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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Treasure hunt dressed as pirates

The treasure hunt was a success. Had 6 teams with 6 on each team. Everyone enjoyed it. We were all dressed in pirate costumes.

Mike Brenchak, North Carolina USA

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A lot of chairs to look under for treasure hunt clues

Well Nikki,

I had 6 'stations' and adults at each one, and we had a challenge at each station. (eat a donut that was hanging from a limb by a string, blindfolded and after being spun around, answer at least 80% of some tricky questions, get the cherry out of a cream pie without using your hands, 2 stations were Halloween scary where you just had to be brave enough to get your color-coded flag with the next clue attached and get out of there! And the final station where after solving the clue you knew that the next clue was under a chair, only to find out there were A LOT more then just a few chairs to look under!

The party was a great success (or so the kids & their parents say). Some of the kids are already asking for it to be an annual event. If I do the hunt again I will give myself even more planning time and make the teams smaller (I had 8 in each). I also will add some kind of 'playing field' map to START with, as some of the teams made it too hard by reading more into the clues and looking too far and wide. The Instant hunt was actually the most helpful, with the planning guide filling in some details. I will say your customer service dept has the world's fastest response time.

Thanks,

Sandra Wellman, North Carolina USA

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Pirate theme treasure hunt was a treasure

We had a fantastic time. Our Pirate themed treasure hunt party was a 'treasure!' The hunt was superb and the tools that you provided made it easy to customize to our group. The children loved it! I appreciate that you kept checking with us to make sure things were progressing well as we planned the event. Again thanks!

Tim Craft, Virginia USA

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Treasure hunt kit is awesome

Hi Nikki, I must admit that I am not computer savvy and rely mostly on my 16 year old son to get me out of most jams I find myself in :) I was able to access the treasure hunt and Easter bonus hunt (which was awesome by the way) As for the hunt, my family is big on these type of events and I have been doing some variety for years.

Your kit was awesome, it saved me countless hours on the planning end and everyone really had fun. We do this event each Easter for my husband's family. There are 4 brothers and we divide them into teams for the hunt. This was by far the most organized and stress free event. We did find that at the end only having one team retrieve the treasure map was a problem as two teams solved the puzzle simultaneously.

This is a great service and I truly am grateful that I found your web site.

p.s. the egg challenge was by far the most entertaining.....

Susan Rossi Cook, Massachusetts USA

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Big kids at heart have romantic treasure hunt

Had a treasure hunt for my girlfriend taking us all over the city of Scottsdale and back to our place for romance. We're both kids at heart and loved the ideas you put together. Thanks for making it available online -- quick for me, easy to use, and of high quality.

I plan on using the other ideas in the future -- thank you.

David Jackemeyer, Arizona USA

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Pirate themed treasure hunt planning

Hi Nikki,

I am just getting started on planning the pirate themed treasure hunt for my sons 6th birthday party. I appreciate all your email and hope it goes smoothly. We will be doing it in a park with different color pirate teams depending on how many kids are coming. I am changing the tasks a little bit. Also instead of burying the treasure we are going to have a hanging treasure box pi?ata in a secret location at the end of the hunt. I am in the process of collecting all the materials and need to decide where the treasure will be hiding so I can work on drawing a treasure map. I cant decide if the 6 clues are going to be actual pieces of a puzzle showing the place the map is hiding or 6 cards with riddles so they can solve them and put all clues together to find location of map. This is a lot of fun for me too! This is the activity for the party so I hope it will keep them busy for an entire hour. I will keep you posted!

Nomi Gilbert, New Jersey USA

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16th treasure hunt birthday party

Hello Nikki,

I did get the treasure hunt download fine. Our party will be in November the 2 or 3 weekend. It is for my daughter who will be turning 16. If you have any good suggestions for this age please let me know? We live in a rural area and have our home on 10 acres. We live in Baroda, Michigan in the United States. We might have between 15 and 20 kids in all. I have read through the book once and need to go back through it again. Thank you for your e-mail

Carla Rogers, Michigan USA

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Great frog adventure treasure hunt

Dear Nikki,

Tomorrow is the big event! I chose the frog theme from the kid's classroom this year and named the party the GREAT FROG ADVENTURE! I formatted all locations, teams and challenges to the theme. We buried the treasure yesterday and all helpers and instructions are set and ready for tomorrow. Having never done this kind of party, I am excited and nervous wanting to know I have accounted for all the details and possible glitches. Say a prayer for me tomorrow and I'll let you know how it went.

We will have 47 kids and 12 adults!

Thanks!

LeeAnn Biggs, Indiana USA

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Treasure hunt as a summer reading project

Vermont, USA - at a small public library in Vernon. The party is to support our Summer Reading program. The theme is - Realms of Reading - and while most of our program will use a medieval theme, I?ve chosen the pirate theme pack as appropriate. All ages will take part - the summer reading is for kids from birth through high school. The hunt will include parents. We want to use a medieval theme

The treasure hunt planner book seems very thorough, which is a huge help to us. We?re a small library with a small staff and don?t have the time to put all the work into that you have done for us! Thanks!!!

Adrienne Boudreau, Vermont USA

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Whole family involved in treasure hunt

Hi Nikki, The treasure hunt that we conducted went excellent. Everything went fantastic, my whole family had a great time whether they participated or not, it was great to see the whole family, young and old, get involved to play, laugh, and have a great time! Thanks!

Kristen Williams, North Carolina USA

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Slumber party treasure hunt

My daughter will be turning 8 and we are planning a slumber party.

Karen Hayward, Ontario, Canada

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Treasure hunt is springboard for bigger events

Hey there,

Thanks for the follow up emails on the treasure hunt game. I'm using your party as a 'springboard' for a bigger event... I'm integrating some cool coins, actual treasure, a cool map, and a cryptex, over 3 different birthday parties between August and December for 7-10 year olds (and helped by their parents)

I'll let you know how it all goes! Thanks so much,

Jewels Hanson, California USA

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Treasure Hunt Party with Medieval Theme

Hi Nikki,

It was a GREAT party!! We live in the bush, we had 2 teams of boys going to 6 stations to get the map to find the treasure....the theme was a dress as someone from a Medieval Castle...so it was the Shields and Spears....albeit we weren't encouraging high competitiveness....swimming in the dam followed...

After the last ones left we were dancing the dance of joy, delight and exhilaration....a couple of boys came back to say it was the best party they had ever been too.

Thanks for spreading your expertise which in turn is spreading joy in the world.

Regards,

Belinda Gross, Victoria Australia

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Pirate treasure hunt with a ladies Bunco group

Hi there.

I have received the info and printed it off. Thank you. I live in Cary, North Carolina and our neighborhood has a Ladies Bunco group.

