Treasure hunt for end of year kindergarten

Hi Nikki,

I had my treasure hunt as an End of Year party for my son's kindergarten class a few weeks ago. The kids had a blast! Since the kids are only starting to read and we had an hour for the hunt, I kept the games simple and made the puzzle clue from words they could read by themselves. My map was a hit and had all of the boys fighting over who got to keep it. (Their teacher made copies for everyone to color themselves and take home) All in all it was a great time.

Thanks!

Bernadette Leiby, New Jersey, USA

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Daughter hasn't stopped talking about treasure hunt party

We held our treasure hunt yesterday for my daughter's 8th birthday. It went great and everyone had a wonderful time. One of the mom's told me later that night that her daughter hadn't stopped talking about it! They liked the mummy and the pea challenges as well as the tightrope and the binoculars.

Thanks Again - It was great!

Sandy Stewart, Idaho USA

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Pirate treasure hunt at bowling alley

Dear Nikki,

We are holding my son Andrew's 7th birthday party at a bowling alley. The theme is "Pirate Bowling". I am not quite sure where I will hide the treasure (which will be an actual wooden priate chest filled with rinestone "jewels", plastic "gold coins", and ring pop lollipops), but it will have to be somewhere in the party room we have been delegated, so... I thought maybe I would hide it under one of the tables inside a cardboard box, then the last clue could be: "This very last clue will lead the way, and you will find the treasure today. Set sail right away for the party room, to sing a happy birthday tune, then dig through cardboard if you are able, to find the chest buried under the table."

We are also giving out "party bags" in the form of small plastic treasure chests (that lock with a key) filled with plastic gold coins, skull lollipops, gem gummies, pirate rings, and a small keychain compass (that actually works), as well as a pirate map, rolled up and tied with a red ribbon.

The invitations are the Oriental Trading Company's "Invitation in a bottle" that comes with an eye patch. I am also considering hiring a "pirate" to come to the party and "lead the treasure hunt". I purchased a lock for the chest and a bunch of "dummy keys" and I thought we could put all of the keys in a glass bowl and let each child pick one, then when the treasure is "found" each child can attempt to unlock it with their key. When even the birthday boy's key will not open the lock the pirate will reveal that he actually has the key around his neck on a red ribbon. He then gives the key to Andy to open the chest revealling all of the goodies.

Thanks

Laura Greenberg, California, USA

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Instant treasure hunt last Friday

Yes, we had our treasure hunt last Friday night, and it went very well. The girls enjoyed themselves and the treasure hunt was a hit. I appreciate all your help...we couldn't have done it without you. We will be planning another hunt in February for my other daughter's birthday. Thanks again,

Polly Reid, Pennsylvania USA

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Treasure hunt birthday smashing success

My son's 10th birthday party was a smashing success thanks in part to your wonderful treasure hunt ideas with the pirate theme...Thank you!

Stacie Choy, Surrey United Kingdom

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After reading your book, my mind is reeling with ideas

My treasure hunt is taking place in California. It is my daughter's 13th birthday party with a pirate theme. She loves pirates of the Caribbean. The guests are aged 12-13

My mind is reeling with ideas! We have a swimming pool,

so one activity for sure will be to put a note to the birthday girl in a plastic bottle weighted down so it will float straight up and down. They will have to 'fish' out the correct bottle using the skimmer net and give it to my daughter to read. Either that or the treasure map will be one of the bottles and they have to fish through bottles until they find the right one. I'll give you an outline of what we did with it later.

Blessings

Julie Goodall, California USA

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Easter Sunday treasure hunt in Tampa for all ages

I live in Tampa, FL. So far I am trying to get everything together for Easter Sunday. Right now the last thing I have to do is the treasure map. I will be going out of town on Friday and won't return till Sunday, so today is my last day to finish. I am doing it for my family, I am the oldest daughter, 23, and every year I do an Easter egg hunt with clues they need to find the next egg. They all love it, from my grandmother, 78, to my youngest sister, 16. I think the one who enjoys it the most is my 30 year old brother. This year I wanted to do something a little different and your treasure hunt is going to turn out great. I know they will all have a great time.

I like your customer service involvement. It really shows you care about your customers.

