Subterfuge and excitement at the church treasure hunt!

Nikki,

I decided to bury the treasure right at the edge of the woods on our property.

I've written a clue that will bring the searchers to the map (or final clue). I haven't written the last step of final instruction, but I'm partial to little rhymes rather than maps. I'm sure I'll have no trouble coming up with something once I give it a few minutes.

The party is for the deacon and pastoral staff for my church. I used the idea you gave me to name each station for a city in Paul's journeys.

Here's a fun thing I've added. The guests are aware that there's a church leadership party and they know the date and time, but NOT the location. In fact, they haven't been told who is hosting the party--only that it is a church leadership party.

On the night of the party, they go to a local fountain and bench to meet a man with a black trench coat and hat who will give them a clue that leads them to my house (where the party and hunt will be).

I have reservations from 14 families who have called a cell phone number and left reservations following a message from a voice that isn't mine. People with questions have been directed to the church secretary who is in on the secret and can answer questions or ask me and get back with the guests.

I'm having a ball with it. Thanks, Nikki, for your great ideas and your well-written plan.

Kim Bickel, Indiana USA

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4th grade treasure hunt at the beach

I will be planning a fall 4th grade birthday party at a lake with a large sandy beach area and a covered pavilion.

Beth Cade, USA

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Pirate treasure hunt with a ladies Bunco group

Hi there.

I have received the info and printed it off. Thank you. I live in Cary, North Carolina and our neighborhood has a Ladies Bunco group.

Each June, we host a poolside party which has a theme. This year, our theme is Pirates. The ages of the women are from 30 to 50. We have it catered and there is a DJ. My group is also in charge of games. So I thought a treasure hunt would be fun. I am still digesting the material to see how I can make it work for our group. But I may also use this theme for my sons Bday party in July. He will be 6. Wish me luck!

Debbie Schemmel, North Carolina USA

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Family treasure hunt for 4th July

Hi Nikki,

Thank you for your email!

I am looking forward to getting started planning our treasure hunt.

For the week of The 4th of July, I am having 25 close family members come to town...so this treasure hunt will be a fun event. The family members range in ages from 5-80; however, about 1/2 are kids and 1/2 are adults.

We have a small yard, big community park and lake nearby.

Thanks a million!!

Susan Robinson, North Carolina USA

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St Patrick's day treasure hunt

Had a great time with the treasure hunt, had a birthday party last night with 11 and 12 year olds, the treasure was a pot of goodies (St. Patrick's Day theme). Your directions really helped. Planning to do it with our soccer team at our next travel tournament.

Denise Calloway, South Carolina USA

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Harry Potter themed treasure hunt

Thank you for this excellent product. We had the party on Saturday and it was fantastic. I live in France so had to translate it and we did a Harry Potter theme. For the code, we sent the kids to a computer where they typed in the code and then a PowerPoint presentation sent them to the kitchen for the treasure. It was really brilliant fun and I know we'll be doing it all again soon!

Thanks again,

Alex Laurie, Eure et Loir France

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Girls worked together in treasure hunt

We had the party I used the treasure hunt party planner as a guide. I only had one team and had the girls work together. I set up six challenges (using your ideas as guides) the challenges were building a tower out of cups, building a pyramid out of people, writing a birthday limerick, singing a song, perform a play/skit and scramble puzzle. The girls had a great time and worked together. Thanks

Lisa Esten, Massachusetts USA

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Treasure hunt with baseball terms

Nikki: Thanks for your message. The party is tonight in Oceanside, NY for a group of 13 year olds. I purchased your book on Monday and have put together a Treasure Hunt using baseball terms although I don't consider the party to have a theme. I am using some of the suggestions for challenges in your book as well as having made up a few of my own. Your book was very clear and the instructions were all easy to understand. I am so glad I found your website!! I was going to attempt to put a Treasure Hunt together on my own and I was procrastinating over it as you may have figured out from the fact that I just ordered the book Monday!!!

Lorraine Rello-Incontro, New York USA

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Instant treasure hunt for kids and for adults

We did log on and use the instant treasure game. It was very easy to use and the kids loved it! I did it twice once for the kid party and once for the family party. The first time the group was a bit big, next time I will do two teams so they all have a chance to figure out the clues.

Melinda Ayala, Oregon USA

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Surprise 35th birthday party scavenger hunt

I 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

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16th Birthday Masquerade ball and treasure hunt

Thought you might enjoy a few pictures of our daughter's 16th's birthday celebration. We combined a masquerade ball with your treasure hunt party game which turned out to be a good combination for our group of young people. It turned out a lot of fun and I heard many positive remarks during the evening about the treasure hunt.