Each June, we host a poolside party which has a theme. This year, our theme is Pirates. The ages of the women are from 30 to 50. We have it catered and there is a DJ. My group is also in charge of games. So I thought a treasure hunt would be fun. I am still digesting the material to see how I can make it work for our group. But I may also use this theme for my sons Bday party in July. He will be 6. Wish me luck!

Debbie Schemmel, North Carolina USA

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Absolutely terrific treasure hunt

We had the treasure hunt party on Saturday - huge success! Because I am so very busy I was not able to put the pen to paper until the day before - it was grueling but absolutely terrific. My 10 year old party girls had an absolute blast! Thanks very much,

Roni Agress, Connecticut USA

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Thanks for great treasure hunt

Hi Nikki, Many thanks for the great Treasure Hunt game planner and the supportive communications. I was asked to do a treasure hunt for a friend?s 40th and we went away to a beautiful country house for the weekend. The group included some very competitive men - so it was great to have a really strong, uncheatable structure for the treasure hunt as a basis!

Anyway - they loved it and said it was the best treasure hunt they had ever done. So I?m sure you?ll get some hits as a result. Thanks again and good wishes for your business

Vey Straker, Herefordshire United Kingdom

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Scavenger Hunt good neighbor cards

The scavenger hunt was great! We gave each team good neighbor cards. They gave them to the homeowner. It basically said, 'If we were courteous to you and your property, call this number and tell them our team name.' for each phone call, they received one 'good Neighbor' point. The team with the most points won a prize! It worked great. The whole neighborhood gave them so many compliments. Since they were 12 and 13, we had to come up with ways to make sure they were nice. And it worked. In their sacks they had a flashlight, a map of the neighborhood, a marker, a notepad, tape, and either a cell phone or a walkie-talkie.

I am attaching our final list. We have 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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Treasure hunt easy to plan

Hi! I just wanted to write...I found the treasure hunt very easy to plan with all of your instructions! The only place I had trouble was when trying to 'age' the map. I could have used a little more instruction on that, rather that just use cold tea!

Great program,

Lisa Fellhauer, Michigan USA

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Treasure hunt as culminating activity for term's work

Hi Nikki,

Thank you for your treasure hunt book. We held our treasure hunt a couple of weeks ago and it consisted of 12 groups of 10 year old children, a total of 110 kids. The treasure hunt was a culminating activity of our term's unit 'What is your treasure?'

We had 6 stations and made up fun challenges at each stop, the children received a piece of the last puzzle each time they successfully completed a challenge. The teams eventually ended up in the principal's office where they found a spade and a beautifully tea-stained treasure map that directed them to a sand pit on the school property where the treasure was buried.

The winning team received the contents of the treasure chest and each participant a love heart with the words 'Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also? Matt 21:6 with a chocolate bar attached to the back. The children absolutely loved the hunt and it was a highlight of the term. The book was so helpful in setting up the treasure hunt, which was quite complex with so many children involved. We will definitely use all of the tips again when we run the treasure unit next year.

Thank you for all of your help and your follow-up emails which ensured the day was a huge success!

Kindest regards,

Anna Payne, Queensland Australia

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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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Planning treasure hunt right now

Nikki

I am planning my treasure hunt right now. It is taking place in the UK (Glos). The party is on Saturday 25th March. It is for my daughter's 8th birthday. All the guests are 8 year old girls. No particular theme - just want to do something exiting and different. The planning is going well - quite time consuming but fun to plan and hopefully very worthwhile.

Claire Matthews, Gloucestershire UK

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Treasure Hunt is easy ready to go package

The treasure hunt went very well, thanks! I was in a big rush, since my daughter decided last minute she'd like to have a birthday party, but we had it yesterday for a group of older teen girls. I've done several treasure hunts before--some of my own devising--but yours was a nice ready-to-go package, which is what I needed. Definitely worth the money. I especially liked your suggestions to have a variety of challenges that would speak to all the teammates various strengths. We live on 5 acres and also have various buildings that can be part of a hunt, so ours lasted about 1 1/2 hours! The girls kept very busy!

Anyway, thanks for making a good product.

Celia Ramsey, California USA

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Life saver last minute Halloween Treasure Hunt

Dear Nikki

I can't tell you what a life saver you are. My Halloween invitations were all sent; advertising a Treasure Hunt and I became ill. I didn't know how I was ever going to pull it off, but 2 days before the party I logged in (log in info in your purchase confirmation email) and within 1 hour I had edited

the clues you provided to fit our surroundings. I then mailed them to my office; printed, cut and separated. Trust me...now that I know how wonderful your made to order ''hunts' are; we will be having them at every party. The kids and adults had a blast.

Please keep me informed of anything new, especially for adult parties.

Thanks again to my new party planning best friend!

Darlene LoBue, Florida 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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Treasure hunt party went great

Hi Nikki,

The treasure hunt party went great. We had about 19 kids and two 4th grade teachers participate. I could tell they really loved the idea and had a lot of fun.

thanks for your help!

Tracy Nekula, Ohio USA

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Family treasure hunt for 4th July

Hi Nikki,

Thank you for your email!

I am looking forward to getting started planning our treasure hunt.

For the week of The 4th of July, I am having 25 close family members come to town...so this treasure hunt will be a fun event. The family members range in ages from 5-80; however, about 1/2 are kids and 1/2 are adults.

We have a small yard, big community park and lake nearby.

Thanks a million!!

Susan Robinson, North Carolina USA

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Scavenger hunt is what was wanted

THANK YOU so much! This is so great, exactly what I needed. My son's 11th scavenger hunt party should be a blast.

Thanks for sending the one I had intended, I will tell others about the site.

MariBeth Smith, Arizona USA

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Treasure hunt Halloween party

My 30th Birthday and Halloween celebrations in London, England.

Russell Holman, London UK

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A treasure hunt wedding

In San Diego on November 5th. A wedding with guests ranging from 2yrs to 80yrs!

Kristen Spoon, California USA

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Company picnic and treasure hunt on Angel Island

Hi Nikki,

I work for Wells Fargo and am planning our company picnic (approx 80 adults) that will take place on Angel Island (in the middle of the San Francisco Bay). We are scheduled to be on the island from 10:30A to 3:20P and I am looking for a fun group event.

A treasure hunt sounds like a fun idea however I have never planned one before. Gonna give it a go with your treasure hunt party game planner.

Debbie Puccinelli, California USA

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Don't know how to follow treasure hunt next year.

Well, we had the treasure hunt yesterday. It went really well, the children were so excited and had a fantastic time. I literally buried the treasure and it was lovely watching them dig, surrounded by the other 15 children.