Thanks

Tatyana Capdevila, Florida USA

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Pirate treasure hunt party with team flags

Hi 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

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Company summer picnic treasure hunt

Hi Nikki,

I am the one handling our treasure hunt. It's a company picnic

We are in Guam (US Territory, an island in the Pacific) - it's hot and sometimes rainy. Our setting for the party is at a beach/picnic area outdoors. Plenty of grassy areas, plenty of water, but very little sand - mostly big rocks instead.

August 5th

this is the summer company picnic

about 250 guests - mostly adults but also some children

Our theme is a treasure hunt - I'm having some trouble with this one, as I would like a slogan or title for our event. I like the pirate idea too, but I don't think it's appropriate to NAME our event after 'pirates' or 'raiders' or 'plunderers' etc. as it is the company's image at stake

We have already begun planning the games and playing areas for our treasure hunt. since we have so many people, I think we may plan a simulated trial-run with a few of us prior to the event, just to make sure we've planned it well. I'll let you know if we have any questions.

Thanks!

Nicole Sonario, Guam USA

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Treasure hunt girls in pirate garb

The 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

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Great treasure hunt for summer vacation

I used the Treasure Hunt Game ('The Great Hunt for Summer Vacation') for a group of 1st through 5th graders (about 80 kids) as part of our last day of school activities. They had a great time. Several kids asked me if we'll be able to do it again next year. Some of the parent volunteers and teachers encouraged me to keep all the props and signs so we can use the game again. The teachers really enjoyed it.

I'm planning to use the game once again for a class party for my son this summer ... probably with a different theme. It was easy to set up, and the challenge ideas were awesome. Thanks!

Julie Keller, Wisconsin USA

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Scavenger hunt planning book is a wonderful resource

Hi Nikki,

What at wonderful resource your scavenger hunt e-book is. The hunt is tonight and I have already spent about three hours prepping with at least 3 more to do. It's raining here so we are keeping game inside the house, on the porch and in the screen in porch too.

The boundaries, rules and age appropriate list were extremely helpful. Our group is ages 8-9 girls. There are 9 girls coming all of whom will be randomly divided into three groups of three. Unfortunately one of the babysitters cancelled last night so I'm now wrestling with three teams and two supervisors.....

Got to go, but I will f/u with news and feedback.. You are amazing to have the care and concern to email me.

I dearly appreciate it.

Thanks,

Lee Anne McClymont, North Carolina USA

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Treasure Hunt once for the kids and once for the family

The Instant Treasure Hunt was very easy to use and the kids loved it! I did it twice once for the kid's 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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Treasure hunt for last day of school

We are planning the hunt for May - the last day of school for my 11 yr old daughter there will be 10-15 children for the hunt and they are very excited!, We have a 75 acre farm so the hunt will keep them busy finding the clues and especially the treasure!

My daughter loves pirates, and the whole concept of treasure hunting, can you give me some more ideas on what to put in the treasure box?

I plan on burying the treasure by an old cabin that's been here since before Oklahoma was a state! I call it blackbeard's haunted hideout! Makes things more interesting for the kids!

Rob Waddle, Oklahoma USA

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Treasure hunt on farm

Hi Nikki,

I held my treasure hunt at my son's birthday party at my moms house on a farm. We had adults and children ( youngest age 4) all play. I spaced out my stations a bit far ( the older ones got quite a workout!) but everyone had fun and enjoyed it! I am going to use it again for my son's grade 6 class at the end of the year party and we are going to do it in and around the school grounds.

Thanks

Lori Hepburn, Ontario Canada

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Still talking about treasure hunt after school holidays

Hi Nikki,

We had a great party. The games we played at the party was like Amazing Race. They had to play a game to get a clue. (They collect all seven clues and put it together to find the treasure). I made passport for everyone. We traveled around the world to all seven continents. They had different ways to travel around the world. (bike, Wheel bower, skates, etc.) When they collected all the clues they had to find the treasure box that was buried.

We had two teams. I know the kids loved it we had it before our spring break, and yesterday was the first day back and they were still talking about it.

Thanks for the help and ideas.

Shawna Bates, Georgia USA

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Impressive treasure hunt Logistics

Our treasure hunt took place last weekend and was a success. The book helped a lot and everyone was impressed with the logistics of the game. Thank you for a well designed book.