Blessings from the Smith House,

Patricia Smith, Oklahoma USA

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Treasure hunt party planner has great detail

I'm having a party for my daughter's 13th birthday party and she has invited boys which really threw me for loop when it came to deciding what activities to have to keep them all busy for 4 hrs. I could find no books at the library or bookstore that had the detail that you have in your treasure hunt planner.

Kim Leggett, Ohio USA

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Treasure hunt Halloween party

My 30th Birthday and Halloween celebrations in London, England.

Russell Holman, London UK

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Treasure hunt to be used for team building next year

Hi Nikki, we completed the treasure hunt on Saturday. I modified the game to suit the venue and the crowd as we had 15 teams participating in the hunt. Contestants had a fun time. I will be fine tuning the game mechanics to cater for a team building crowd for January.

Vivien Hoe, Singapore

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Memorial Day treasure hunt

Hi Nikki,

I am working on putting together this treasure hunt. Our party is a family Memorial Day weekend party. It is held lakeside in New Hampshire, USA.

The party is this Sunday afternoon. The age range of the kids playing the game is 4 years to 14 years old. I am trying to make the tasks at each station easy enough for all to be involved. I like the mummy task and think all the kids will have fun with that one. I plan on burying the treasure chest on our beach; I can't wait for this part the kids should really enjoy it.

Thanks for your help

Karen Hall, New Hampshire USA

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Children's Halloween party plans

Nikki,

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

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Great student treasure party in Japan

Nikki,

This is just a quick note to let you know everything went well. We did make a few changes to your plan like you suggested, but followed most everything else. The kids had a great time and we may try something with the adult students this spring or summer. I?m sending you some photos too.

David Campbell, Hokkaido Japan

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Halloween treasure hunt in Montana

Hi Nikki,

Yes, thank you, I have received my treasure hunt party planner. I am printing everything out as we speak and I have been just glancing at the material but I am getting really excited for my party! This looks like it's going to be a blast and I can't wait! As you might have guessed my party will be for Halloween and this particular one is going to be for my kids.

Every year we usually do an adults party and a kids party for Halloween. My girls are aged 11, 8, and 6 so there is a little bit of an age gap there so it's hard to come up with things to keep them all busy. This year the party will probably be on October 27th and will consist of girls and boys ranging from 6-13 years of age. I live in Montana so you can't always count on the weather being nice enough to have a party outside. My house is pretty good sized though, so this should work out great and I will definitely let you know how everything turns out. Thanks for everything!

Erika Smollack, Montana USA

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Treasure hunt as culminating activity for term's work

Hi 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

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Treasure hunt for residential summer camps

Hello Nikki

Thanks for the email. Very happy with all the ideas & info, very clear.

Will be running 2 residential summer camps in August 2006.

6-11 year olds- 40+ kids

12 - 14 year olds 60+ kids

We are a registered charity here in Ireland, an interdenominational team of Christians working with kids from north & South ( Catholic, Protestant and also ethnic minorities).

We have being doing this since 1986 and this will be my 20th Year!!!!! Where does the time go?

I no longer run the games workshops (as the team have younger & more energetic members than me), But I still organize the EVENTS programme which involve the entire camp all at the same time, i.e. Fancy Dress, Treasure Hunts, Live Drama on stage, Quizzes.

So I'm looking forward to adapting the Treasure hunt ideas you have sent, and I will send you some photos of how we get on.

Many Thanks,

Kindest regards,

Paul Boyle, Republic of Ireland

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Next year the grown ups want to play treasure hunt too

Hi Nikki We finally completed our Treasure Hunt last week! We had so much fun -- thank you for the great kick-start!!! I ordered your Treasure Hunt software package way back in February.

Your software was just what I needed to get started, get me thinking about what I wanted to do -- and it was GREAT fun! Everyone, from kids to adults, had a great time! For me, it was like Christmas, having chosen wonderful presents for all -- and watching everyone Ooooh and Aaaah. My participants had a ball! Of course, now that everyone had so much fun, next year I have to come up with a game for EVERYONE -- the grownups want to play, too!!!

Ah, the challenge! We had great fun!

Eileen Blackwood, Minnesota USA

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Treasure hunt was a hit

Hey Nikki.. just wanted to let you know... we had our 'treasure hunt' this past weekend! What a hit it was!!! We had 16 participants aging in range from 12 to 50... everyone loved it and we all had a great time!! Thanks for everything!! I will certainly recommend the treasure hunt to one and all!!!

