Saturday 30 June 2012

Great pirate treasure hunt

Originally I was going to use the Treasure Hunt and plan a 'Trip to Britain' with a Visa as an invitation and serve fish and chips in Newspaper. My son didn't really get that whole theme so we are going with the Pirate Treasure Hunt you sent me which he is very excited about. Glad I got both-thanks so much

I found a great web site 'deadmentellnotales.com' which has pirate stuff galore' so prop wise we are well on our way (I even got Pirate music from the web site). I think I will put a lock on the treasure chest anyway, and give out three numbers at some of the stations. With three numbers they should be able to work out the different combinations and open the chest.

I won't do teams, they will all work together. I would like to add one additional station. I like the mummy idea from the regular game-do pirates do anything similar?

Do you have suggestions for food at a Pirate party?

I am having a great time planning this party and couldn't have done it properly without your assistance.

Now I just need to learn to talk and act like a pirate!

Michelle Caragol, Colorado USA

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Treasure hunt suggestions appreciated

Nikki

We had the party and it was great. Appreciate all the suggestions in the book. Have a great holiday weekend

Tracey Ivaldi, New Jersey, USA

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Friday 29 June 2012

Easter scavenger hunt around the house

Hi Nikki,

So, just to let you know, everything went well. Easter is a big deal at our house.....always has been. My husband and I don't have any kids, but my sisters do, and have been coming to our home for Easter brunch for years...probably 15 years or so. I have always made a game of some sort for the kids...there are 8 of them. When they were little we had yarn woven in, around, under, on top of etc furniture, and knick knacks within our bottom two rooms....family room and recreation room. Slightly hidden along the trail where gifts/chocolate etc for the kids. As the kids got bigger it became more challenging. I've done Kim's games with them, word quizzes....oh many things....just can't think of them off the top of my head. I keep kidding the kids, that they are getting too old for this...the game...the gifts...the treats. But of course, they don't think so :) So, each year, it takes me awhile to come up with something a little different. Basically, what I'm looking at are 8 kids, each of whom is getting about 10 gifts (my Mum and sisters drop off their gifts to me to be included). This works out to 60 "places" within our home that I need to identify as the prize location somehow.

I don't know if this is making much sense to you, as I'm writing it. So I'd thought of a scavenger hunt of some sort for some time. So, I bought yours this year....and I was able to use the ideas. I took suggestions from the "Scavenger Hunt - Around the Home" and the "Memory Hunt". The kids

range in ages from 10 to 18. The oldest 2 brought their boy friends this year! I came up with 60 questions (5 questions per kid) ranging in difficulty eg. "How many holes are in the air tub?", "What brand name toaster oven is in the kitchen?" to "What was tested on November 13, 1996?". The answer to the last one is "the gas regulation pressure test". There is a tag that hangs off the gas pipe in the laundry room. Another one that had one of them stumped for awhile was, "Where do you find the number 39615119?". The answer is the "water meter". The kids like the challenge...they won't give up. I also had them each find 5 particular items in the house. For example....everyone had to find a tea light. These are normally around the house, but by the time eight kids have picked one up, kids #9 and 10 are having more difficulty finding one. I had a couple of other things for them to do as well.

So, it went well. I think they'll be 30 years old and I'll still be doing it. I'll read through your material again next year and come up with something else for them to do.

Thanks for the hunt/games and your emails. As I said, it went very well.

Tracey Stamp, Ontario, Canada

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Youth church activity treasure hunt

I really appreciate the game. We used the game for youth church activity. The group ranging from 12- 18 years old had a fun time together. The puzzle pieces had a riddle on it that led them to the key to the treasure chest. We had a wonderful time.

Justin Peters, Massachusetts USA

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Thursday 28 June 2012

Age appropriate treasure hunt clues

The kids loved the treasure hunt, and it was great to have the clues age-appropriate.

Thanks!

Elizabeth Dessen, Pennsylvania, USA

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Treasure in the Australian bush!

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. They had to do a basketball challenge, measure the driveway (28m), a crossword challenge, word unscramble and a balancing challenge.

