Last weekend, desperate to get some peace and quiet so that the baby could sleep, I enticed my big kids outside by sending them on a treasure hunt!
All it took was a list of items to hunt for, and a basket to put the treasures in and they were off, outside, leaving the baby and I in peace. Unfortunately I under estimated how good they’d be at hunting and they came back rather too quickly, so the next treasure hunt list was a lot longer and a lot harder!
This is such an easy activity for kids of any age. I drew some of the items on the list so that the three year old could also ‘read’ it.
Here are some examples of the things we hunted for…
4 smooth rocks
A very, very long stick
Something pink
3 feathers, each a different colour
Seed pods
A yellow flower
5 dandelions
Something in the shape of a triangle.
An insect.
Something spiky.
Today they asked to hunt treasure again, but unfortunately the pouring rain meant no outside hunting, but that’s ok because we came up with a hunting list for inside! This makes for slightly less peace and you have to spend some time putting everything back where it belongs, but it was still a good fun activity on a cold wet and miserable day.
Here are some examples of things we hunted for inside…
4 green things
Something with wings
Something round
Something that smells nice
Something that makes a noise
Something with spots
Something that starts with B
2 square things.
If you are looking for something to do (it’s school holidays here at the moment) then how about a quick treasure hunt!
Playing along with the one and only We Play from Childhood101 today! You should pop on over and check out all the other fabulous ideas! Also joining in the Outdoor Play Link Up at An Amazing Child.
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
So fun! I have such fond memories of doing treasure hunts as a kid….
Treasure hunts! Excellent! Even easier, you can get kids to make treasure hunts for each other, especially if they involve clues which lead to another clue and so on. We used to do this a lot as kids with our cousins, in teams. I think it was a particular feature of summer bach holidays !
This is such a brilliant idea. Especially for days like last Sunday when it was pouring with rain and we were trying hard to come up with something different. I’ve already begun making lists!
Great idea
I love a good treasure hunt, we did it for my 3 year olds birthday party, great thing was that once the treasures were all found, the kids begged for them to be hidden and found again. we hunted for blue and clear stones that i had bought at the hardware store
Gill xo
Fabulous idea Kate. Perfect for school holidays.
That’s such a good idea kate- I do treasure hunts but usually make my own head hurt by making up clues. Much prefer a list of things to gather.
what a great idea – I love how the obvious is always astounding!
x
I love this idea – we might try it at the park on the way home from school today. It will help my Junior practice his letters and numbers and give them a little more outside time today! Thanks for sharing.
What a brilliant idea! A great way to get the kids to explore our new backyard and feel at home.
I love this idea and I love how children love treasure hunting :)
What great outdoor play! We do treasure hunts all the time too. Great activity for kids of any age.
Thanks for joining the Outdoor Play Link Up.
Thanks for popping by Kate.
We have only been on very simple treasure hunts, actually they are more like ‘I Spy’ games but now that we have a wonderful nature reserve at our back door, I’m thinking J (25months) might be up for a little more hunting. Think it might have to be me saying things as we go along cause little man can’t read yet. Love the idea of the lists though. A great example of meaningful literacy at work :)