My nephew and niece, my brother and sister, and of course my husband, were all helpers and they enjoyed it as much as the children. Needless to say, I was shattered last night after all the planning, preps and doing, but it was well worth it just to watch the children?s faces.

Many thanks for replying to my email, and for the ebook I purchased, I just don't know what to follow this with next year!

Val Hawksfield, Kent United Kingdom

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Company summer picnic treasure hunt

Hi Nikki,

I am the one handling our treasure hunt. It's a company picnic

We are in Guam (US Territory, an island in the Pacific) - it's hot and sometimes rainy. Our setting for the party is at a beach/picnic area outdoors. Plenty of grassy areas, plenty of water, but very little sand - mostly big rocks instead.

August 5th

this is the summer company picnic

about 250 guests - mostly adults but also some children

Our theme is a treasure hunt - I'm having some trouble with this one, as I would like a slogan or title for our event. I like the pirate idea too, but I don't think it's appropriate to NAME our event after 'pirates' or 'raiders' or 'plunderers' etc. as it is the company's image at stake

We have already begun planning the games and playing areas for our treasure hunt. since we have so many people, I think we may plan a simulated trial-run with a few of us prior to the event, just to make sure we've planned it well. I'll let you know if we have any questions.

Thanks!

Nicole Sonario, Guam USA

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Questions about pirate treasure hunt

Hi Nikki--

Thanks so much for this! We are frantically trying to get ready to have 20 eight-year olds over on Friday afternoon! Luckily we have a good weather forecast and we will be outside in our yard with them. Thanks goodness for having purchased your Pirate Theme pack---it is going to be terrific as a result.

Okay, so my questions. What happens if one team finishes their task and they move to the next location and another team is there?

Also, given I have the 20 kids (although only 18 will do the treasure hunt part of the party)--do you recommend six teams of three?

Also, do you think it makes more sense to have some of the locations in the back yard and some in our front yard versus having all of them in the same general area?

Can you let me know your thoughts?

Many thanks!!

Elizabeth

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Hi Elizabeth

Glad to hear you are so enthusiastic about your treasure hunt - I?m sure you will have loads of fun.

So to answer your questions: yes, sometimes a team will get to a station before the team in front has completed the task. I suggest that you have the facilities for two or more teams to complete the task at the same time. Most of my suggested tasks will work fine for that anyway. It may mean a few extra props at the station for some tasks.

Six teams of three sounds just great.

And yes - locations in both front and back yards would work fine - I like to have them spread out if possible.

It sounds like it will be an excellent party - let me know how it goes!

Best wishes

Nikki

Elizabeth Olszewski, Massachusetts USA

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Over 200 at the treasure hunt

Thanks Nikki - I am really looking forward to checking out the treasure hunt planner and using the ideas. We have a large crowd to entertain of all ages (about 200!! kids and adults). I will certainly let you know how it goes!!

Thanks again

Diane Byington, Ontario Canada

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Treasure hunt material is a fantastic help

Nikki,

What a fantastic help your material has been. I got so motivated by it yesterday that I did most of my decision making and planning in one morning!

Thanks a million for offering to send the spreadsheet in a form that works for me. You're the best!

Kim Bickel, Indiana 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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Halloween treasure hunt in Montana

Hi Nikki,

Yes, thank you, I have received my treasure hunt party planner. I am printing everything out as we speak and I have been just glancing at the material but I am getting really excited for my party! This looks like it's going to be a blast and I can't wait! As you might have guessed my party will be for Halloween and this particular one is going to be for my kids.

Every year we usually do an adults party and a kids party for Halloween. My girls are aged 11, 8, and 6 so there is a little bit of an age gap there so it's hard to come up with things to keep them all busy. This year the party will probably be on October 27th and will consist of girls and boys ranging from 6-13 years of age. I live in Montana so you can't always count on the weather being nice enough to have a party outside. My house is pretty good sized though, so this should work out great and I will definitely let you know how everything turns out. Thanks for everything!

Erika Smollack, Montana USA

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Anniversary treasure hunt was huge success

Hey Nikki,

I really want to Thank You for your support during my planning stages of the treasure hunt for The Quickel's 40th Anniversary Party! I am confident this party will be fondly reminisced time and time again, through the years, by the anniversary couple and their guests!! It was a huge success!

The tropical island theme worked really well. The island names were decided upon via 6 fond memories that Mike and Judy carry with them after 40 years of marriage. It really personalized the game! At each island station the teams found their challenge in a bottle (with sand and seashells) to replicate a 'message in a bottle'!

I am sending over a few pictures. Hoping you will enjoy them! Let me know if you have any trouble getting them to come up. Thank you again,

Robin Scharding, North Carolina USA

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Pirate Treasure Hunt Game is cool

Hi Nikki, My son is having his 'half' birthday at school because it is during the summer.

We did the Pirate Treasure Hunt Game for his whole birthday last summer. Anyway, he asked me if we were going to do a 'really great and cool party like last time' for his half birthday. So 6 months later he still remembers the Pirate Treasure Hunt and still thinks it was cool!

I thought I would keep this Scavenger Hunt on hand.

Michelle Caragol, Colorado USA

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Strawberry picking treasure hunt

Hi,

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

Christine Flory, New York USA

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Planning for treasure hunt stations

Nikki

We are in Pacifica, California but I gather you are probably English by the sounds of the stations you suggest. We are both originally British but I have been in the states for 20 years. The party is April 18th so I'll let you know how it goes after.

The only station I have planned so far is Vallemar which used to be a station at the bottom of our road. We are going to ask history trivia about Pacifica... My sons class (9 yr olds) have been studying this in school lately.

The packet was very thorough and easy to read.

Gillian Pritchard, California USA

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Annual Halloween Party has treasure hunt for 100 people

Nikki,

So far it looks great! I am a wedding/party planner in NJ. I myself have an annual Halloween Party of 100 plus people. ? are kids. I organize tons of games and activities for them. This year I wanted to do something different and this seems to be perfect. I will let you know how it goes.

Thanks and have a good one,

Laura Sergile, New Jersey USA

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16th Birthday Masquerade ball and treasure hunt

Thought you might enjoy a few pictures of our daughter's 16th's birthday celebration. We combined a masquerade ball with your treasure hunt party game which turned out to be a good combination for our group of young people. It turned out a lot of fun and I heard many positive remarks during the evening about the treasure hunt.

Blessings from the Smith House,

Patricia Smith, Oklahoma USA

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The boys loved the treasure hunt

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. Thank you.

Patty Lamp, Illinois USA

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I'm running your cool treasure hunt game

We are in San Antonio Texas and will be running your cool game outside in our backyard. I received it immediately as an electronic download and that was the way I was hoping to get it rather than waiting for it in the mail. I read it the next day cover to cover like you suggested and already got some ideas for our version.