Nancy Foote, Michigan USA

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Waiting list to participate in treasure hunt

Hi Nikki

My Scavenger Hunt is not until June 23 But the stuff that you sent me has been such a great help so far in organizing the event. Everyone here can not wait to participate. I have a waiting list started . I am sure that this will not be the last hunt that I organize. I just wish that I could

take part.

Maybe I will be a fifth wheel in one of the teams just to see how everything went. Will let you know the results after June 23 Thank you for your interest and I shall recommend you to anyone whom asks.

Kelly LaPorte, Ontario Canada

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Photo scavenger hunt for birthday

Hello Nikki

I have read the treasure hunt party games, its interesting but it has more work on it to do, but the scavenger hunt is great I really got good ideas, no regrets on this book for sure.

It will be my daughter birthday, and In our community and culture they don't celebrate bdays and such occasions, but I do for my family, so everyone always waits for my children's bdays.

I will be doing the scavenger photo hunt, that will be different and fun.

Naila Al Moosawi, USA

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Treasure hunt was a blast!

We had our party for my 9 year old daughter's birthday and 17 of her classmates last weekend! What a blast!! Everyone left saying that was the best party they have ever been to! After one team located the treasure map then we all went on the treasure hunt together and they were so excited they could hardly stand it. What fun dragging our old wooden treasure chest up to open it up and share the goodies!! Party bags, chocolate covered gold coins, silver nuggets (Hersheys kisses), necklaces and so much more!

Everything went great...we had one typo on the cake but everyone was having so much fun they didn't even notice. We had a 'Pirate' come visit us also and that was another highlight!

Thanks again for all your help....can't wait to re-arrange the challenges and plan another one for an older group!

Tammy Freeman, Kansas USA

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Treasure hunt for pirates and wenches

We are having our annual corporate Christmas Party (January) up north @ a ski resort (Ont-Canada) Our theme this year is Pirates and Wenches. 40 people all adult..drinkers?

Patti Allen, Ontario Canada

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Slumber party treasure hunt

My daughter will be turning 8 and we are planning a slumber party.

Karen Hayward, Ontario, Canada

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Instant treasure hunt is successful and fun

Yes, indeed, our Treasure Hunt was successful and fun. I used your program more for inspiration and ideas rather than exactly following it. 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. It seemed hard enough and yet easy enough so as to not frustrate.

It certainly entertained the children and had them running all over the neighborhood. Both teams completed the hunt.

Mary Ann Anderson, Illinois USA

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Will use treasure hunt again and again

Hi Nikko :)

Guess what? I got the treasure hunt to work after all :) I was just trying to open it the wrong way. Once I 'saved' it first and then opened it, everything was fine. I am sorry to have bothered you. My children had a WONDERFUL time on their hunt! I will use this fun activity time and time again :)

Rees Wiscombe, Utah USA

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Treasure hunt is unique birthday party idea

Hi Nikki,

This will be a birthday party for my 10 year old daughter and about 13 friends on August 13 in Louisville, KY. She really wants to do something unique; unlike anything her friends have experienced. I plan to host the treasure hunt both inside and in the backyard. I like the idea of both coordination and thinking tasks to earn the clues.

Gwen Crawford, Kentucky USA

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Dodging thunderstorms to play treasure hunt

Hi Nikki, our treasure hunt at our spring campout went very well, even though we had to dodge a few thunderstorms. Our scout and parents really enjoyed it. It was different and it was fun. And we are here to have fun. And we do plan to use it again for our fall campout, which is in the planning stage now. That's in October. Made a couple of mistakes on the planning, but learned a lot from this event. Will be keeping in touch soon to see what options we have for our next event.

Ron Cromer, South Carolina USA

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Prate theme questions - who gets the treasure?

Hi Nikki,

So far we are getting along fine, we have about 30 kids we are inviting.. ages 9-10. We are doing the pirate theme treasure hunt. We were thinking about having a treasure for each team instead of just one. I suspect this could get quite complicated. Any suggestions?

thanks!

---------

Hi Tracy

There are a couple of approaches - one is to have enough treasure for everyone. The first team digs it up, but then gets to share it with everyone.

Second have several boxes of treasure in the same location. The first team finds one, then as the other teams get there, they can dig in the surrounding area.

Third idea is that each team gets a different treasure map and so finds treasure in a different location. That doesn?t need to be too complicated, the first team to solve the final clue gets the first map and so on. You will have to create several maps though!