Patrick Racine, Ontario Canada

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Treasure hunt product is exceptional

The party this past weekend was a huge success. We had an away sleep-over at our family mountain house and had the treasure hunt on day 2. It went extremely smoothly and the ten girls had a blast! Last week was an insane week and I had little time to prepare, and now that I've done the hunt I feel like I could do it perfectly next time. Your product is exceptional and you truly saved me valuable time and stress!!! I look forward to having another hunt sometime very soon. Thanks so much,

Kirsten Salas, Georgia USA

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Pirate ship in the garage

Dear 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

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Treasure hunt in Indiana

Our treasure hunt takes place in Indiana on July 15. It is a party for church staff leadership and their families. Guests range in age from 6 months to 65 years!

I love your ebook so far. No questions yet, but I won't hesitate to e-mail if questions come up.

Kim Bickel, Indiana USA

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Treasure hunt is one of best party experiences ever

Hi Nikki,

The treasure hunt we had for my 6 year old daughter was one of the best party experiences we've ever had. It went off like a fire cracker with both adults and children electrified by the teamwork, the clues, the race, the map, the treasure and most of all the fact that the hunt was switched at the very last moment from outdoors to indoors due to torrential rain. The game strategy is flexible enough to allow the whole shooting match to be moved from an outdoor setting over 1 acre to an indoor setting in 20 minutes. We had 5 teams moving between 6 rooms and the fun side of the game was enhanced tremendously. The game was more intense and nobody felt left out though some people somehow managed to leave the house while following their clues ! It was another testament to how well thought through the treasure hunt game actually is. I have subscribed to your database for future use, in fact I suspect we'll have a treasure hunt for every birthday from now on.

There's enough clues in the database to keep us going over their entire childhoods.

Thanks again for the support and good luck with the site/game/business.

Steve Tee, Kildare Ireland

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Bigger or better scavenger hunt

The scavenger party was a big success! Had 4 teams of 7-8 girls ages 12-13. The 'bigger or better' theme was great. Each team kept each item obtained and in the end all the teams voted for the winning team. The winners received $10 each and everyone else could take home any of the collected items they so desired. They worked up their appetites and enjoyed the taco bar. Fun was had by all! Thanks again.

Allan Luistro, North Dakota USA

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Fantastic fun at the pirate treasure hunt

Hi Nikki -- I'm finally getting around to answering your emails! 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!

Here's what I did with your ideas:

I used your ideas for the 6 teams and 6 ports -- to avoid them running into each other. However, since I knew I'd be running the treasure hunt during out group camping trip (4 families, 26 people), I had to wait until we got to this year's campground to set it up. Didn't know where I'd bury the treasure or what the site was like until I got there!

I had six adults manning the six 'ports' of call... and four teams. I paired the two teenagers with younger same-sex kids (girls and boys ages 7 - 10)plus a teen = (2 teams). A third team was the moms and 'little ones' under age 2, and the fourth team was the dads and little guys (two boys age 4).

We had the 'group campsite' for 40+ people, so we had our six stations spread out throughout the campsite, in the woods, and on the trail leading to our campsite.

At each location, each young pirate could earn a doubloon by completing the task. After each trial, they had to bring their doubloons to the Master of Arms to buy a piece of the puzzle for their team. After collecting all six pieces of the puzzle -- they then had to use the puzzle to find the treasure map. Once they found the treasure map, they had to use the map to search for the buried treasure.

I made several copies of the treasure map, so as each team completed their puzzle, they could find the parchment map and begin the search for the treasure. You should have seen them combing through the woods! (I made parchment maps ahead of time from wrinkled, coffee stained paper -- then used burgundy marker to draw on the map once we were in the campsite and I knew where the treasure was -- I had one of my sons pace out the path to the

treasure.)

I worked it out so that each group could search for the treasure, but the team that found it had first pick of the treasure. The 'treasure' was a box of gifts from the dollar store. After the first team picked over the treasure, the rest of the teams chose their treasure, in youngest to oldest order.

This is what we did:

Pirate Beach -- each young pirate had to decorate a pirate head-scarf to wear and create a team Pirate flag to carry on their journey.

