Preparation makes the game: choosing the route
The younger the children, the shorter the route: If your little treasure hunters are only three to four years old, it's best to hold the treasure hunt in the house or your own garden. Here the dangers are limited and you can keep a better overview. If the children are a bit older and you want part of the treasure hunt to take place outdoors, you should walk the route beforehand and carefully check for hazards. Watch out for blind spots on roads or junctions, but also for rivers, embankments and construction sites. Try to take the child's perspective and keep in mind that searching for the next clue reduces the little hunters' attention. Also remember to keep an eye on the clock. The rule of thumb is that 30 to a maximum of 45 minutes is sufficient for all children under seven years of age. After that concentration and curiosity decrease and the risk is high that the initial joy will turn into frustration. No children's birthday should end like that!
Play and fun: ideas for the little ones
Time to get creative! Once the route for the treasure hunt is set, it's time to choose the games and tasks. Here too, the age of the treasure hunters plays a decisive role.
Children up to 4 years:
In this age group, pictures, colors and very simple instructions should be used first and foremost. Either you draw a map with easy-to-understand pictures or you host the treasure hunt yourself. Prepare eight to ten stations and mark them clearly, for example with colorful balloons. At each station a task must be solved and for each completed task there is a stamp. When the stamp booklet is full at the end, the treasure hunters can collect a small prize. Some of the tasks could look like this:
Little detectives: The children must find a specific object or animal in a busy picture and circle it in red.
Builders: Using building blocks they must build a tower that reaches a certain height without toppling over.
Collectors: Tiny chocolate ladybugs are hidden in the garden that the little ones must find and collect — without eating them.
Hoppers: The little ones must show athletic skill and hop a certain distance on one leg or in a sack.
Flower child: Do you have yellow and red tulips in the garden? Perfect. The children must find out which color is more common.
Children up to 7 years:
If you arrange the treasure hunt for older kids, individual games take a back seat. It's more exciting for five- to seven-year-olds to roam around and follow clues. Pick an interesting route and leave a marker every 20 to 30 steps or so that shows them where to go next. But don't make it too easy for your little treasure hunters. You can lay a false trail now and then.
Trail: It is most common to draw arrows on the ground with chalk. If you want it to be less obvious, you can also work with other clues, for example using pebbles, chestnuts or sawdust.
Notes: Hide one or two little notes with a riddle along the route. The solution tells the little hunters where to go next. For example, draw a street name.
Puzzle: So that the treasure hunters can prove that they really followed all the clues, they must find a puzzle piece at each station. Only when they can assemble the whole picture at the destination do they get their prize.
The modern treasure hunt: geocaching for adults
It is usually said that treasure hunts are only suitable for children up to about seven years. Today that's a bit different. Smartphones and the like have made the treasure hunt fashionable for adults under the name 'geocaching'. And this is how it works: Take a small box and fill it, for example, with chocolate coins and vouchers. Then hide this treasure somewhere in the city or in the woods, preferably so that not every passerby will find it. Take out your smartphone and note down the exact location of the hiding place. Now hand the coordinates over to the little or somewhat older treasure hunters. Also provide them with a smartphone with a preinstalled geocaching app. And off you go!