Best wishes

Nikki

Tracy Nekula, Ohio USA

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Treasure hunt for Girl Scout day camp

I am the Camp Director for a Girl Scout Day Camp. Our theme this year is 'Treasure Grove'. We plan to use various activities throughout the week referencing this theme.

We anticipate about 150 people, divided into groups of 12-18.

Cindy Trout, Ohio, USA

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Dad plans scavenger hunt for daughter's party

Hi Nikki,

I received everything and read through it yesterday. It provided me with great ideas. The party I am planning is for my daughters 9th birthday /slumber party. There will be about 8 girls in all and the scavenger hunt/treasure hunt will take place in our neighborhood. Although it is only a couple of weeks away I am still brainstorming and 'creating' the game. We sent out invites yesterday.

My initial plan is to combine a scavenger hunt with a treasure hunt. The teams will have to follow clues to different locations and follow instructions at that location to receive the next clue.

I really like your idea of taking some digital photos along the way to prove some activities were accomplished. Also collecting items/discovering clues along the way. I am not sure what the finale game will look like but I thought the pi?ata idea for the winning team to break open and share with all was great. Somewhere along the way they someone will find a key that when they finish the hunt will unlock a 'treasure' chest which I will actually bury in the woods behind my house.

The eight girls are a lot of fun and adventurous so I think it will be a lot fun for all. I have enlisted my 12 and 14 year old kids to assist and monitor some of the activities.

We live in North Carolina and the party will be on the 15th of June.

Thanks again

Matt Groux,

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Treasure hunt easy to plan

Hi! I just wanted to write...I found the treasure hunt very easy to plan with all of your instructions! The only place I had trouble was when trying to 'age' the map. I could have used a little more instruction on that, rather that just use cold tea!

Great program,

Lisa Fellhauer, Michigan USA

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Treasure hunt at an adult pool party

OK, we are in Monticello, IN - a small town about 100 miles north of Indianapolis.

The party is 7/30

It is just a pool party - for adults. (We do things for the kids all the time - this time, it is for the adults).

We are all parents of high schoolers so we are between 45 - 55 I would say.

We have read through the book once and started getting ideas down on paper.

I hope we can pull it off.

Susan Manahan, Indianapolis USA

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Players wanted to do treasure hunt again

Hi 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

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Teenage son thinks treasure hunt was awesome!

The treasure hunt party was great; my 16 year old son said it was an awesome party. All the kids came dressed in costume as well as the adults! The hunt took about 1.5 hours to complete. The clues lead to a compass and spade, the compass lead to a treasure map, and the map then lead to the treasure that was buried. When they dug up the chest it was wrapped in chains and locked, and a clue giving them a hint as to where they could find the key, which was hidden in another chest. Being a pirate party, there were several chests for them to look through, but it was in the cake which was shaped like a chest.

We served jerk chicken and shrimp before the hunt, they did the hunt, then ate cake, opened the chest, then played capture the flag in the dark (they had on glow stick necklaces). Everyone had a grand time!! Thanks for your ideas.

Teresa Arthur, Vancouver USA

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Writing own rhyming clues for treasure hunt

Hello,

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

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Pirate treasure hunt has fantastic feedback

Hi 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

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English speaking treasure hunt in Belgium

Hello 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

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Girls really into the pirate treasure hunt

Nikki,

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

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Yard improvement treasure hunt reward

Thanks Nikki,

Yes, I was able to download it and printed it off yesterday. My party is going to be on Sunday, the 3rd of July. I've already started planning the treasure hunt. I live in San Jose, California and my husband and I are throwing a b-b-q for some people that were very involved with the relandscaping of our yard.

It was a huge undertaking and we wanted to give them all a big thank you. So, it'll pretty much be all adults, with the exception of a few little ones (3 and under). We're changing the station names and officers to things that apply to yard work and landscaping. The treasure will be gift certificates for the winners to a local home improvement store.

Please, please, if you have any ideas for me on this theme, let me know . . .

Thanks,

Mona Boomer, California USA

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Teams wanted to continue treasure hunt challenges after treasure was won!

Hi Nikki, We had the 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.

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

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Scavenger hunt is what was wanted

THANK 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

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Is Nikki Wilson real?

Nikki- So you are a real person. What a nice surprise.

Actually this is part of a larger fundraising event for

Orphans of Aids Victims in Africa. I have a 60 acre

piece of property with about 5 acres of woods with trails etc I was thinking of burying the treasure in the woods. I have not had a chance to thoroughly go through what I down loaded from you but I will soon to make sure it applies.

Thanks, I will definitely contact you if I need to.

Liza Lightfoot, Wisconsin USA

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