Instead of having a competition to be first to find the treasure, we had two teams and one had to solve the riddle to find a map that lead them to the treasure, the other team had to solve their riddle to find a map that lead them to the key that unlocked the treasure. This way there was no losers and no unhappy party goers.

The treasure and the key (which was in an old gumboot) were hidden in the bush behind our house. (Not just one bush, I mean bushland, sorry, I used Aussie term).

When they had the treasure and the key they met in the hide-out to open the treasure. The treasure was filled with fake pearl necklaces, fake gold necklaces, glass stones (they were meant to be diamonds) and gold coins (chocolate filled).

Thanks again

Tania Keenan, NSW Australia

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Wednesday 27 June 2012

Treasure hunt game makes a unique party.

We had the party last night. Around 20 something seventh graders with a few other ages thrown in. They had a blast. We used our yard and a neighbor's yard for the play area (not too big, but some room to run) and buried the treasure on the edge of the property. The planning was relatively easy with your planner. The kids hadn't done anything similar at any other party they've been to - which is exactly what my daughter wanted. The checklist was a blessing - it helped me make sure I had everything ready... I think the party was a great success.

The game started at 5:45 and they were completely finished by 6:30 - which was much faster than I had anticipated. But it worked out fine.

The treasure hunt was a great idea and your planner certainly helped make it possible. I never would have found the time to coordinate all the timetables, challenges, clues and instructions without it. It was worth my investment.

Sheri Williams, Montana, USA

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Baby shower treasure hunt

Hi 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

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Tuesday 26 June 2012

School scavenger hunt unearths interesting facts

Hi Nikki!

It went very well. Because we are a heritage building, I was able to find lots of unusual and interesting questions. For example there are pictures of the classes on the three floors dating back to 1907. One question was how many colours had the double front doors been (class pictures were always taken on the front steps). There are many facts/stories lining the walls up to the attic so I was able to pick out a few interesting questions from there. Anyway the students had a blast. I had also created a treasure map puzzle and as they searched for answers to the scavenger hunt they were also looking for puzzle pieces. At the end they put all of the pieces together and there was a riddle about where to find "treasure". They loved it!

Beverly Ruberg, British Columbia, Canada

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School scavenger hunt unearths interesting facts

Hi Nikki!

It went very well. Because we are a heritage building, I was able to find lots of unusual and interesting questions. For example there are pictures of the classes on the three floors dating back to 1907. One question was how many colours had the double front doors been (class pictures were always taken on the front steps). There are many facts/stories lining the walls up to the attic so I was able to pick out a few interesting questions from there. Anyway the students had a blast. I had also created a treasure map puzzle and as they searched for answers to the scavenger hunt they were also looking for puzzle pieces. At the end they put all of the pieces together and there was a riddle about where to find "treasure". They loved it!

Beverly Ruberg, British Columbia, Canada

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Monday 25 June 2012

Treasure hunt help is apprreciated

Nikki! You're the best! Thanks so much!

Rachel Lawry, Alabama, USA

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Still recuperating from Halloween treasure hunt

Nikki,

It is Sunday and we are recuperating from the Halloween Party we hosted for our 10 year old son. The boys loved the treasure hunt! Thank you.

I had the boys eat and drink gross looking candy ( a bug, blood and vomit). I also bought 2 paint guns (they are manual and without CO2 or battery) and had them shoot at a skeleton that I painted on a piece of plywood (very easy). I am considering an adult party next year. Any advice? Thank you,

Patty Lamp, Illinois USA

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Sunday 24 June 2012

Looking for more opportunities for treasure hunt

Hi Nikki- Overall things were great -- It really was fun and I'm looking for an opportunity to do another Treasure Hunt. I ended with each of 4 teams finding one-fourth of a Treasure Map -- they all had to work together to get a Treasure Chest filled with Goodie Bags. Thanks, this was great!