I was picturing parents up on a step ladder placing a water balloon onto a piece of plastic pipe held upright by their child and the child has to walk slowly keeping the pipe upright until they can tip it and dump the balloon into a bucket and go back for another.

The other task I had pictured was placing a key in a container with a hole only large enough for a child's hand so the parents can't do everything and can later say to the kid 'they couldn't have do it without the child' I've got a week...we'll see

Stephen Brown, Texas USA

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Treasure chest up and in the middle of them all!

Hello Nikki,

It's taken awhile for me to respond, but my daughter reminded me of it today so I thought I should reply before I forgot again.

I had my treasure hunt for my 10 year old daughter?s birthday. It was a bit unorganized but hey I had to work the morning of the party. We had 17 kids over. My husband was uneasy about how we were going to keep them all entertained and having fun for 5 hours.

It was great! I scattered the stations all over the place. Finding the treasure map was the best. My husband hid it in a bird house. It took them like 10 minutes to clue in. They ran around it who knows how many times. The next best thing was the actual location of the treasure chest. Instead of burying it we strung it up in a tree. Of course, no one thought of looking up. It was right in the middle of all the action throughout the whole hunt. We were laughing. It was a blast.

This party took place middle of July. On this past Monday, one of kids mentions to my daughter that that was the most fun at a party. Now the other kids want treasure hunts too. Next year it will be even better since we had the trial run and it went over amazing. Thanks for your help.

Doris

Doris Traeger, Ontario Canada

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Some extra ideas for a scavenger hunt.

Hi Nikki! Our party is this Friday. My Daughter is 11 and celebrating with 15 of her 5th grade friends. I planning on incorporating things to hunt for that represent spring, the year of 1996 (the year she was born) and March. I am not very far on my list yet!!

I am very nervous because I don't have a full plan as of yet. Your planner was helpful but still I need to be more creative. Perhaps I am over thinking things too!!

We are planning to split the kids into groups and giving them colored t-shirts saying 'We found a great time... or Searching for Great Time.. And we still have to figure out prizes etc.

I purchased 'Riddle me' but didn't like it nearly as much as I like yours so thank you!!

I also appreciate you helping me figure out what to purchase :)

I will keep you posted,

Lori

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Hi Lori

Just look through all of the many scavenger lists and choose about 15/20 items that appeal to you and work with your theme. For spring - there are several nature hunts so you can choose items from them. Obviously some coins for the year she was born - is there anything else around the neighborhood that is 11 years old?

You could also use the numbers 1996 - e.g. one clothes peg, 9 paper clips, 9 daisies and 6 balloons (or whatever item you choose).

Some fun tasks recorded by camera always go down well. Look at the task based hunts for some ideas.

As for prizes - give each team $11 to purchase an item - you state the theme - fun / pink / biggest / smallest / cutest etc. Winners get their pick of the purchased items. :)

I hope this helps

Best Wishes

Nikki

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I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help. You work like I do and I love that about you. I am going to share your website with everyone!

Lori

Lori Logan, California USA

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Team building with soccer players

I am doing a treasure hunt for a bunch of 17 year old soccer players as a team bonding event before they leave to compete in a Regional tournament

Patty Seitz, New Jersey USA

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Thanks to my new party planning best friend

Dear Nikki, I can't tell you what a life saver you are. My Halloween invitations were all sent; advertising a Treasure Hunt and I became ill. I didn't know how I was ever going to pull it off, but 2 days before the party I logged in and within 1 hour I had edited the clues you provided to fit our surroundings. I then emailed them to my office; printed, cut and separated. Trust me...now that I know how wonderful your made to order ''hunts' are; we will be having them at every party. The kids and adults had a blast.

Please keep me informed of anything new, especially for adult parties. Thanks again to my new party planning best friend!

Darlene LoBue, Florida USA

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Easter Egg Hunt in London, UK

on Easter Sunday for my 4 year old daughter

Di Armistead, London UK

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Digging up treasure was so exciting

Dear Nikki,

The hunt was a GREAT success! It took the kids over an hour to get through it, and they all had a really good time. Digging up the treasure was so exciting!

Thanks for all your input, it was priceless, even if I never did a treasure hunt again your book was worth the money spent! (but OF COURSE we'll be using it again and again, now we'll be professionals before you know it!)

I'll keep you posted on our next one...

Ciao from Italy

Fabrizia, Italy

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Treasure hunt activities just right for teenagers

The treasure hunt game was great. It still took me a while to put it together; but it would not have happened at all without your program. The girls playing were 12 and 13 years old, so it needed to be sophisticated enough to keep their interest; and it was. I thought the activities might be too easy for them but in fact they said it was just right. It was interesting to see how one activity would stump one team and not another. I had to work with the adult supervisors to prevent them from helping too much, explaining that each team has their own challenge and let them work though it. It took them at least an hour to get through the game and everyone loved it including the adults.

Thanks

Kimber Smith, California 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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Annual Scavenger Hunt for Dads and Kids

Thanks for all the emails and help. I am interested in your help and ideas. Our event is an annual event (which if all goes well I would like to make the scavenger hunt an annual part of it).

The name of our event is called 'Livin, Lovin, Luau'. It is a luau for Dads and kids ages 0-6 years. We host it at our local YMCA. We are confined to one large gym. My idea was to have all the dad/kid teams who wanted to participate follow a series of clues that would lead them from one station to another throughout the room. Some of the stations or games that we will have are: Play dough station, Coconut Bowling, Crazy Totem Poles, Fish craft, Infant Island (area for small child and infants to explore), coloring station, Photo station (we always take a picture of each child/ren with their dad to take home), Pin the Tail on the fish, Ring toss, Snack area, Fish Flying, Limbo, Shave your dad, Fishing game, Reading area, Pin the Banana on the tree, Hanging Monkeys.

I am sure I can come up with a great hunt. The last item would be at the area where the dad fills out an evaluation of the event and the child gets a special treat bag of goodies. Thanks

Cori Laux, Wisconsin USA

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Wonderful details of the treasure hunt

Hi Nikki.

I made the treasure map out of an over-sized yellow envelope (I'd say 11x14). Since it was darker in color, it already had a yellowed aged look about it. I used a thin permanent marker and free hand the area. A pool was located in the backyard so I drew waves representing the pool and upside down 'V's' to represent the mountains. Where the treasure map was buried, I drew a skull and cross-bones, then drew arrows representing the path that had to be taken to get to the X that marks the spot for the treasure. I had made a cup of hot tea and left the tea bag in the cup. Once the tea cooled, I used the tea bag to blot the treasure map and created a molted brown look. Because the teabag made the map wet, I let it dry overnight and it was fairly stiff. I then put the map over the stove burner to create burn spots. This was perfect because it made the map heavy enough to bury and strong enough for hand to pull it open excitedly without ripping it.