Doubloon Inn -- Learn to tie a pirate's ship knot -- all pirates need to know how to tie ship's knots. We had the younger children learn to tie a square knot, and the older children learned to tie a bowline. Each child received an 8 ft. length of rope to learn their knots, and wear as a pirate belt. Their ropes went with them everywhere!!!

Gold Digger's Island -- The 'logic' island. (The captain needs a pirate crew that can think!) Sudoku puzzle for the older kids (4 and 6 square for kids, 9 square for adults, 25 piece jigsaw puzzle for non-number kids.) This was the log-jam station. Too hard for most -- I'll change it next time I do this.

Five Mile Lookout -- I had 4 boxes sealed with one of the puzzle-pieces inside. Each box was tied up in 100' of rope knots... they had to really work to untie the knots to get into each box! My husband and son spent an evening tying up these boxes!

Smuggler's Cove -- this is where they had to learn to walk the pirate ship's rope rigging for the sails. Rope stretched out on the ground, the young pirate's must walk the rigging looking through the wrong end of binoculars.

A great favorite!

Hideaway Harbor -- Set up two rope swings (age appropriate). The young pirates in training needed to learn how to run and jump with a rope swing and land on the King's treasure ship (at target on the ground) -- ready to do battle for treasure! (Also a great favorite.)

I used the gold foil wrapped chocolates for doubloons, and although I had expected (and built) the game for three teams, I ended up with four teams.

This meant that the teams had to negotiate (with doubloons) near the end of the game to form a melded team with enough pieces of the puzzle to find the treasure map.

We had great fun!

Eileen Blackwood, Minnesota USA

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So many do not know what a scavenger hunt is!

Thank you,

Everything went well. I think the item they had the most fun with was finding something with the letter M. My son's name starts with the letter M. They had about 50 questions about what they could use. Of the 25 items on their list, they were unable to get only two items a postage stamp and a 4 leaf clover. What surprised me the most was the number of parents and kids who had no idea what a Scavenger Hunt was.

Thank you again for your help.

Mindy Richard, California USA

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Adults and kids enjoy instant treasure hunt

We had a wonderful treasure hunt. The adults and kids both had a great time. It took 40 minutes for them to complete it. Thanks for your interest and I will be making more treasure hunts in the near future.

Dawn Pinson, Ontario Canada

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Summer employee treasure hunt party

It 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

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School survivor week scavenger hunt

Hey Nikki.

I'm the Student Council Sponsor at a small school, only 50 kids in 7th through 12th. This year for homecoming, with your help I had Survivor Week. We had 5 tribes, and believe me they loved it. I had a big poster in the hall to tabulate the scores. Everything got extra crazy because the teams were never more than a few points apart.

If you expand on this let me know and also any ideas for next year's Survivor Week would be greatly appreciated, because the kids already said we have to do this again.

Thanks for all the help!!!!!

Janet Costa, New Mexico USA

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Campground treasure hunt

Hi Nikki, I did get the Treasure Hunt Planner, Thanks. I'm very excited. I am planning this for at a campground I have a trailer at. Should be great. It won't be until July sometime but I will let you know what happens. Thanks Again

Vicky Biersteker, Wisconsin USA

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Great treasure hunt for summer vacation

I used the Treasure Hunt Game ('The Great Hunt for Summer Vacation') for a group of 1st through 5th graders (about 80 kids) as part of our last day of school activities. They had a great time. Several kids asked me if we'll be able to do it again next year. Some of the parent volunteers and teachers encouraged me to keep all the props and signs so we can use the game again. The teachers really enjoyed it.

I'm planning to use the game once again for a class party for my son this summer ... probably with a different theme. It was easy to set up, and the challenge ideas were awesome. Thanks!

Julie Keller, Wisconsin USA

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Treasure hunt picnic with 8 yr old solving five to eight puzzle

We did the treasure hunt at our picnic on Sunday and it was a hit. I learned a lot, particularly about being rushed into setting it up. But all in all, everyone had a good time and they were challenged by the clues. One dad was so proud of his 9 year-old son, who figured out the five to eight puzzle while the adults were still working on it. I will definitely be thinking of clues and prizes for the treasure throughout the whole year, just to make it better next time. Thank you.