Janet Brewe, New Hampshire USA

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4th July Treasure Hunt

Hi Nikki,

Our treasure hunt on the 4th of July was a lot of fun. We had 35 kids(and adults) running all over the yard in the rain.!! After they solved their riddles the hunt then took them into the woods with compasses and shovels and they had to find the "buried" treasure. It certainly was a memorable day--thanks for the help in getting me organized.

Sharon Kloter, Connecticut, USA

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Saturday 23 June 2012

Treasure hunt on a peninsula in Sydney, Australia

Hi Nikki,

I did receive my Treasure Hunt Planner. Thank you

We are planning to do the treasure hunt for my son's 10th birthday party in September. I had found a great site near us, on a small peninsula on Sydney Harbour (Australia). My son and I are pretty excited about the planning and the party. I would be glad to send you some photos after the party.

Thanks again

Annette Wilson, Sydney Australia

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Hi Nikki,

The treasure hunt was a success. Some of the kids were just a little confused in the beginning, either they were not listening to the instructions (typical teenagers) or my instructions were not clear. I should probably have shown samples of what they were supposed to look for like the station's names, next destination and the challenges.

But finally they got it and everybody had a great time. Thanks.

Catalina Alter, Hong Kong

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Friday 22 June 2012

Excellent customer service for treasure hunt products

Nikki - You are patience personified. Thank you for your excellent customer service. I will download now. Hooray!

Martha Wiedersheim, New York, USA

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Scavenger hunt is welcomed by Mall Management (eventually)

Nikki,

The party started off great until a group of the kids ran into a security guard who insisted that it was against mall policy and would not let them continue. I had already checked the mall website and code of conduct as well as spoke to some of the retail stores so that they knew what was going

on and all were ok with it. I did not call the mall office which I should have done but the stores were very open to the hunt so I saw no reason to do that as well. The security guard would not let me speak to his supervisor nor was there any mall management there on a Saturday. I gave up and took

the kids bowling but the kids loved the idea and insisted on figuring out the clues that they had not gotten to yet. I have since spoken to mall management, it was not against mall policy and they are sending out apologies to all kids involved as well as rescheduling the hunt and giving the kids gift cards and other things to help make up for the rude, stupid security guard.

Here is a list of the clues and activities that they were supposed to do. I had made a scrapbook with the clues in it for each kid and left places for the pictures that they were supposed to take during the hunt. There were 4 groups of kids and each group had the same clues for the first half of the

hunt but were all in a different order so that they would not be running into each other and such. We were meeting halfway and switching teams so that they could hang out with different kids for the second part of the hunt. The kids loved it and were very disappointed with the security guard (he is no longer employed there as well).

Your information helped me stay organized and I do appreciate it!

Thanks,

Cindi Brackins, North Carolina, USA

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Thursday 21 June 2012

Treasure hunt book sales have impeccable customer service

Thanks 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

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School scavenger hunt unearths interesting facts

Hi Nikki!

It went very well. Because we are a heritage building, I was able to find lots of unusual and interesting questions. For example there are pictures of the classes on the three floors dating back to 1907. One question was how many colours had the double front doors been (class pictures were always taken on the front steps). There are many facts/stories lining the walls up to the attic so I was able to pick out a few interesting questions from there. Anyway the students had a blast. I had also created a treasure map puzzle and as they searched for answers to the scavenger hunt they were also looking for puzzle pieces. At the end they put all of the pieces together and there was a riddle about where to find "treasure". They loved it!

Beverly Ruberg, British Columbia, Canada

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Wednesday 20 June 2012

Real treasure chest hidden in treasure hunt

Hello,

Well today's party day. My daughter is so excited. I used the styrofoam ice chest and spray painted it and filled it with journals that I wraped in gold and silver paper then I put in chocolate coins, ring pops, colored pens, crystal ring key chains, 100 grand chocolate bars, and I found these little jewel toned jars at a craft store and filled them with candy, then I sprinkeld more coins and jewels around and some colored necklaces. It sure looks like a treasure. WHAT FUN!. The clues were the most fun though. I can't wait to watch them try and figure out where the next one is. I found a little plastic treasure chest with a key at the craft store and I hid the last clue in there. I think this party is sure to be a hit. I'm already thinking about Christmas. It's going to be so much fun.