I created a treasure chest by purchasing a disposable ice cooler at a local dollar store. We bought brown paint and painted the cooler (the Styrofoam began to melt the cooler temporarily and it actually worked well since it looked very aged). I purchased 6 individual treasure chests (assuming no more than 6 kids to a team) and put in only two filled treasure chests at the bottom of the cooler with marbles, fake jewels, chocolate coins and coin bubble gum on top of the individual treasure chests). I kept the remaining treasure chests aside to present one to each team member that won.

Whatever team won, we brought all the teams over so they could see the opening of the treasure and share the booty with the other teams. I had also prepared a individual bag of goodies for all participants that included a mardi gras type beaded necklace, chocolate coins, gums and since the Pirates of the Caribbean is still a hot item I located bags of M&Ms that had pirate stuff on them. For the winning teams they not only got their own filled treasure chest but I was able to locate an inexpensive prize for them.

How we conducted the hunt was the train schedule was pinned to a tall hedge (I used clothes pins and wanted them all at one location so the kids did not have to scramble around looking for them as well as locating the stations).

I made up instructions and clues for each team member using colored paper that represented each team (blue paper for blue team, pink paper for red team, yellow for yellow, etc). For the clues I purchased an inexpensive laminator and laminated the uncut clues as well as made an uncut clue in the same color. I then cut the laminated clues into 6 pieces (I gave two pieces of the puzzle to each task master as they could easily determine what team did not do a task and each task master was responsible for 2 tasks). I thought this would be easy for smaller hands to hold and put together than paper pieces that they would loose, crumble or possibly tear. The laminated pieces were for the kids to put the clues together, but once their clues were actually put together they were given the paper clue that was not cut so they could run around with it and find the treasure map.

The teams were decided by whatever strip of paper they pulled from a hat. I cut up a certain number of strips of paper for each colored team. Based upon number the total number of kids that participated I had 4 teams and some teams had 3 kids and others had 4. Each team was given a set of instructions printed on colored paper that represented their team color. Each team was given a pencil. Not only did they get a chance to read their instructions, I announced the instructions. I explained that team work will come into play and they should consider having one person designated for different things (as the game wore on, they figured out that it was easy for one person to be responsible for writing down the combination, one person for holding the clues).

The teams were told that they must follow the schedule, they must complete each task, they will be given a piece of the clue, but before they could work on their puzzle, they needed to see the see the Gate Keeper to give the code. If the code was not correct they were not allowed work on their puzzle and they must go back to the schedule and see where they went wrong.

Once the first team successfully got all the pieces, provided the correct combination code that team then could put their laminated pieces together. Once the laminated pieces were put together, I then gave that team a whole uncut copy so they could run around and look for the treasure map. Once that team found the map all other teams were told that the map was found.

Once the actual treasure was found, all the teams were invited to watch the winning team open their treasure. The winning team was congratulated and advised that winners should share their booty with the others.

I had made enough little loot bags for each participating member so that each person would have consolation prize (can you image not having a prize for each child because I knew they would make me walk the plank!).

All the parents that stayed and watch were amazed and impressed.

It definitely took longer than a half hour and you need bodies to help make it run smoothly.

I think it went off well for the first time. I had family member and friends saying they wanted to have their own scavenger hunt.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for holding my hand and walking me through this step by step.

Angel Epps, California USA

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Bigger or better scavenger hunt

The scavenger party was a big success! Had 4 teams of 7-8 girls ages 12-13. The 'bigger or better' theme was great. Each team kept each item obtained and in the end all the teams voted for the winning team. The winners received $10 each and everyone else could take home any of the collected items they so desired. They worked up their appetites and enjoyed the taco bar. Fun was had by all! Thanks again.

Allan Luistro, North Dakota USA

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Summer treasure hunt for cub scouts

I am actually planning an event for the cub scouts and this will help a lot in the planning. The treasure hunt will be sometime this summer or early fall and we are talking 100-150 kids!

Susan Austin, Maryland USA

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Treasure hunting in the snow

Hey Nikki

I did receive the treasure hunt game immediately. Thank you. I have done a quick overview, and have come up with many ideas to adapt it to our needs. Our party is in January. It is our company Christmas Party that we hold up north of Toronto/ Canada @ a Ski Resort. Employees bring their spouses for the weekend. I will have around 38 adults this year. The last couple of years we have had a theme for the weekend. Last year it was a 70's party.

This year the theme is Pirates and Bar Wenches. I thought that a Treasure Hunt on the Friday night would be perfect. Everyone must dress in costume....I was putting the pressure on around Halloween to get them shopping! My husband and I own the Market Research Tabulation firm and have many long term employees. I enjoy making the effort to ensure a great party! I haven't decided yet how much of the resort I will use for the hunt. Our 'Party Suite' is about 600 sq ft 2 levels. But as I am writing I guess there is no reason I can't spread it out more around the resort which is actually 2 buildings (50 rooms)

I would like to bury the treasure in the snow...but other than that it will be too cold to play outside at night! I plan to have 6 crews of 6 pirates each with my husband and I as officers.

The crews will be led by their Pirate Captain...I have already ordered their flags! I have also found pirate trivia/crosswords etc. I was also hoping to have some sort of plank to walk...people will be drinking..should be a challenge! I guess the only thing that jumped out at me that I need to adapt is the idea of the train station schedule...I need something related to the SEA!

Thanks for your email

I will be in touch...Half of the fun is the planning for me!

Patti Allen, Ontario Canada

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Pirate treasure hunt party with team flags

Hi Nikki,

The pirate treasure hunt party is long over. It was a great success. I did make some changes which I thought I would pass along to you. I had all of the girls together, divided them up into their teams and as a big group they dressed up as pirates and continued as a big group to the flag making station. So they were outfitted and had their team flags before starting the hunt. My treasure chest was a pi?ata which, after they put the puzzle together they broke open. 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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Adults and kids had great time at treasure hunt

We had a wonderful treasure hunt. The adults and kids both had a great time.

It took 40 minutes for them to complete it.

Thanks for your interest and I will be making more treasure hunts in the near future.

