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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Custom treasure hunt for sweet sixteen

Nikki,

Thanks for your suggestions I'm well on my way to piecing together a custom treasure hunt for my stepdaughter's sweet sixteen.

Thanks for all your help.

Best Regards

Adrienne Loder, California, USA

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Wonderful time for teenage treasure hunt game

It was a great success and the girls (18) HAD A WONDERFUL TIME. Couldn't have done it without your treasure hunt game/ideas.

A beautiful way to spend a fall evening in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Denise Cox, Alberta, Canada

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National Treasure hunt great success

Thank you for your interest. Our National Treasure Hunt was a success.

We had an awards ceremony and the winning team received medals. We also had a balloon toss, horseshoe games, a coloring contest and a chili cook-off, all those contestants receiving awards. A magic show capped the evening. 60-70 people were in attendance, ages 2-80 years old.

Our event was a success. Thanks.

Sandra Stegen, USA

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Treasure Hunt for Retirement party

Hi Nikki

- Yes, I used your treasure hunt ideas for my friend's retirement pirate party. We live on the Chesapeake Bay and had the party at a beach club on the water. It was absolutely the best fun ever and the highlight of the party. People haven't stopped talking about it for weeks now. I designed the challenges to be like the ones on "Survivor," one of our favorite TV shows.

There was a "Walk the Plank" challenge, (a board on sawhorses over a kid's swimming pool); a "Shooting Gallery" challenge, (shooting cans with a slingshot); a "Toss the Anchor" challenge, ( who can throw it the farthest); a "Peg Leg Pickup" challenge, (2 people blindfolded with legs tied together have to be directed by the 3rd team member to pick up scattered items), a "Pirate Word Scramble" challenge, (unscramble pirate terminology); and a "Pirate Memory" challenge, (30 seconds to study 25 items, then remember as many as you can). I made the clues for the map location rather cryptic--some of the players were teachers and scientists.

They all ended up in a little secluded patch of pine trees on the beach where the treasure was buried (in an actual chest). Three teams actually reached the right spot around the same time --I wish we had thought to have a video camera to document it all! The treasure chest was filled with fake gold coins, a gold plate, silver candlesticks and tons of mardi gras necklaces.

I spent A LOT of time (all enjoyable) designing the hunt based on your ideas and it couldn't have been more successful and memorable. People have already asked me to do another one for next year--sounds like our pirate party will become an annual event! Again, thanks for your great ideas.

Jan Werner, Maryland, USA

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Company picnic and treasure hunt

Nikki,

We are planning a company picnic on July 30 of this year in Morrison, Illinois, USA. We usually have around 175 people there with ages ranging from 0-70. I'm sure not everyone will want to play, so everything should work out well.

I read the book over once on Friday, but today I will actually sit down with a committee and start planning.

Thank you for support!

Christy Hackett, Illinois USA

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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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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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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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Time saved in treasure hunt planning

Hi Nikki,

I was in a bind for a party TODAY that I promised my daughter a scavenger hunt for. I was not able to focus on any ONE idea to get me started when I pulled your info up on the internet. I'm so excited because we are the "party home" of both my daughters' schools and now I feel I can do this by tonight. Thanks for sharing--and you're right...it's well worth the money in hours of time saved in planning alone. And all this is said before I've even gone through all your info. I can tell it's been well-planned though and that's huge to me.

Shelley Springhetti, Wisconsin, 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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Excited pirates waiting for their treasure hunt

Nikki,

The party is happening this Sunday coming. At the moment we have 18 very excited 10 & 11 year old boys looking forward to the upcoming treasure hunt.

The invitations were a huge hit. I hand delivered in the darkness of night, washed wine bottles. The outers were wrapped in a printed map with a poem that I had made up -

"This bottle comes to you on shore,

Floating 11 years from days of yore

.......................

It went on to say that the recipient of the bottle had to work through a series of clues to work out where and when the party was and who it was for. Inside the bottle I had tightly rolled another larger

map which had all of the clues. I had also wrapped some scull and crossbones fabric around the neck of the bottle (all of the kids have been asked to bring this to the party on the day and they can wear this twisted with some coloured fabric that I will hand out as soon as we have selected the teams as per your instructions eg Black brigands will get black fabric and twist with the scull and cross bone, Blue, Yellow, Orange etc)

Also tied to the neck of the bottle was some fairly roughly hacked paper, which had the child's name and his pirate name for the day eg Mr. Peter Piper, Pirate name - One eyed Scurvy dog

The feedback that I have had from children and parents has been sensational. Now just hoping that I can pull the party together so that all goes smoothly and the kids have fun.