As to where I am going to bury the treasure. We don't have a place to actually bury it but I have found a great hiding place that will really keep em guessing....

Thanks again,

Kristy (super-mom)

Kristy Bales, California, USA

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Pirate treasure hunt by the lake

No problems with the downloads! I've printed off the materials and will read through them tonight. My party is for 8 boys ages 9 - 12. It is a pirate themed bday party for my 10 year old son. We are holding it at our cabin at a lake. Lots of sand so the whole pirate theme should be great!

Our cabin is near Columbus, NE. The party is on Saturday, July 15th so I need to get going on the preparations!!!

Jill Geisler, New England USA

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Tuesday 19 June 2012

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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Two scavenger hunts on consecutive nights

Nikki,

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

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Monday 18 June 2012

Scavenger hunts for both parents and children

The scavenger hunt was great! We had a huge candy bar for the team with the most points. Gum for the best turkey. Silly String for the silliest poem. Cotton candy for the sweetest good deed. Diapers filled with candy for the best babysitter stuff.

My sister lives across the street, and she took all the little brothers and sisters, and had an indoor scavenger hunt with them! Fun!

They all had fun! And, the parents had a great time! While they were gone, we had time to build a fire and go get the pizza. Perfect! Thank you for all your help!

Amy Evans, Texas USA

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School scavenger hunt unearths interesting facts

Hi Nikki!

It went very well. Because we are a heritage building, I was able to find lots of unusual and interesting questions. For example there are pictures of the classes on the three floors dating back to 1907. One question was how many colours had the double front doors been (class pictures were always taken on the front steps). There are many facts/stories lining the walls up to the attic so I was able to pick out a few interesting questions from there. Anyway the students had a blast. I had also created a treasure map puzzle and as they searched for answers to the scavenger hunt they were also looking for puzzle pieces. At the end they put all of the pieces together and there was a riddle about where to find "treasure". They loved it!

Beverly Ruberg, British Columbia, Canada

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Sunday 17 June 2012

Best birthday EVER - treasure hunt

Thank you - "It was the best birthday - -EVER" - my 15 year old had a total of 6 girls and they went around the neighborhood to 6 different house to complete the tasks. We had the party last week and the girls at school are still talking about it. Thank you sooooo much.

Siobhan Fox, Florida, USA

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9 year old birthday party treasure hunt success

Hello Nikki,

Thanks for the e-mails and suggestions. I have enjoyed your treasure hunt ideas and games and gave them a try at my daughters birthday party. She is 9 and the girls had a ball. We had a backwards party and it was definately the hit of the party. I also run a kids program at a guest ranch in Colorado and look forward to using many of your ideas with them. I have done many "on skis" treasure hunts and look forward to incoporating many of your ideas with my own outdoor twists. It is a nice way to spark new ideas as well as using the ones you provided.

Thank you for the follow up!

Kelli, Colorado, USA

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Saturday 16 June 2012

Treasure hunt planner was user friendly

We had our treasure hunt Sat night. It was great. The students enjoyed it and so did the adults that were working the different stations. I was so relieved to have something already complete and ready to use. It was user friendly. We changed the font and copied it onto brown aged paper and it looked so real. We had middle school age and college age. They all enjoyed it. We had the stations set up among a pirate town and they had to go through the town to complete. We used it to eliminate the teams to two and the two completed a treasure hunt that was extra. Thank you for such a good product.

Pam Bennett, Tennessee USA

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Friday 15 June 2012

Easy to create Instant Treasure Hunt

Nikki,

We had out Pirate party on Saturday the 4th. The treasure hunt was a big hit.

I had my 14 year old daughter work on the instant treasure hunt game for me since I was running out of time getting the party ready.

We had 9 families with 1-5 kids per family. Lots of bodies. The parents had to participate with their

kids. Everyone said it was a nice way to involve them in the theme of the party. They all ended up with wooden treasure chests full of toys, candy & mini rum bottle (for mom and dad).