Dawn Pinson, Ontario Canada

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Secret agent clues for instant treasure hunt

Hi there,

We did the instant treasure hunt for my daughter's 8th birthday party last week. We pretended that it was training to become a Secret Agent and the children all loved it. We had four teams and used the house and garden with military precision to try and ensure that they were never in the same place at the same time. It was absolutely great fun and we enjoyed organising it nearly as much as the children enjoyed doing it. Overall it was fantastic - it was amazingly simple to create and has made me far more confident to try and undertake such things in the future. I didn't have the imagination to see how we could possibly hold a treasure hunt in our garden but your system gave us loads of ideas - in the end we had 19 clues with varying levels of difficulty for the different age groups and a different background picture for each team!

I was a little unsure of buying from an overseas company but am 100% thrilled with my purchase. We plan to have lots of small treasure hunts around the house throughout the winter and I have raved about your site to all my friends.

Many, many thanks.

Julie Pardoe, Northampton United Kingdom

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Sweet 16 scavenger hunt at the mall - and hooray for the GAP manager!

Nikki,

Sorry it's taken a while to get back to you. Yes, we had our scavenger hunt. It was for my daughters' Sweet 16 and she had invited 10 friends.

We had been looking around and trying to think of something fun to do. I came across several websites about scavenger hunts and she agreed to letting me plan one. The hard part was I had less than one week by the time I got your book online. But I had some basic ideas and used your book to help out.

It was very fun. I took them to the mall with a list of 16 stores they had to find via an envelope with a 'pictionary' type clue on it. They were divided up into 3 groups, so I had 16 envelopes of clues, all in the same order for each group. I started each group out at a different spot on the list, so they wouldn't run into each other. At each store, they had to do one of several options: take a picture of themselves doing something, (at the GAP, holding a pair of underwear that my daughter would wear); find/purchase an item (at a bead store, they had to buy a small string of beads for under $3.00 in her favorite color) or contact someone at the store for their task, etc (at the GAP, the manager had them walk out of the store quacking like ducks! She really got into it!!)

I provided them with a list of rules (which we went over beforehand), some money to use for specific tasks, pens and paper to list the stores on and a bag with the clues in it. They were to call me if they got stuck on a clue.

Everything had points, so the first team done, didn't necessarily win.

My daughter was very afraid I would make them do something 'weird' and was fairly anxious about the whole thing. The GAP store manager was a riot and really got into the whole thing. She was so fun and the girls actually really had a lot of fun! It was a cold weekend here, so the mall was VERY crowded on a late Saturday afternoon. I had contacted the stores where they were to take pictures and got oks from all of them. That's how the Gap manager got involved. She couldn't wait to help out.

The crowds at the mall were a problem, in that at one store one group had to wait to pay for their item for 15 minutes, which eventually left them without enough time to get to the last clue. But all in all , it was a huge success! The girls all had a great time and were very excited to participate. Afterwards, we took them all out to a local restaurant to eat and we gave out prizes there. We had used digital cameras, so while they were getting dressed to go to eat, we loaded them to my husbands' laptop and

were able to show them all at dinner. That was really fun and they were all laughing.

So, that's how it all went. It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun for the girls. Plus, no one else had done anything like that before, so that was very cool. Score one for MOM! ha

Your book was a big help. I hope to use it again sometime. I'm thinking how fun an adult one would be. Hmmm.....

Sandy Kollmorgen, Virginia 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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50th birthday party treasure hunt

Thanks !

Theme: 50th birthday party. 40 confirmed guests (20yrs.old to 60 yrs. old) Back yard is 3/4 acre predominantly grass, I have a group of trees covering an area of about 30 x 50 and other scattered trees throughout the backyard.

I do not live on a farm, a subdivision with 1 acre to 1 1/4 acre lots.

I'm thinking somewhere in the group of trees for the treasure. Buried 9 inches ?

I prefer a clue because the map will lead directly to group of trees (seems to easy)

Thinking 6 groups of 6.

Stations will all be within earshot (Not sure if that is good) I want to keep everyone in the backyard.

What do I do while everyone is active? First to the food?

Tom Roth, Illinois USA

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Scavenger hunt is a lot of fun

We just did our scavenger hunt it was a lot of fun and all ages enjoyed it .We would do it again.

Thank you

Rita Shepherd, New England USA

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Instant treasure hunt last Friday

Yes, we had our treasure hunt last Friday night, and it went very well. The girls enjoyed themselves and the treasure hunt was a hit. I appreciate all your help...we couldn't have done it without you. We will be planning another hunt in February for my other daughter's birthday. Thanks again,

Polly Reid, Pennsylvania USA

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Thanks for helping with my treasure hunt

Thank you Nikki for helping me with my hunt. Everything went great.

Vikki Moore, Ohio USA

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Daughter's treasure hunt was great success

Hello Nikki

I have just had my daughter's treasure hunt party and it was a great success. I only had 8 little girls and instead of breaking them into teams they all went around together.

Best wishes

Maria Drury, Vaud Switzerland

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Instant Treasure Hunt is Perfect Game

Hi Nikki,

I have logged on and played around with planning our first treasure hunt.

This one is for our son's 6th birthday party on Saturday, October 7th. His birthday is actually the 8th but because of other activities, the party is a day early. I'm very excited about the treasure hunt. His party has a pirate theme and this is a perfect game. I was having trouble being very creative with clues for the hunt and while snooping around the internet I found your site and couldn't wait to try it out. So...I'm off to fine tune the treasure hunt for the kiddos and I'll let you know how everything turns

out after the party!

Thanks,

Anna Quist Anna Quist, Texas USA

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Hi Nikki

Party was yesterday and thankfully was a great success. As you would expect weather very unpredictable in Ireland for Nov but we were blessed with a dry if windy day. Have taken some photos and will email them to you this week.

Thanks so much for package which I must say was very thorough. The hardest part for me was trying to contain the children (21 in total) when they arrived at party and explain how the treasure hunt worked. Your website details have been passed to several parents so hopefully you will reap the rewards. Thanks again and photos will follow.

Anne Goodwin, County Kildare Ireland

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Well worth the money?

The party was a huge success. Everyone really enjoyed it. We hid the treasure in the house in a chest that had a lock on it. I gave them a key along with the map, it took them quite a while to find it. It was great. They mostly liked the stations and games that were played there. I made the pirate beach station out by the pool and incorporated the walking the plank game into the pool area.

Thanks for everything...it was well worth the money.

Kelly Coulter, California USA

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Treasure hunt for 11 yr old's party

Hi Nikki

We had a great Treasure Hunt for my daughter?s 11 year old party. We had five teams and I had two other grown-ups helping me. I did the pea challenge, the balancing on a rope, a general knowledge quiz, the backward clues quiz, a memory game and a beat the buzzer game, some they found more challenging than others. The treasure map I hid inside a balloon and mixed it in with lots of other balloons so they had to pop them all to find the map, I had also hidden the bag of balloons.

