planner. Some of your lists sparked additional ideas to fill my party out.
We are hosting my daughter’s 13th birthday party here in Beck Row, England. It will be in early February (not sure of the exact day yet). Our theme is "Scavenger Hunt" and we look forward to a great party!
Thanks,
Karen Shields, England
Thursday, October 8th, 2009Dear Nikki:
Really appreciated your style of doing business, I sure will check out the other resources you are offering, as now I owe you one 
Best wishes to you and may your business continue to prosper!
Regards,
Robert Tang, USA
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009The treasure hunt went great! All the girls dressed up in pirate garb. My daughter was totally surprised. They all enjoyed the treasure hunt part and everything worked out perfectly. Your e-book was a great guide to planning an exciting party. Thank you!
RobAnne Burns, California USA
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009Hi Nikki - this is really great….I was trying to come up with something for my husband’s birthday this weekend, so thank you very much for a terrific idea. I can’t wait for the results! He will be 39, and has never really liked birthdays or asked for any gifts in particular, so we are just going to have a cookout with some family (or so he thinks)….
Amy Benson, Ohio, USA
Monday, October 5th, 2009Hi,
The event will be at a farm with 30 high school students attending. I am thinking of combing the outside hunt with some of the digital photo ideas. I’ve enjoyed getting many ideas from this creative source.
Thanks,
Elizabeth Meyer, Montana, USA
Sunday, October 4th, 2009Nikki,
I have read through the game planner and it was helpful. I am having a 9th birthday party for my son this month and I have invited 13 other guests. It is a road rally scavenger hunt, so we will be driving around in teams. I am currently compiling the list. I’ve decided to set a time limit and have plenty of tasks that are each worth a point value. I hope this works well. I’m not sure how long to make the game, it’s difficult to judge how long it will take to drive around and do each task. The list isn’t meant to be completed. I am planning on having 3 teams of 4-5 boys each. I have purchased bandanas in 3 colors and will have the boys pick one out randomly from a bag to choose teams. We also plan on having them decorate the cars with glass paint and streamers. If the weather here in Chicago area is terrible the day of the party, we have a back-up plan to move the party to the mall. Because I am so insane, my 12 year old daughter is having her party the next ni ght and we are also doing a neighborhood scavenger hunt for that (15-18 boys and girls). Not as complicated, but we are trying to keep them occupied until the DJ arrives for a 2 hour dance party at our home. Wish me luck!
Cathy Wilson, USA
Saturday, October 3rd, 2009Hi Nikki,
We had our Treasure Hunt game yesterday & had loads of fun…… I had planned this treasure hunt for the baby shower of my sister & we had loads of fun & people really loved it….it was well planned, very simple & easy to use.
I really didn’t have lots of time to sit down & make my own treasure hunt & wasting lot of time in planning the game…..but with this game it made my life easier & the party lovelier…..
Thank you for all the help.
Heena Kapdi, Bedfordshire, UK
Friday, October 2nd, 2009Yes, it went great. Actually I’ve done several for my children and parties. It doesn’t even have to be an occasion for my kids to love it. They had a great time. It saved me so much time too. It was great fun.
Thanks
Melissa Collins, indiana, USA
Thursday, October 1st, 2009Nikki- The scavenger hunt is tonight. we are so excited. We are hosting a New Years Eve Party for our oldest daughters soccer team and their parents. Each family will be a team and will have two hours to complete the hunt through our town. The last item on the hunt requires each family to visit their favorite pizza place and bring back a large pizza to share with every one. My husband and I complied a list on 36 items that need to be gathered, made or have a picture taken of it. Most of things have to pertain to things that relate to the soccer team. I will let you know how it goes. Thank you for all your helpful information.
Tanya Stoney, North Carolina, USA