This was so easy, even for my daughter to handle. It was a great hit. And everyone was so

impressed with my daughter for putting together such a big project.

We will definitely use the game again.

Ann Kruger, Oregon, USA

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Corporate team building scavenger hunt

Nikki - you are a life saver! I really love it and as a result of your packaged managed to switch gears and really make my hunt something special, it happens on Tuesday, now I have full confidence it will be a winner!!

In Victoria, BC - Tues Apr 10 (I'd already done a lot of pre-planning) for Company Team Building, all adults/

Cheers!

Chris Hill, British Columbia Canada

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Thursday 14 June 2012

Mall scavenger hunt is a blast

We had a Mall Scavenger Hunt for my daughters 12th birthday last Friday. It was a blast. I used some of your ideas and then added some of my own. They divided up into two teams by pulling a color out of a basket. Each team was given a gift bag with $2, a digital camera (we have keepsake photos), a pen and the list of items they needed to obtain. I gave them one hour. Some of the items were pictures of different things with the group. They were very cute and the girls had a blast. Each team came back with stories and as the evening went on at our home, the stories got funnier and funnier. Thanks for the help. It was a really good time. We are going away this weekend and there are 3 families traveling in 3 different cars. We are thinking of doing the interstate scavenger hunt. Just not sure if I will have the time to get it together before we leave.

LouEllen Michel, Maryland, 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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Wednesday 13 June 2012

Treasure hunt will be repeated

The treasure hunt was great. I downloaded the new adobe version, and then it worked.! Every thing went smoothly and the boys loved it! I will be doing more treasure hunts in the future!

Thanks,

Laura Morreale, New Jersey, USA

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Nancy Drew themed treasure hunt is a success

Hi Nikki!

Our treasure hunts were lots of fun! We modified the plan for our daughter to have a treasure hunt based on a Nancy Drew theme. I renamed the stations with titles for Nancy Drew Mysteries and named the teams different desserts based on the Nancy Drew movie that came out last summer. We used your party idea for developing two person teams by letting them pick and shoe andshoestring, spoon and fork, etc. All of the girls ages 10-11 seemed to really enjoy all of what we did. They were even very excited to find the treasure under our porch at twilight which our son had hidden. We also used some of your ideas for our son's party. He had an Indiana Jones themed party and only three friends so we really couldn't form teams, we just let them move through kind of an obstacle hunt to find their treasure.

Thank you for all of your great ideas! They really helped to make our children's parties an exciting success!

Most grateful,

Amy Brown, North Carolina, USA

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Tuesday 12 June 2012

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 sales have impeccable customer service

Thanks 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

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Monday 11 June 2012

Looking for more opportunities for treasure hunt

Hi Nikki- Overall things were great -- It really was fun and I'm looking for an opportunity to do another Treasure Hunt. I ended with each of 4 teams finding one-fourth of a Treasure Map -- they all had to work together to get a Treasure Chest filled with Goodie Bags. Thanks, this was great!

Janet Brewe, New Hampshire USA

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Treasure hunt fun for 8th birthday

It was a lot of fun for my daughter and her friends (8th bday). We did a water balloon toss station, maze/jump rope/run around cones station, word find station, question station, basketball (must make 5 baskets each) station, and a math station. We have a very large field with a section of woods where we buried a lock box with treasures in it. It all went very well with the exception of my hiding of the map the night before and not being able to find it until minutes before the party!!!!!oopps. The only thing I would do differently is have a second and third price for each of the teams to win something, though they shared nicely.

Thanks, it was worth the purchase and we will probably use again with adult friends.

DeAnn Steinhorst, New York, USA

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Sunday 10 June 2012

Fun for 8 year olds at treasure hunt party

Nikki,

The treasure hunt was a great success.... I adapted your plans. I had about 12 8 year old boys and girls.... I put them into teams of 3. Each team had a color,... so the clues led to colored poker chips (with the teams corresponding color) which they then found and turned in to get their next clue (each team had an official "clue giver" who held all that team's clues in numeric order)......