The treasure map was then found and the hunt for the chest started - it was located up a tree.

They all had great fun, the weather stayed dry and the bags of gold coins for the treasure box were appreciated. What a great idea, I shall certainly keep it for using again.

Best Wishes

Louise Ross, Glasgow Scotland

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Memorial Day treasure hunt

Hi Nikki,

I am working on putting together this treasure hunt. Our party is a family Memorial Day weekend party. It is held lakeside in New Hampshire, USA.

The party is this Sunday afternoon. The age range of the kids playing the game is 4 years to 14 years old. I am trying to make the tasks at each station easy enough for all to be involved. I like the mummy task and think all the kids will have fun with that one. I plan on burying the treasure chest on our beach; I can't wait for this part the kids should really enjoy it.

Thanks for your help

Karen Hall, New Hampshire USA

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Pirates of the Caribbean at company picnic treasure hunt

Thanks for inquiring. Our company picnic will have a 'Pirates of the Caribbean' theme. A treasure hunt seemed a natural choice. We will have about 100 people, children and adults. One decision is whether to have two different hunts or to put children and adults together on a team. We also have many choices for locations. There is a nature trail through the woods, a ball field, a pond, front yard, and inside the buildings. My guess is we shouldn't spread out too much.

I'll contact you with other questions as I get further along in the planning. Your follow-up is very unexpected and welcome.

Jill Haer, Maine USA

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Fun with treasure hunt party

We had a lot of fun! Thank you

Vincent Garnier, Georgia USA

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Tag treasure hunt

Flashlight/tag treasure hunt in Newport Beach, California on Jan 28. My 12 year old's birthday party

Diane Brown, California USA

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Treasure hunt on a farm

Thanks for asking. I am planning a treasure hunt birthday party for my daughter who is turning 11 at the end of this month. We live on a farm in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan near but not on Lake Superior. We have several barns, open fields, and trees scattered about. I have read through it once and now am working my way through deliberately to make it work for this setting. We plan to have them start in the late afternoon and finish just as it is getting dark so that it is just a little bit scary for those with an active imagination. I have flashlights to give each child.

Next spring I am going to use the treasure hunt planner again when I host my book club in May when the spring wildflowers are in bloom. I plan to adapt it so that they have to search in the fields and 2-track roads through the woods to find particular species of wildflowers and ferns. This treasure hunt will start about 1 mile from our house and wind it way along the neighborhood with one or two of the stations at neighbors homes along the way. One neighbor has Alaskan Husky sled dogs and another couple are vegans who have a 2 acre organic garden and raise honey bees. I was very excited to find your planner because I have wanted to do this for a long time but have not had the time to work it all out.

I will email you if I have difficulties. Thanks so much for the follow-up. I have attached a couple of pictures to show you where we live.

Anna Sanford, Michigan USA

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Great student treasure party in Japan

Nikki,

This is just a quick note to let you know everything went well. We did make a few changes to your plan like you suggested, but followed most everything else. The kids had a great time and we may try something with the adult students this spring or summer. I?m sending you some photos too.

David Campbell, Hokkaido Japan

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Haven't told the children yet about the treasure hunt

Nikki,

Thank you for checking on me. I was really reluctant to agree to the treasure hunt, but after getting your manual, I am getting excited.

I have an idea where I am going to bury the treasure and have decided to prepare 6 individual treasure chests and these will be buried in a bigger treasure chest.

I purchased a disposable ice chest and will spray paint it black, brown or gold, not sure yet on the color. I bought the smallest one available because it had a rope attached to it and I wanted to make sure it is not too heavy for the kids to pull it up.

I will fill each treasure chest up stuff for the winners and place them all staked on top of each other in the ice chest. I will then place filled individual goodie bags on top of the treasure chests that the winners get to 'share' their spoils with others. The individual bags will contain coins, gems, etc and a thanks for participating note.

I have read your instructions several times and think I have a good handle on it and feel pretty good about what I need to do to make it successful.

I haven't told my children that I've planned this for their party because if I tell them anything in advance, they will ask day and night millions of questions and will not allow me a moments peace.

Angel Epps, California USA

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Yacht club cruise and treasure hunt

We had our pirate treasure hunt game this week-end on our yacht club cruise. We did all the planning, purchasing the treasure and put it together in 3 days with very late nights, but it was a huge success. Everyone had a great time. We have many more ideas for another hunt next year when we will have more time to plan.

Thank-you for all the great ideas and for all the flexibility to the game, it was easily adaptable to our space, weather and various abilities of our players. Our youngest player was 7 years old and our oldest was in their late 60's and they all enjoyed the challenges, puzzles and best of all finding the map and treasure.

Bev Hamlik, Washington USA

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Treasure hunt went very well

Our treasure hunt went very well. I had a bunch of kids aged 6-14 and they loved it. Thank-you for a great plan.

Amanda Pouliot, Texas USA

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St Patrick's day treasure hunt

Nikki,

We are having a St. Patrick's day theme. March 17th, they will be searching for ?the pot of gold?. I have purchased a black pot from Hobby Lobby and filled with candy with hopes of the children sharing (age 9).

I wrapped the candy in the top with gold wrapping paper to resemble gold. We have all the stations taken care of. The teams and stations all fit around St Patrick?s day. I now need to get the clue and the treasure map done. We have a huge back yard fenced and that is where we are planning to have the entire treasure hunt. I was just going to set stations up around the back yard.

My husband has said that he was going to put the treasure map around some bricks in the back yard. Also the pot of gold will be in the shed in the back yard. (my husband has built a shelf over the door and that is where the pot of gold will be! This is the first treasure hunt, and I will be planning another one (Easter) three weeks later for my 11 year old

Jennifer Hatcher, Alabama USA

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Family treasure hunt is big success

THANK YOU, NIKKI! We had our family Treasure Hunt this weekend as part of a birthday celebration. 12 of us in all. We had so much fun!!! I couldn?t have pulled this off without you. Big success. I highly recommend this.

Linda Lyle, California USA

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Company handles difficulties admirably

Thank you. I always believe that the true mark of a company is how they handle difficult situations. Your company has responded admirably. I look forward to doing business with you the future. Best, J

John Sadowski, Michigan USA

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Relay race with treasure hunt clues

We had fun, but these boys and girls went through the treasure hunt clues like a hot knife through butter and soon I had to organize them into a relay race. Luckily it was a gorgeous warm Halloween. I should have bought the next age group up. Like the backgrounds though.