Best regards

Anita Sawrey, Victoria, Australia

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Hi Nikki,

Thanks so much for your info! We had a beach party for 3 graduates with all ages attending and had a great time.

Since we weren't in a familiar area, I made a list of "Something (with) ______." The small kids had a wonderful time and felt very included.

With appreciation,

Gail Fletcher, USA

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Personalized treasure hunt is a great success

I had the treasure hunt. Although we made changes from what you suggested, I was able to use many suggestions from your material. It was so awesome, I'll be doing another one for the family children at Thanksgiving (about 12 kids from 4-12).

Eric Waddell, North Carolina, 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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Wonderful time for teenage treasure hunt game

It was a great success and the girls (18) HAD A WONDERFUL TIME. Couldn't have done it without your treasure hunt game/ideas.

A beautiful way to spend a fall evening in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Denise Cox, Alberta, Canada

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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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Modify treasure hunt to work in your unique situation

Hi Nikki,

Thank you for your email, our party was on Saturday, the 22nd. As it turned out, I did not bury the treasure, I modified the party plans provided in your game and the party was a great success.

Thank you for your help.

Sherry Staub, Indiana, USA

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Digital photo scavenger hunt

Hi,

The event will be at a farm with 30 high school students attending. I am thinking of combing the outside hunt with some of the digital photo ideas. I've enjoyed getting many ideas from this creative source.

Thanks,

Elizabeth Meyer, Montana, USA

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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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Western theme treasure hunt for family reunion

Nikki-

I planned our treasure hunt for our Family Reunion. Our reunion this year had a Western Theme, so our Treasure Hunt was based on a train robbery. Each team had a "gang" name . We had 6 teams of five The Dalton Gang, the Hole in the Wall Gang etc... I had everyone pick their team then they all had to draw different colored bandannas out of an over sized novelty cowboy hat. What ever color bandanna they got was what gang they were in. I thought the idea of a family reunion was to get to know your entire family and this way we just didn't stay with the cousins we were familiar with, it was a neat "trick" and very funny! Each station was a train depot and they all had Western town names, Laredo, Death Valley, Dodge City etc..

At each station the tasks also stayed within our theme. We had hoppy balls that looked like horseys, there was a course they had to bounce along (it was so funny!), stick horse races, one station they had to apply a brand tattoo and wear a cowboy hat, it was all simple, fast and FUN. The final clue was placed on a swing at the campsite and the swing was shaped like a horse (that wasn't planned, it just happened!). The treasure wasn't buried, but hidden under a HUGE bush so the winning team had to actually burrow under the foliage to find the chest. The chest was a replica of a train chest, complete with a big ole rusty padlock.

The winning gang had to return to the shelter house to open the chest after we had gathered all the teams back. The treasure was play money, gold nugget gum, bubble gum foil coins and foil chocolate coins. I also had suckers shaped like stars, and cactus and cowboy boots, and mardigras beads. I curled metallic ribbon and when they opened the chest there were a lot of oohhh's and ahhh's. This game was a BLAST and everyone was talking about it, I can't wait to see the pictures! It was a lot of prep time, but it was SO worth it. My cousin and I are talking about doing a version for Homecoming this fall!

Thanks so much.

Debbie Leaming, Oklahoma, USA

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Treasure hunt on the beach

Hi Nikki

We had a fantastic time! The treasure hunt went very well, in an idyllic setting on the beach here in Phuket, Thailand and kids loved it - when they found the treasure they were going crazy. Here is a link to the pics ....

The whole concept was very easy to follow - because the kids were only around 4 years old, I added pictures to each port, so they could follow the pictures to the next place, and modified some of the challenges. All of the parents said how great it was and a fabulous time was had by all. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to anyone who wants to do something a bit different for their next party. Thanks very much for a great product!

Kind regards

Krista Hunter, Phuket, Thailand

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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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Excited pirates waiting for their treasure hunt

Nikki,

The party is happening this Sunday coming. At the moment we have 18 very excited 10 & 11 year old boys looking forward to the upcoming treasure hunt.

The invitations were a huge hit. I hand delivered in the darkness of night, washed wine bottles. The outers were wrapped in a printed map with a poem that I had made up -

"This bottle comes to you on shore,

Floating 11 years from days of yore

.......................