For little people this made management of clues and adult supervision much easier. After every two successful clues...the team had a physical challenge ( for example, diving into our pool....swimming through some hoops and picking up gold coins)....The "clue givers" were official judges of the challenges and distributed next clues. The last physical challenge involved a relay race with balloons....the last clue was a puzzle piece (as you suggested) inside the balloon.

When the kids popped their team balloon they realized they needed to come together with the rest of the teams to construct the last clue. They loved the race, the competition, but in the end they were all together as they went -shovels in hand - for the treasure. The treasure was buried in a plastic box in the woods.....amongst all the shiny stuff (beads and gold coins) was a pinata of a treasure chest. The pinata was hung from a tree... and every one had a chance to take a shot at busting it open. Parents loved it.....kids loved it more... they were focused, challenged, excited, and busy.....it took a total of about 55 minutes. Could have gone on longer...but we were a bit generous with the help.. and the kids were a lot smarter and resourceful than I expected.

Good luck with your web site. It was really helpful.

Jamie Jensen, New York, USA

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Impressive treasure hunt guidelines spark more ideas

Hi Nikki,

I am one of the organizers for my company's treasure hunt this coming May so yes I am truly excited. I have read through some of the files you have sent and I will say I am quite impressed as everytime i read your ideas and guidelines I have come up ideas in my head.

Thank you so much for your help..

Maryana Tahir, Malaysia

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Saturday 9 June 2012

Previous treasure hunts were a lot of work

Hi Nikki,

Yes, I have downloaded the Treasure Hunt Party game Planner and bonus gifts. I actually downloaded them right after I ordered the product. It was great. Very fast and very easy. I have briefly read thru the Planner and I think it will make my next Treasure Hunt Party MUCH easier. I am planning one for my daughter's birthday which is not until February so I have plenty of time. I have done a couple of treasure hunts prior to this and they were ALOT of work. The first two I did were like yours where there were stations to go to and some kind of challenge to perform. The last one I did was for my daughter's birthday this past February. It was a Harry Potter Treasure Hunt party and I did not have a lot of time so I just did riddles/cryptograms that led them to another clue in the house and eventually to the treasure.

I like the idea of stations and challenges, however. I think the party in Feb 09 will be much better than the one I did last year. My daughter will be turning 11 in February just to give you an idea of the age group. Last year I found the girls to be quite sharp which is why I purchased the adults/any age group planner. They all really love treasure hunts so this may become an annual event.

Saroja Raman, Maryland, USA

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Planning bigger treasure hunt next year

Hi Nikki,

We had the party last weekend. I had a hunt in our neighborhood park for some 10 year olds. They had a really good time. I decided to have it at the last minute so your list was a big help in planning a hunt in one day. Next year with more time I'll make it much bigger.

Diana Reed, USA

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Friday 8 June 2012

Halloween party planning is such fun!

Nikki,

We did our treasure hunt for a Halloween party we hosted. It was a huge success. I had 14 boys, ages 5-10, and we did it in the house. I spent countless hours after my kids went to bed getting prepared. I couldn't wait and was hoping the kids would have as much fun doing it as I had planning. I had great parent helpers. Surprisingly, the winners were the "little" guys team.

You are a genius!!!! As a non-creative thinker, I could never have come up with something so much fun. The only major change I made was the bobbing for apples station. I felt it would be too messy, and not so sanitary. Instead, I had them remove some "body parts" from the patient in the Operation game. They got a big kick out of that. Otherwise, I followed the Halloween version very closely.

Thanks again!

Gretchen Birch, ohio, USA

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Looking for more opportunities for treasure hunt

Hi Nikki- Overall things were great -- It really was fun and I'm looking for an opportunity to do another Treasure Hunt. I ended with each of 4 teams finding one-fourth of a Treasure Map -- they all had to work together to get a Treasure Chest filled with Goodie Bags. Thanks, this was great!