Mary Keating, Maryland USA

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Treasure hunt picnic with 8 yr old solving five to eight puzzle

We did the treasure hunt at our picnic on Sunday and it was a hit. I learned a lot, particularly about being rushed into setting it up. But all in all, everyone had a good time and they were challenged by the clues. One dad was so proud of his 9 year-old son, who figured out the five to eight puzzle while the adults were still working on it. I will definitely be thinking of clues and prizes for the treasure throughout the whole year, just to make it better next time. Thank you.

Sandy Manchester, Washington USA

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Treasure hunt website shared with other parents

Hi Nikki, thank you very much for all the follow-up emails and also for making that customization website available. It's been REALLY EASY to plan this treasure hunt with all your materials and the website.

My son's 7th birthday party was this past Saturday and ran the pirate-themed treasure hunt. The kids ranged in age from 3-8. It was great fun! The kids really enjoyed themselves and the parents seemed to enjoy watching the activities, too.

I followed your basic design, signs, and most of the games. We did the whole treasure hunt on our backyard lawn in a space of about 15 ft x 25 ft.

I really enjoyed planning this and running it, too. Your instructions were great and really easy to follow. I'm looking forward to planning another treasure hunt soon. As I mentioned earlier, all the kids had a great time and the parents really enjoyed watching the treasure hunt. I've already shared your Web site address with several parents. Thanks again,

Mary Anne Arcilla, California USA

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Hi Nikki,

The party for our son turning 9 was a huge hit! Once the boys got warmed up they were running in and out of the house for clues. In order to have everyone feel included we rotated who read the clues. I also emphasized this was a 'team' approach. It worked out really well and it was fun to see which riddles stumped them and which ones they figured out with ease.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! It was money very well spent!

Thanks again,

Amy Anderson, Washington USA

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Treasure buried in the sands

Nikki

I am actually planning this Treasure Hunt for my boss's children and cousins.

They will be doing this in Maui at a hotel I have never been to. My boss wants to have the treasure chest buried outside in the sand.

Megan Hoffman, Texas USA

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Scavenger hunt moved inside at the last minute

Nikki, thanks yet again for following up on our scavenger hunt. We did the first one, the one with our 12 year old this past weekend. We live in San Antonio and our plan was to do the neighborhood hunt but the weather got the best of us so we ended up doing the one designed for the house. We used the list that was in the original book and the kids had a great time with it. It was a great success. I'm on the road on business now but still plan on doing the adult scavenger hunt in the near future. I haven't yet decided which one we will do but I'm thinking about the one the involves driving around town.

Norm Fox, Texas USA

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Haunted Luau theme for treasure hunt

I used your treasure hunt game for my son's 12th birthday party. We were doing a haunted Luau theme and I used the Hawaiian Islands as the places that they had to visit. It was great. The program to customize the hunt worked great and was very easy to use. I had about 15 kids that were doing the hunt. They had a really good time. I was having a little trouble trying to come up with a treasure but a friend suggested lottery tickets. The kids went nuts over them. I had three sets of three lottery tickets tied together for the team that figured out the location and dug it up. But I also had single tickets in the box so that everyone got one. It was a great party game for that age group. I was really pleased with the product. I am planning on using the Halloween games bonus that I got for my son's Halloween party at school. Thanks.

Kathy Stover, West Virginia 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 planner so well thought out

Hi Nikki,

I received the download and I've read it about 4 times now. I'm really excited to plan my daughter's party. I think it will be lots of fun. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't found your website. Your treasure hunt planner is so well thought out and helpful.

Melissa West, Utah USA

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Winter theme for Treasure Hunt

It was so nice to get your email today! I have been stressing over the exact theme of my treasure hunt. I have decided to stick to the Winter Theme but need the names of the teams to not be related to Christmas. I will have four teams in lieu of six - RED, BLUE, YELLOW, & GREEN. I will still have six stations as we will have plenty of time to play. We will be in a three story cottage with four bedrooms and four baths. Main floor has kitchen, living room, dining room, and master bed/bath. Upstairs has two bedrooms and two baths. Downstairs has a family/game room w/ bedroom and bath. I thought since we would not be using the washer & dryer, I would hide the clue in the dryer. Thanks again for checking on me!

Tina Franklin, North Carolina USA

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Secret agent treasure hunt for 10 year old

Hi Nikki,

Yes we are planning a secret agent party for our ten year old boy, Matthew.

We plan to set up the stations as 'training grounds' with tasks of mental, physical, disguise, agility, teamwork and code breakers. We will be using our yard and house as the playing area. We have a dark little room downstairs where we are planning to set up a 'laser grid' for them to master and then get to one of the activities (which will be set up under a single light :).

We will have about 10 boys all together who are pretty bright and agile so we are trying to come up with some good puzzles, etc... We are having trouble thinking of a teamwork challenge but otherwise, we have supplies for the spy disguises (mustache, dark glasses, spy hats, fake ids, etc..) and we will use the walking on a line activity in conjunction with our physical training (ie, obstacle course, which includes low crawl, jumping rope, push ups, etc...). We are excited about all of it--my husband is helping me think up some ideas too.

I was thinking of wrapping chocolate bars in gold paper to look like gold bricks to put in the 'safe'. All of your ideas were a great jumping-off point to go with our theme. Thanks so much for the boost'

Kim Lloyd, Illinois USA

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Haunted Luau theme for treasure hunt

I used your treasure hunt game for my son's 12th birthday party. We were doing a haunted Luau theme and I used the Hawaiian Islands as the places that they had to visit. It was great. The program to customize the hunt worked great and was very easy to use. I had about 15 kids that were doing the hunt. They had a really good time. I was having a little trouble trying to come up with a treasure but a friend suggested lottery tickets.

The kids went nuts over them. I had three sets of three lottery tickets tied together for the team that figured out the location and dug it up. But I also had single tickets in the box so that everyone got one. It was a great party game for that age group. I was really pleased with the product.

I am planning on using the Halloween games bonus that I got for my son's Halloween party at school. Thanks.

Kathy Stover, West Virginia USA

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Kids want to make treasure hunt yearly tradition

Hi Nikki, I found your site during a Google search. I had two days to plan a hunt for my 9 year old son and 6 of his friends, as a last day of school treat.

Your site really helped. I had to make some changes because I only had 7 kids, but it was a great time for all. The hunt and all the challenges took about 2 hours. I had a lot of fun putting it together too. Next time I will take more time planning.

The kids asked if we can do this next year for the last day of school. They want to make it a yearly tradition. Thanks.

Patti Chiofalo, New Jersey 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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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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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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Instant treasure hunt was a blast

Hi Nikki:

Thanks for your response. We had the treasure hunt party on Saturday - huge success! Because I am so very busy I was not able to put the pen to paper until the day before - it was grueling but absolutely terrific.

My 10 year old party girls had an absolute blast!

Thanks very much,

Roni Agress, USA

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