It went on to say that the recipient of the bottle had to work through a series of clues to work out where and when the party was and who it was for. Inside the bottle I had tightly rolled another larger

map which had all of the clues. I had also wrapped some scull and crossbones fabric around the neck of the bottle (all of the kids have been asked to bring this to the party on the day and they can wear this twisted with some coloured fabric that I will hand out as soon as we have selected the teams as per your instructions eg Black brigands will get black fabric and twist with the scull and cross bone, Blue, Yellow, Orange etc)

Also tied to the neck of the bottle was some fairly roughly hacked paper, which had the child's name and his pirate name for the day eg Mr. Peter Piper, Pirate name - One eyed Scurvy dog

The feedback that I have had from children and parents has been sensational. Now just hoping that I can pull the party together so that all goes smoothly and the kids have fun.

Best regards

Anita Sawrey, Victoria, Australia

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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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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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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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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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Treasure hunt help is apprreciated

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

Rachel Lawry, Alabama, USA

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Easer treasure hunt made easy!

I made a game for Easter. I do it every year, but your website helped me tremendously!! It has become a tradition in our house that the Easter Bunny leaves clues throughout the house for the children to find

their Easter baskets. I used to spend so much time making the clues, but your website cut down on the time tremendously.

Katie Ohlmann, Indiana, USA

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Recommended for scavenger hunts

Thank You for your quick response. I will definatley recommend to anyone I now planning a party interested in scavenger hunts.

Jodi Hoines, North Carolina, USA

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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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Western theme treasure hunt for family reunion

Nikki-

I planned our treasure hunt for our Family Reunion. Our reunion this year had a Western Theme, so our Treasure Hunt was based on a train robbery. Each team had a "gang" name . We had 6 teams of five The Dalton Gang, the Hole in the Wall Gang etc... I had everyone pick their team then they all had to draw different colored bandannas out of an over sized novelty cowboy hat. What ever color bandanna they got was what gang they were in. I thought the idea of a family reunion was to get to know your entire family and this way we just didn't stay with the cousins we were familiar with, it was a neat "trick" and very funny! Each station was a train depot and they all had Western town names, Laredo, Death Valley, Dodge City etc..

At each station the tasks also stayed within our theme. We had hoppy balls that looked like horseys, there was a course they had to bounce along (it was so funny!), stick horse races, one station they had to apply a brand tattoo and wear a cowboy hat, it was all simple, fast and FUN. The final clue was placed on a swing at the campsite and the swing was shaped like a horse (that wasn't planned, it just happened!). The treasure wasn't buried, but hidden under a HUGE bush so the winning team had to actually burrow under the foliage to find the chest. The chest was a replica of a train chest, complete with a big ole rusty padlock.

The winning gang had to return to the shelter house to open the chest after we had gathered all the teams back. The treasure was play money, gold nugget gum, bubble gum foil coins and foil chocolate coins. I also had suckers shaped like stars, and cactus and cowboy boots, and mardigras beads. I curled metallic ribbon and when they opened the chest there were a lot of oohhh's and ahhh's. This game was a BLAST and everyone was talking about it, I can't wait to see the pictures! It was a lot of prep time, but it was SO worth it. My cousin and I are talking about doing a version for Homecoming this fall!

Thanks so much.

Debbie Leaming, Oklahoma, USA

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Teen birthday party scavenger hunt

Hey Nikki

I did another one for a 13 year old birthday party that was pretty cool

I took a bunch of magazines, poster board, scissors and glue,

And I made a list of things to find in the magazine.

Something you would need for college

A boy

A girl

Something red

Something bright

…..

And then they made a collage on the poster board….

So then I took this one step further, and I am sure you have heard of the movie and the book "the secret"

Well we did one to talk about the law of attraction, for a group of adults. It was awesome !

Thank You

JoAnn Seckus, Illinois, USA

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Help makes treasure hunt go great

Nikki,

Yes, we had our Treasure Hunt on 11/18. I had a little panic moment for the preparation since we didn't quite know what to get and stuff, but with great help of my 15-year-old daughter on that day, we could make it to a very exciting, fun treasure hunt. So everything went well after all. Thank you.