Janet Brewe, New Hampshire USA

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Thursday 7 June 2012

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 suggestions appreciated

Nikki

We had the party and it was great. Appreciate all the suggestions in the book. Have a great holiday weekend

Tracey Ivaldi, New Jersey, USA

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Wednesday 6 June 2012

Age appropriate treasure hunt clues

The kids loved the treasure hunt, and it was great to have the clues age-appropriate.

Thanks!

Elizabeth Dessen, Pennsylvania, 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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Tuesday 5 June 2012

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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Scavenger hunt is welcomed by Mall Management (eventually)

Nikki,

The party started off great until a group of the kids ran into a security guard who insisted that it was against mall policy and would not let them continue. I had already checked the mall website and code of conduct as well as spoke to some of the retail stores so that they knew what was going

on and all were ok with it. I did not call the mall office which I should have done but the stores were very open to the hunt so I saw no reason to do that as well. The security guard would not let me speak to his supervisor nor was there any mall management there on a Saturday. I gave up and took

the kids bowling but the kids loved the idea and insisted on figuring out the clues that they had not gotten to yet. I have since spoken to mall management, it was not against mall policy and they are sending out apologies to all kids involved as well as rescheduling the hunt and giving the kids gift cards and other things to help make up for the rude, stupid security guard.

Here is a list of the clues and activities that they were supposed to do. I had made a scrapbook with the clues in it for each kid and left places for the pictures that they were supposed to take during the hunt. There were 4 groups of kids and each group had the same clues for the first half of the

hunt but were all in a different order so that they would not be running into each other and such. We were meeting halfway and switching teams so that they could hang out with different kids for the second part of the hunt. The kids loved it and were very disappointed with the security guard (he is no longer employed there as well).

Your information helped me stay organized and I do appreciate it!

Thanks,

Cindi Brackins, North Carolina, USA

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Monday 4 June 2012

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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Treasure hunt book sales have impeccable customer service

Thanks 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

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Sunday 3 June 2012

Already on her THIRD instant treasure hunt!

My kids love the treasure hunts. I am getting ready to print out the THIRD on today!!

Michele Hippensteel, Pennsylvania USA

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Strawberry picking treasure hunt

Hi,

I am planning a strawberry picking party for my 7 year old. And aside from picking strawberries and making their own individual shortcakes I wanted to something else that would take up some time and be unique.

Christine Flory, New York USA

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Saturday 2 June 2012

Treasure in the Australian bush!

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. They had to do a basketball challenge, measure the driveway (28m), a crossword challenge, word unscramble and a balancing challenge.

Instead of having a competition to be first to find the treasure, we had two teams and one had to solve the riddle to find a map that lead them to the treasure, the other team had to solve their riddle to find a map that lead them to the key that unlocked the treasure. This way there was no losers and no unhappy party goers.

The treasure and the key (which was in an old gumboot) were hidden in the bush behind our house. (Not just one bush, I mean bushland, sorry, I used Aussie term).

When they had the treasure and the key they met in the hide-out to open the treasure. The treasure was filled with fake pearl necklaces, fake gold necklaces, glass stones (they were meant to be diamonds) and gold coins (chocolate filled).

Thanks again

Tania Keenan, NSW Australia

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Nikki,

Hi, this Laresa Depew. Tonight, Wednesday, I went on the site and planned the treasure hunt stuff for Thursday afternoon. It was so easy, and so much better than racking my tired brain to put one together. I can not wait to use it on Thursday. I also looked at the games and loved them. Over the weekend I will work on the magic show, for next week also. Thank you so much for all the hard work that you did. I will let you know how it went.

Laresa Depew, Missouri, USA

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Friday 1 June 2012

American Halloween party scavenger hunt

Dear Nikki,

We had a wonderful "Americal Halloween Party" in the midst of Austria (Europe). I teach english for kids with a program called "Show Me The World" and like to do some extracurriculum activities with the kids. I tought them about the jack-o-lantern and where the name halloween comes from. we made stuffed apples, i brought pumpkin pie and after the scavenger hund we broke the jack-o-lantern piniata and had a great time.

The scavenger party planner I found to be very useful, would you have anything on treasure hunts as well?

best wishes,

Genia Lackey, Austria

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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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