Sandy Manchester, Washington USA

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Treasure hunt plans for the weekend

Nikki:

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

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Treasure hunt set up with little effort

We had a great time with the treasure hunt. Our big birthday party involves my two daughters, now 2 & 6, and their dad. All birthdays within 10 days. We had about a dozen kids into the treasure hunt. The booty in the treasure chest was used for goody bags for the young guests. The kids had a great time and were ready for cake afterwards. Between the bounce house, riding a real horse (we have a friend who brought one), and the treasure hunt the kids were totally worn out. Then it became Dad's party, and the adults had a great time also. We did a treasure hunt for dad, and he was completely confused (we meant to do that) and had a great time.

It was wonderful that I was able to set this up with very little effort. By setting it up so that it doesn't matter if something goes wrong, everyone wins - everyone enjoyed it. I received lots of compliments on how great the party was. I look forward to using this on other occasions, as well as when the kids are just bored. Thanks for your efforts - which saved me from making them.

Sandy Walkington, Texas USA

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Treasure hunt is one of best party experiences ever

Hi Nikki,

The treasure hunt we had for my 6 year old daughter was one of the best party experiences we've ever had. It went off like a fire cracker with both adults and children electrified by the teamwork, the clues, the race, the map, the treasure and most of all the fact that the hunt was switched at the very last moment from outdoors to indoors due to torrential rain. The game strategy is flexible enough to allow the whole shooting match to be moved from an outdoor setting over 1 acre to an indoor setting in 20 minutes. We had 5 teams moving between 6 rooms and the fun side of the game was enhanced tremendously. The game was more intense and nobody felt left out though some people somehow managed to leave the house while following their clues ! It was another testament to how well thought through the treasure hunt game actually is. I have subscribed to your database for future use, in fact I suspect we'll have a treasure hunt for every birthday from now on.

There's enough clues in the database to keep us going over their entire childhoods.

Thanks again for the support and good luck with the site/game/business.

Steve Tee, Kildare Ireland

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Hi Nikki,

We live in the USA, in Moore, OK. The party is this Saturday the 23rd.

It is a surprise birthday party for my son who turned 13 last Sunday.

There will be mostly 13 to 14 year olds but a few younger and some older siblings at the party, and of course aunts and uncles to help drive for the scavenger hunt.

I have read over the planner and am trying to decide which one I want to do. I really like the one they have to find something for each letter of the alphabet.

Thank you,

Kim Rogers, Oklahoma USA

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So many do not know what a scavenger hunt is!

Thank you,

Everything went well. I think the item they had the most fun with was finding something with the letter M. My son's name starts with the letter M. They had about 50 questions about what they could use. Of the 25 items on their list, they were unable to get only two items a postage stamp and a 4 leaf clover. What surprised me the most was the number of parents and kids who had no idea what a Scavenger Hunt was.

Thank you again for your help.

Mindy Richard, California USA

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Campground treasure hunt

Hi Nikki, I did get the Treasure Hunt Planner, Thanks. I'm very excited. I am planning this for at a campground I have a trailer at. Should be great. It won't be until July sometime but I will let you know what happens. Thanks Again

Vicky Biersteker, Wisconsin USA

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Treasure hunt party was great

Hi Nikki, The treasure party was great. Glad I ordered your packet. Thanks,

Diane Siegel, South Carolina USA

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Treasure hunt party in the local park

Hi Nikki

I am thinking of organising a treasure hunt for my daughters 11th birthday, how big an open space do we need? We could do it in the local park.

Regards

Louise Ross, East Renfrew UK

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Son says 'I love you' for organizing such a great Halloween treasure hunt party

Hi 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

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Neighbor wants to know where treasure hunt ideas come from

Hi Nikki, The treasure hunt party was a great success. It was a lot of fun and my neighbor asked where I got my ideas from. Thanks,

Catherine Grote, Kansas USA

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After reading your book, my mind is reeling with ideas

My treasure hunt is taking place in California. It is my daughter's 13th birthday party with a pirate theme. She loves pirates of the Caribbean. The guests are aged 12-13

My mind is reeling with ideas! We have a swimming pool,

so one activity for sure will be to put a note to the birthday girl in a plastic bottle weighted down so it will float straight up and down. They will have to 'fish' out the correct bottle using the skimmer net and give it to my daughter to read. Either that or the treasure map will be one of the bottles and they have to fish through bottles until they find the right one. I'll give you an outline of what we did with it later.