Rie Bach, California, 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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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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12th birthday treasure hunt turned out real nice

Nikki,

Yes, we have had our treasure hunt. I don't know what I was looking for when I purchased your book....However it did help. I put the kids (age 7-13) into three teams. We used the stations where the teams had to go and complete a task as a team to earn clues. Each team had to figure out their clues to find their party goody bags. So the kids had a good time and it took them about 1 1/2hrs to do it.

My daughters 12th birthday turned out nice...

Kathleen Noriega, Arizona USA

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Pirate treasure hunt for 40th wedding anniversary

Hi, Nikki! I have received the party planner The party will take place in Concord, North Carolina, USA, and it will be on August 5th 2006. The occasion is our 40th wedding anniversary party. The age range, I think, will be 'no kids', but I'm not sure about that, yet. And the theme of the treasure hunt is your pirate theme! We think it's going to be a lot of fun!

Judy Quickel, North Carolina 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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Church block party treasure hunt game

Dear Nikki,

We are planning a Block Party at our church and your ideas really started my creative juices flowing!! Here are some "stations" we are considering as a way to involve the whole family in some fun together. Thanks so much for your great ideas! The planning/organizing part was THE BEST!

(These are some ideas for station activities. The activities on the lists would be shuffled around so everyone does not head for the same station at the same time. A few simple prizes would be awarded using the completed papers for a drawing. Older children could help younger ones and families could do the activities together. Volunteers would place simple bug stickers on the papers to show that a station was completed. Some of the stations are easy enough for one person to handle two activities. Each station would be clearly marked with its name and directions on how to complete the activity. Nobody complained about the bug theme so I just ran with it!!)

Nothings Bugging Me!!

Family Activity Stations

Move to each station in the order listed on your paper. Complete the activity and receive a sticker from the "Pest Control Officer". Turn in your completed paper for our prize drawing.

Ladybug Station Make a bug cookie

Buzzing Bee Station Sing a bug related song

Exterminator Station Use a spray bottle(Pressurized) to knock over

the "bugs" (Empty bottles decorated like bugs)

Bug Infested Swamp Cross the "swamp" by walking on a

plank(a long board) and hopping over bugs

Bug Tattoo Station Choose your favorite bug for a tattoo

Fly Swatter Station Move (plastic)bugs to a bucket using a fly

swatter

Fill the Hive Use a paper cup to fill your "hive"(small bowl)

with "honey"(water)

Bug Search Find at least 5 plastic bugs hiding in

the church lawn

Pat Swanson, Minnesota, 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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Wonderful time for teenage treasure hunt game

It was a great success and the girls (18) HAD A WONDERFUL TIME. Couldn't have done it without your treasure hunt game/ideas.

A beautiful way to spend a fall evening in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Denise Cox, Alberta, Canada

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12th birthday treasure hunt turned out real nice

Nikki,

Yes, we have had our treasure hunt. I don't know what I was looking for when I purchased your book....However it did help. I put the kids (age 7-13) into three teams. We used the stations where the teams had to go and complete a task as a team to earn clues. Each team had to figure out their clues to find their party goody bags. So the kids had a good time and it took them about 1 1/2hrs to do it.

My daughters 12th birthday turned out nice...

Kathleen Noriega, Arizona USA

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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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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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Recommended for scavenger hunts

Thank You for your quick response. I will definatley recommend to anyone I now planning a party interested in scavenger hunts.

Jodi Hoines, North Carolina, 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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Plans to have a lot more scavenger hunts

Hi Nikki,

our birthday scavenger hunt was a GREAT success. Your material gave me lots to choose from and I was grateful. I used the treasure map for the invitations and rolled them up to hand out. The list was on the treasure map and it was 8 items to look for or info to find and 8 were photos to take to make memories & proof of it getting done. It was a teen girl team against teen guy team and the playing field was the city of Wichita, KS so they had a certain time to be back complete or not and the one with the most done was the winner. They all came back with wonderful stories and had lots of fun. I learned though that the guy against girl wasn't the best cause the guys were too COOL to do some of the list, but the things they did they had FUN! Whereas if they had mixed teams the girls would have persuaded them into doing everything.

While planning this double birthday party it has prompted other ideas one for our leadership Christmas party at church promoting unity & working together to accomplish a task.

Also I have talked with our the coordinator who is up for the idea of a scavenger hunt during next summer's Family Reunion. Should be loads of fun.

Thanks for the great info! I am going to try to send a photo let me know if it makes it.

