Wednesday 30 April 2014

Planning treasure hunt is as much fun as participating

We all had a great time on the Treasure Hunt. Memorial Day Weekend was all family and fourth of July will be all of our friends and their kids. We plan to do another treasure hunt then with some different challenges. (beer drinking, doughnut eating off a clothes line with no hands allowed and a few others). Planning it was as fun as being in it. It was a great time! Thanks Again!

Diane Gregor, Michigan USA

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Scavenger hunt to bring two families together

Our party will be a week long event held in Italy (Tuscany) during the last week of July. We have hired two large villas each for a week in close proximity to each other for our daughters wedding. As most of the guests will be travelling from Australia (bride) and the U.S. (grooms family) and we haven't met I was looking for a lighthearted theme.

My idea was that everyone could be given a list of items and/or questions that had to been collected over the week as guests toured the area (a red wine label from a famous local winery, a ticket to a Florence museum etc) along with some quiz questions/puzzles etc.

Regards

Jill Hill, Hyogo Japan

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Tuesday 29 April 2014

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 on a cruise ship

Hi Nikki. Well everyone had a blast with the Cruise scavenger hunt !! I took some questions right off your list and then using your other items as suggestions... I went on line with Royal Caribbean and printed off each decks floor plan and used that to help me get information. Thank you for all of your help !

JoAnn Seckus, Illinois USA

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Monday 28 April 2014

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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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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Sunday 27 April 2014

Treasure hunt guidelines were awesome

Hi Nikki,

Our treasure hunt was just great. Thank you very much. I was a bit nervous about my daughters 11th birthday. She wanted a Pirates of the Carribean party with boy and girls. But wow!!!!! It was awesome. Once they arrived, they had to choose themslelves a pirate name, that in itself was funny. I then made labels with these names and their photos to go on there mugs to drink out of throughout the party. Then it was onto the treasure hunt. I was a bit anxious that they would think it was a bit chidlish, but boy, did they get into it from the word go. We live on a tiny island in the Pacific where props are not easy to come by, but it is amazing what you can find or make. From silver clip on earrings to home made gold and silver loots bags, as well as a coconut palm plank.

We live in a compound and there was a lot of room for the kids. I had made a treasure map which was in 6 pieces, one for each child. They had to put it together to get through each of the challenges. It took about an hour and a quarter to get through the hunt. And they had a ball. The flag they made is still hanging on my daughter's wall. We made some island alterations which made it all the more fun. Your guidelines were awesome. I would advise anyone to use this. It was great. Took a lot of stress out of a fun day. Good luck to anyone else who wants a fun but stress free day. Once again thank you very much!!!!!!!!!!!!

Susan Lowry, Samoa

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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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Saturday 26 April 2014

Video scavenger hunt for teenagers

The video scavenger hunt was such a success with the kids (17-18 yrs of age). They thought it was going to be stupid but they haven't stop talking about it. Their videos were hilarious! Some of the things I made them do:

Order an ice tea from Starbucks with two straws stuck in the nose (I provided money)

Sit on a whoopee cushion next to someone in a bookstore without showing the whoopee cushion

One person must wear a dog collar and leash and carry a bone in the mouth while crawling through a major pet store (other person holding leash and petting the head) - I provided the items from the dollar store

There is a long list of things they had to do. The best part was seeing just how funny these kids were. I got to see a different side of them. I never knew my son was so funny or that he could actually dance!

Thanks,

Julianne Lewis, California, 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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Friday 25 April 2014

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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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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Thursday 24 April 2014

Treasure hunt in Indiana

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

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

Kim Bickel, Indiana USA

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Treasure hunt guidelines were awesome

Hi Nikki,

Our treasure hunt was just great. Thank you very much. I was a bit nervous about my daughters 11th birthday. She wanted a Pirates of the Carribean party with boy and girls. But wow!!!!! It was awesome. Once they arrived, they had to choose themslelves a pirate name, that in itself was funny. I then made labels with these names and their photos to go on there mugs to drink out of throughout the party. Then it was onto the treasure hunt. I was a bit anxious that they would think it was a bit chidlish, but boy, did they get into it from the word go. We live on a tiny island in the Pacific where props are not easy to come by, but it is amazing what you can find or make. From silver clip on earrings to home made gold and silver loots bags, as well as a coconut palm plank.

We live in a compound and there was a lot of room for the kids. I had made a treasure map which was in 6 pieces, one for each child. They had to put it together to get through each of the challenges. It took about an hour and a quarter to get through the hunt. And they had a ball. The flag they made is still hanging on my daughter's wall. We made some island alterations which made it all the more fun. Your guidelines were awesome. I would advise anyone to use this. It was great. Took a lot of stress out of a fun day. Good luck to anyone else who wants a fun but stress free day. Once again thank you very much!!!!!!!!!!!!

Susan Lowry, Samoa

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Wednesday 23 April 2014

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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Lots of good ideas for July scavenger hunt

The scavenger hunt that I'm holding is scheduled to occur on 18 July. I'll let you know how it goes. I got a lot of good ideas from the materials.

Sandra Buckley, Massachusetts, USA

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Tuesday 22 April 2014

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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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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Monday 21 April 2014

Kids love digging up treasure

It went well. Kids loved digging up the box and splitting up the booty. Your guide was helpful, nice not having to reinvent the wheel.