Blessings

Julie Goodall, California USA

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Wonderful details of the treasure hunt

Hi Nikki.

I made the treasure map out of an over-sized yellow envelope (I'd say 11x14). Since it was darker in color, it already had a yellowed aged look about it. I used a thin permanent marker and free hand the area. A pool was located in the backyard so I drew waves representing the pool and upside down 'V's' to represent the mountains. Where the treasure map was buried, I drew a skull and cross-bones, then drew arrows representing the path that had to be taken to get to the X that marks the spot for the treasure. I had made a cup of hot tea and left the tea bag in the cup. Once the tea cooled, I used the tea bag to blot the treasure map and created a molted brown look. Because the teabag made the map wet, I let it dry overnight and it was fairly stiff. I then put the map over the stove burner to create burn spots. This was perfect because it made the map heavy enough to bury and strong enough for hand to pull it open excitedly without ripping it.

I created a treasure chest by purchasing a disposable ice cooler at a local dollar store. We bought brown paint and painted the cooler (the Styrofoam began to melt the cooler temporarily and it actually worked well since it looked very aged). I purchased 6 individual treasure chests (assuming no more than 6 kids to a team) and put in only two filled treasure chests at the bottom of the cooler with marbles, fake jewels, chocolate coins and coin bubble gum on top of the individual treasure chests). I kept the remaining treasure chests aside to present one to each team member that won.

Whatever team won, we brought all the teams over so they could see the opening of the treasure and share the booty with the other teams. I had also prepared a individual bag of goodies for all participants that included a mardi gras type beaded necklace, chocolate coins, gums and since the Pirates of the Caribbean is still a hot item I located bags of M&Ms that had pirate stuff on them. For the winning teams they not only got their own filled treasure chest but I was able to locate an inexpensive prize for them.

How we conducted the hunt was the train schedule was pinned to a tall hedge (I used clothes pins and wanted them all at one location so the kids did not have to scramble around looking for them as well as locating the stations).

I made up instructions and clues for each team member using colored paper that represented each team (blue paper for blue team, pink paper for red team, yellow for yellow, etc). For the clues I purchased an inexpensive laminator and laminated the uncut clues as well as made an uncut clue in the same color. I then cut the laminated clues into 6 pieces (I gave two pieces of the puzzle to each task master as they could easily determine what team did not do a task and each task master was responsible for 2 tasks). I thought this would be easy for smaller hands to hold and put together than paper pieces that they would loose, crumble or possibly tear. The laminated pieces were for the kids to put the clues together, but once their clues were actually put together they were given the paper clue that was not cut so they could run around with it and find the treasure map.

The teams were decided by whatever strip of paper they pulled from a hat. I cut up a certain number of strips of paper for each colored team. Based upon number the total number of kids that participated I had 4 teams and some teams had 3 kids and others had 4. Each team was given a set of instructions printed on colored paper that represented their team color. Each team was given a pencil. Not only did they get a chance to read their instructions, I announced the instructions. I explained that team work will come into play and they should consider having one person designated for different things (as the game wore on, they figured out that it was easy for one person to be responsible for writing down the combination, one person for holding the clues).

The teams were told that they must follow the schedule, they must complete each task, they will be given a piece of the clue, but before they could work on their puzzle, they needed to see the see the Gate Keeper to give the code. If the code was not correct they were not allowed work on their puzzle and they must go back to the schedule and see where they went wrong.

Once the first team successfully got all the pieces, provided the correct combination code that team then could put their laminated pieces together. Once the laminated pieces were put together, I then gave that team a whole uncut copy so they could run around and look for the treasure map. Once that team found the map all other teams were told that the map was found.

Once the actual treasure was found, all the teams were invited to watch the winning team open their treasure. The winning team was congratulated and advised that winners should share their booty with the others.

I had made enough little loot bags for each participating member so that each person would have consolation prize (can you image not having a prize for each child because I knew they would make me walk the plank!).

All the parents that stayed and watch were amazed and impressed.

It definitely took longer than a half hour and you need bodies to help make it run smoothly.

I think it went off well for the first time. I had family member and friends saying they wanted to have their own scavenger hunt.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for holding my hand and walking me through this step by step.