Dena Hudson, Kansas 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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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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Treasure hunt is so creative

Hey Nikki,

The hunt was tonnes of fun, the crowd was 7 and 8 year olds so fairly easy to please. The treasure was a big box of loot bags full of candy, so like I said they were easy to please. Plus the tasks we came up with were fun.

Everyone thinks I am a genius, and I didn't share my secret because I know everyone would said " you paid for a treasure hunt game? You could have thought that up yourself." Which might be true, since I am a creative sort of person, but I was in such a bind, and finding your website so randomly totally saved the day. It's easy to say I could have done this or that, but it is entirely another to actually do it and put it all together like you have. Thank you so much. There were many aspects that I wouldn't have thought of myself.

There were a few adults who seemed like they might be interested in have a scavenger hunt/rally i will definitely be checking your site for anything new and interesting if we get something together. I would love to host something like that, plain old dinner parties are so boring.

Cheers, Beena

PS I will try to get some pics for you soon.

Beena Patel, Ontario, Canada

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So much fun with instant treasure hunt clues

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the instant treasure hunt game-it was a blast and so much fun! For next time, we will need to better prepared-my daughter wanted to do it all and selected 45 clue-too many for this party. She also wanted to have colored envelopes which I made from paper-that was fun but too time consuming. I am looking forward to using this again for my little one's 6th birthday in October. Or maybe we will try out the scavenger hunt.

Thanks so much!

Karen Kruidenier, Pennsylvania, USA

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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 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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Personalized treasure hunt is a great success

I had the treasure hunt. Although we made changes from what you suggested, I was able to use many suggestions from your material. It was so awesome, I'll be doing another one for the family children at Thanksgiving (about 12 kids from 4-12).

Eric Waddell, 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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Girls so much more up for it than the guys!

Hi Nikki,

Yes our birthday scavenger hunt was a GREAT success. Your material gave me lots to choose from and I was grateful. I used the treasure map for the invitations and rolled them up to hand out. The list was on the treasure map and it was 8 items to look for or info to find and 8 photos to take to make memories & proof of it getting done. It was a teen girl team against teen guy team and the playing field was the city of Wichita, KS so they had a certain time to be back complete or not and the one with the most done was the winner. They all came back with wonderful stories and had lots of fun. I learned though that the guy against girl wasn't the best cause the guys were too COOL to do some of the list, but the things they did they had FUN! Whereas if they had had mixed teams the girls would have persuaded them into doing everything!!

3 of the top things they talk still about doing were:

1) Photo with policeman (extra points if he'll let you all in his car) He did but didn't thing they would all fit & they crammed in the back seat - he took the picture.:)

2) Signature of fireman (the girls took it a step farther and asked if he could bring the truck to their house for EXTRA points) they couldn't

3) the most daring (per girls) was going to get 2 balloons from some restaurant and giving one away to a kid and bring one home (this was Fri. night during busy evening meal and they went into Applebees asked for 2 balloons and went up to a family that had a girl and asked to take her picture while they were eating & the little girl was sooooo happy.

On the other hand the guys said the police they stay away from so it was crossed off their list from the start NOT to do. They like going to the mall and riding the merry go round. They also liked finding a statue to take a picture with came back with MANY statue pictures it was funny. They also didn't have a hard time finding hats & taking pictures except they were worried about messing their hair up (what's up with that!)

While planning this double birthday party it has prompted other ideas one for our leadership Christmas party at church promoting unity & working together to accomplish a task. Also I have talked with our

Coordinator who is up for the idea of a scavenger hunt during next summer's Family Reunion. Should be loads of fun.

Thanks for the great info! I am going to try to send a photo let me know if it makes it.

Dena Hudson, Kansas USA

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Treasure hunt book is worth every penny!

I ordered your Treasure Hunt for Halloween about an hour ago and I am so impressed!!! I have a big Halloween party every year and I'm always looking for something new to entertain the kids – I can't wait to play this Treasure Hunt!! Thank you for saving me so much time and effort – this is worth every penny for that reason alone. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!

Lorraine Turkel, Florida, 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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So much fun with instant treasure hunt clues

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the instant treasure hunt game-it was a blast and so much fun! For next time, we will need to better prepared-my daughter wanted to do it all and selected 45 clue-too many for this party. She also wanted to have colored envelopes which I made from paper-that was fun but too time consuming. I am looking forward to using this again for my little one's 6th birthday in October. Or maybe we will try out the scavenger hunt.

Thanks so much!

Karen Kruidenier, Pennsylvania, 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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