Michele Currie, Oregon, USA

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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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Sunday 20 April 2014

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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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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Saturday 19 April 2014

Neighbor wants to know where treasure hunt ideas come from

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

Catherine Grote, Kansas USA

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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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Friday 18 April 2014

Large scale church treasure hunt

Nikki,

Due to the size of our treasure hunt (140 participants) we found it difficult to use everything that was in the kits. We did use the pattern for the puzzle and made our own clues. We had to run two games at the same time. Both having 7 teams in each game with 10-14 players on each team. We used ciphers, cryptograms, Mad Gab clues, riddles, word searches you name it. We had the games travel all over our town. The games took about 2 1/2 hours to complete. At the end location, no matter where a team ended up, their last clue sent them on a final trek to gain the last puzzle piece. The timing worked out great. This was my greatest concern. Cars/buses you name it started rolling in one right after the other. Remember I told you weeks ago that our theme for the weekend was the Bailout.

Jesus Christ bailed us out. There was no way that any of us could pay the debt that we owe for our sins. He paid it for us.

Keeping with the theme, our last clue on a list they followed read like this. To "B" or not to "B" that is the question. Whether tis nobler to.... Oh forget it, I need a bailout! Go to the bucket and draw out your last clue. Once they climbed up into our "B" lettered bucket truck and gained the last piece, they were frantically taping them together. The first team from each game to read it to me out loud me got an envelope that declared them the winner of their game. They however needed to follow another map to the location to gain the treasure map. Cars were frantically driving everywhere. The energy was amazing. Everyone was having a great time, even when they didn't win. Once they got their respective treasure maps. The hunt was on. We buried two treasures with a backhoe and when they

finally found the right location, the digging began. The girls were able to pull their box out without a big mess. The guys team saw the lid and pulled it out letting all the dirt fall in on the treasure. The note in both boxes read. Jesus Christ died one for all and the treasure is to be shared by all.

There was a grand prize for the winning teams which was CDs from the Christian Band that was here for the weekend. There were thumbs up from everyone. Good game. My only fear now is that I know they are going to want another one.

Thanks for getting us started.

Karen Bowles, Alabama, USA

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Wild treasure hunt at mother's 50th

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

Christyl Seymour,

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Thursday 17 April 2014

Scavenger hunt a huge success

Our Scavenger Hunt was a huge success! Lots of fun was had by all.

We provide this dinner once a year and always try really change things up.

I will contact you if I need your assistance again. Thank You.

Kris Vandenplas, Wisconsin, 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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Wednesday 16 April 2014

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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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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Tuesday 15 April 2014

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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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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Monday 14 April 2014

Helpful scavenger hunt lists

Found what I needed and the list were very helpful. Thank you for this

product.

Susan Thorington, Alabama, USA

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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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Sunday 13 April 2014

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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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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Saturday 12 April 2014

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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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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Friday 11 April 2014

Many combinations for the instant treasure hunt

Hi Nikki, I did log on and enjoyed the clues. What a time saver. Can't wait to play around with it some more. So many wonderful combinations.....

Trish Nickerson, New Mexico 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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Thursday 10 April 2014

Treasure hunt is best party ever!

Hi - We had a great party last night!  We decided to have four stations with four groups of two boys (ages 11 and 12).  This was for a sleepover so when the kids sat down for dinner they each had either a red, green, orange, or blue flashlight with them.  Their flashlight determined the teams.  Also, each team had it's own had unique treasure maps so they would all win the same treasure eventually.  Armed with the map pieces and a clue on the back, they all found their treasure of nerf guns and then spent at least an hour outside playing after the treasure hunt.  The boys had a great time and the structure your documents provided for the treasure hunt was really helpful.  After the boys traisped through the woods and found their treasure, one boy shouted "This is the best party ever!".  I was thrilled and my son had a great time.  Thanks for your help!

Alison McLaughlin, Massachusetts, USA

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Dog themed treasure hunt

Hi Nikki! We had our treasure hunt yesterday. It was awesome. The kids had a blast. Age ranges were from 7 to 10. Since my daughter had a dog theme going, I changed the team names to The Pink Poodles, the Golden Doodles, and the Blue Bulldogs. Kids laughed at the names and were proud to be one of the 3. I also structured the activities you suggested to include the dog theme. For ex, the toilet paper wrapping... I pretended that one person was a hairless dog and the kids needed to put fur on by covering themselves with the toilet paper. Then they would create a furry doggy! Also, instead of a pirate flag, we made a dog flag by putting dog stickers, words to describe puppies, and drew bones. As for the treasure, we actually buried it in our yard and gave them shovels. They had a ball! Not only was it fun for the kids, it was fun for the adults watching the kids run all over the yard to complete the 6 stations.

Thanks so much for a great party idea! This is a keeper!! What a memorable experience!

Sherri Shaner, Ohio, USA

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Wednesday 9 April 2014

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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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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Tuesday 8 April 2014

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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Monday 7 April 2014

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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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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Sunday 6 April 2014

Neighbor wants to know where treasure hunt ideas come from

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

Catherine Grote, Kansas USA

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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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Saturday 5 April 2014

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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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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Friday 4 April 2014

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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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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Thursday 3 April 2014

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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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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Wednesday 2 April 2014

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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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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Tuesday 1 April 2014

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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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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