Angel Epps, California USA

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Treasure hunt product is exceptional

The party this past weekend was a huge success. We had an away sleep-over at our family mountain house and had the treasure hunt on day 2. It went extremely smoothly and the ten girls had a blast! Last week was an insane week and I had little time to prepare, and now that I've done the hunt I feel like I could do it perfectly next time. Your product is exceptional and you truly saved me valuable time and stress!!! I look forward to having another hunt sometime very soon. Thanks so much,

Kirsten Salas, Georgia USA

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Fabulous treasure chest

Hi 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. The treasure and the key (which was in an old gumboot) were hidden in the bush behind our house. 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, New South Wales Australia

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Treasure hunt in the nude

Hi Nikki, You have a great product. We just might be your first customers to conduct our treasure hunt in the nude. Our events calendar had a kids' treasure hunt scheduled for Saturday afternoon. I used some of your ideas to design the hunt, but I am saving the full version for next season when we will have better attendance in the warm weather months. The kids (ages 5,6, & 9) loved it, and I can't wait to put on the full program next year. Thank you.

Stuart Antrim, Georgia USA

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Treasure Hunt is easy ready to go package

The treasure hunt went very well, thanks! I was in a big rush, since my daughter decided last minute she'd like to have a birthday party, but we had it yesterday for a group of older teen girls. I've done several treasure hunts before--some of my own devising--but yours was a nice ready-to-go package, which is what I needed. Definitely worth the money. I especially liked your suggestions to have a variety of challenges that would speak to all the teammates various strengths. We live on 5 acres and also have various buildings that can be part of a hunt, so ours lasted about 1 1/2 hours! The girls kept very busy!

Anyway, thanks for making a good product.

Celia Ramsey, California USA

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Thanks for treasure hunt book

Thanks for your book....it was great. I really helped plan my children's treasure hunt party. They had a great time.....my husband created the map and we made up great clues. Will use it again for a family gig.

Alice Greenspoon, Texas USA

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Pirate treasure hunt was well organized

Hi Nikki the kids had a blast at this pirate party! I needed plenty of adult helpers as it was for my sons 6 yr old bday party but all the work paid off. This was an amazing, well thought out and organized treasure hunt. When I get a chance I will try to send out some pictures. Thanks for all your online assistance throughout the planning stages! All the best

Nomi Gilbert, New Jersey USA

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Treasure hunt for last day of school

We are planning the hunt for May - the last day of school for my 11 yr old daughter there will be 10-15 children for the hunt and they are very excited!, We have a 75 acre farm so the hunt will keep them busy finding the clues and especially the treasure!

My daughter loves pirates, and the whole concept of treasure hunting, can you give me some more ideas on what to put in the treasure box?

I plan on burying the treasure by an old cabin that's been here since before Oklahoma was a state! I call it blackbeard's haunted hideout! Makes things more interesting for the kids!

Rob Waddle, Oklahoma USA

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Secret agent treasure hunt for 10 year old

Hi 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

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Looking forward to doing another treasure hunt

Just a quick note. It took about 2 hours for the boys to go through the stations and find the treasure - they had a lot of fun. I look forward to doing another treasure hunt for another party down the road.

Thanks,

Mortimer Howard, California USA

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It's all easy with a treasure hunt planner in front of you.

Hi Nikki

It all went very well. It seemed easy, and when you have the planner in front of you it is straight forward. However without the planner I really don't think I'd have been able to do it. Thank you

Russell Holman, Essex UK

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Treasure hunt party went great

Hi Nikki,

The treasure hunt party went great. We had about 19 kids and two 4th grade teachers participate. I could tell they really loved the idea and had a lot of fun.

thanks for your help!

Tracy Nekula, Ohio USA

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Adults and kids enjoy instant treasure hunt

We had a wonderful treasure hunt. The adults and kids both had a great time. It took 40 minutes for them to complete it. Thanks for your interest and I will be making more treasure hunts in the near future.

Dawn Pinson, Ontario Canada

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Life saver last minute Halloween Treasure Hunt

Dear Nikki

I can't tell you what a life saver you are. My Halloween invitations were all sent; advertising a Treasure Hunt and I became ill. I didn't know how I was ever going to pull it off, but 2 days before the party I logged in (log in info in your purchase confirmation email) and within 1 hour I had edited

the clues you provided to fit our surroundings. I then mailed them to my office; printed, cut and separated. Trust me...now that I know how wonderful your made to order ''hunts' are; we will be having them at every party. The kids and adults had a blast.

Please keep me informed of anything new, especially for adult parties.

Thanks again to my new party planning best friend!

Darlene LoBue, Florida USA

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Wild treasure hunt at mother's 50th

I have been searching the internet for ideas for my Mothers 50th birthday....I thought this might be a fun way to celebrate.... we love to dance, drink some and are wild!

Christyl Seymour,

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Treasure hunt book immediately available for procrastinator

I'm a procrastinator and the treasure hunt party is tomorrow night!!! So no time to write much now - but, I'll try to let you know how it all went! I am loving the package and it is working out nicely - so far - so good! THANKS! And, thanks for having something IMMEDIATELY available for a procrastinator like me! It's for a group of freshman girls and I think it will be tons of fun! THANKS!

Lynne Allenspach, Montana USA

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Treasure hunt book immediately available for procrastinator

I'm a procrastinator and the treasure hunt party is tomorrow night!!! So no time to write much now - but, I'll try to let you know how it all went! I am loving the package and it is working out nicely - so far - so good! THANKS! And, thanks for having something IMMEDIATELY available for a procrastinator like me! It's for a group of freshman girls and I think it will be tons of fun! THANKS!

Lynne Allenspach, Montana USA

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Digging up treasure was so exciting

Dear Nikki,

The hunt was a GREAT success! It took the kids over an hour to get through it, and they all had a really good time. Digging up the treasure was so exciting!

Thanks for all your input, it was priceless, even if I never did a treasure hunt again your book was worth the money spent! (but OF COURSE we'll be using it again and again, now we'll be professionals before you know it!)

I'll keep you posted on our next one...

Ciao from Italy

Fabrizia, Italy

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Treasure Hunt for my Grandson

I am in Montreal, NC, USA planning a birthday party for my grandson and his friends ages 10-12, though some younger brothers and sisters and parents will probably join in. I am the grandmother writing on the grandfathers e-mail. We live on the side of a mountain with steep slopes, lots of stone steps, a creek, a large goldfish pond and lots of good places to hide things. The party is an annual occasion with most of the children running wild, chasing each other, in what appears to an adult to be an aimless fashion. A few stay inside quietly playing board games. So...

this year the treasure hunt seems like a good idea and maybe all will engaged. I think they are definitely old enough! The party is scheduled for Sunday, June 5. I like the fact that you are interested in feed back and so enthusiastic about what you do! Sincerely,

Gale Hussey, North Carolina USA

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Treasure hunt for annual block party - so fabulous the neighbors will HATE us!

Hi Nikki,

Yes, I have finally had the time to download the Treasure Hunt Game with the Pirate Theme (Thank GOD that 'Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest' has hit the movies this Summer!). All the amenities we need to support the theme is in all of the party stores everywhere in NY.

The Hunt if for an upcoming Annual Block Party that takes place in my town of West Babylon, NY, USA. We believe that the Hunt will be organized for approximately 45 - 50 youngsters (~ 5 - 6 children per Team @ 8 - 9 stations/houses).

We have even recruited the help of all the participating neighbors to act as Station Overseers to oversee and judge the puzzles and challenges! We figure why not get the whole lot of them involved right??......It's a PARTY and we're all there to have fun!

It is a rather large party, and we have ordered the Child version for ages 6 - 16. We have incorporated most of the puzzles and challenges that you have suggested in the 'Pirate Theme package', only because we no imagination! (That's not really true....but there are so many other details to attend to, as our house alone is expecting ~ 100 persons throughout the day, and there are about 8 or 9 families participating on our block!).

We are very excited about how the Treasure Hunt will come out, but the Block Party Organizer seems to think it will be the 'hit of the party'! Our neighbor's are going to HATE us! We don't have any children, and seem to come up with all the great ideas at this annual event.......with YOUR HELP this time of course! Thank you!

I will write back once we have played (8/12 or 13th) to provide you with some feedback on the outcome, or.....should I hit a mental block and need some suggestions I will contact you earlier! (ha-ha-ha)!

Thanks again for making this as simple as possible, and we look forward to a great event.

Most Sincerely,

Mike Boruch, New York USA

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