I need help to devise a new treasure hunt for grandkids!

Some great ideas here. I like to do Treasure Hunts for my grandchildren too. I’m working on one for this weekend - a Rainbow Trail. Hide 7 items around the garden - one in each of the rainbow colours. They then have to write or draw on their answer sheet what the item is and where they found it e.g red jumper in the tree, orange duck behind the water butt etc Older ones can help the younger ones - ages 3-10 years. Mind you I might swap either indigo or violet for pink as they’re quite close in colour. Probably too simple for your grandchildren jools1 but someone may find it useful.

You could get a simple colourful picture and stick it on card or cartridge paper. Then cut this out with scissors to make a jigsaw. Then they have a written clue to begin looking for the pieces each one leading to the other and they have to make up the jigsaw which then gets them a prize. You can also do quite a good slightly different type of clue. So you have a bag (no peeping) which they may touch and smell . Then it might be that each clue would lead to a colour . e.g. a cut orange so that they smell the fruit and then have to look about for a clue that is coloured orange . e.g. an orange t shirt left at the back of a chair or under a pillow. That then has another clue to lead on to another colour , so you could have an actual banana , or perhaps a banana milk shake - which they need to taste to decide what it is, then look for something yellow etc etc. So this uses all their senses. I have used with junior age children the lovely scented leaf geraniums. They can look similar, but when pressed smell quite different. Another safety example to show them that just because something looks the same it may not be . So you could have different ones in plant pots and perhaps some mint or salvia to again press the leaf and then go and hunt for something with a similar smell or a connection. You could have a note beside the mint (if they are meat eaters ) that says this goes well with ??? and have a toy lamb or a picture of a lamb to find. So these are quite good to do as everyone has different skills so one child may make quicker connections or just enjoy smelling the leaves. There is a great scented leaf geranium that smells of sharp lemon and can make your mouth water. If you have some home grown cherry tomatoes put one or two in a bag and then that lovely smell of tomatos home grown. They will be ready for a meal at the end of this trip! It is quite fun to do with adults at a party too. If people are blindfolded they can do very well or very badly depending on how they use their senses - non smokers of course do much better hurrah!

You say the children are ten, so road drill has been well and truly learned by now, so if the area they live in is one you can safely go out for a walk in, you could try the following:

They have each to find ten of the following, or a mixture of them. I don't know if you are in a city or the countryside, so these are just ideas.
statues of historical personages; historical monuments; beautiful buildings,; ugly buildings ; (their taste not yours);
3 different trees; 3 different animals (these only apply if you are in the country, in a town use 3 different vehicles; and 3 different machines; 3 places they have never been to; 3 places they have been and can tell you about; something they thought funny; something they thought strange.

Strictly speaking it is not a treasure hunt, but near enough perhaps to make a pleasant change.

We have often done these. Depending on the exact circumstances, we would try useful things, like gather a bowl of blackberries, tasks like make biscuits or a sandwich. Find out things - do you have a co-operative neighbour? Something like, ask Mr Neighbour to tell you a story about when he was young / ask Ms. Neighbour to tell you about when she worked at the shop - story to be told to you and maybe their parents. Walk round your local town / Park, looking for information boards and come back with something new. We love these, good luck!

Hi how about a treasure hunt in a wood. Different leaves, feathers, nut cases (prickly nutcase)
Birs sighted and seen. Sit for 10 minutes with eyes closed and list number of sounds. ie wind, rustling leaves, birds etc
Creepy crawlies

I used to do my own for my children but have discovered a company called ‘Treasure Trails’ for my grandchildren which are geared around your own town, perhaps a murder mystery or treasure hunt all using historical things of interest locally, great fun for all the family it’s amazing what you find! Not expensive to buy either!

Same as SpanielCuddler - twinkl is brilliant, well worth joining.

sandye

I have bought some of those very small ducks, 100 for about £8, I'm going to place them round the garden and every time the children find one the prize is a sweet, My grandchildren range from 24 to 3 years old so after the older ones have found there say 3 or 5 they have to help the smaller ones

Have you got a link to the ducks please?

I was just going to suggest Geocaching then I saw the post from GrauntyHelen. Our grandchildren ranging from 6 to 15 love doing it with me. There’s a free version and it can be done all over the world.

I have bought some of those very small ducks, 100 for about £8, I'm going to place them round the garden and every time the children find one the prize is a sweet, My grandchildren range from 24 to 3 years old so after the older ones have found there say 3 or 5 they have to help the smaller ones

Not sure where you are, but in the UK there’s a thing called Geocaching, which is like a treasure hunt where you search for cache left by others in you community you can look for, weblink below which explains it much better than I can

www.geocaching.com/play

I recommend geocaching for children of all ages A treasure hunt with clues and Gps tracking Geocaching .com will fill you in then you download a phone app and of you go It's worldwide

Years ago we used to have to fill a matchbox with as many small items as possible. Think - button, grain of rice, stamp, safety pin, etc. Possibly difficult to find matchbox now, but you could supply similar box/container.
Good luck with whatever you decide. X

Even if they don't read English books, I would imagine that they have seen at least some of the Harry Potter films. Could you devise a Harry Potter themed treasure hunt?

Thankyou thankyou summer holidays looming. You have given me lots of ideas for the grandchildren.

How old are they?

Thanks everyone - lots of ideas and good links!

Thank you for starting this thread Jules, I do an Easter egg hunt every year for my dgd and have to up my game now she’s older (10). She’s a bright child and very quick on the uptake so I’m thinking of combining Swampy and Jacky’s ideas in a bid to keep her occupied for a while.

Have you heard of geocaching? Free with an app on the phone - it’s treasure hunting using modern devices!, great for kids, gets them out and about and teaches them about directions, thinking laterally. Brilliant hobby for children of all ages (even 70plus).check out www.geocaching.com

Maybe write on the back of the clues the days of the week or months of the year,Colours of the rainbow etc. . (I haven't thought it through entirely). Perhaps the clues are in another order, but at the end they can put the pieces of paper in the correct order. If you write certain letters in a different colour, those letters then reveal the final clue when the pieces of paper are rearranged.

10-year-olds are just the right age for this. I might try something like this for my oldest DGS and DGD who are 10 and 9 1/2 and their second language is English too.

How about changing it up and having them search for items instead from clues given? Collect them all and bring them to you.
Daft clues to make them think - like leave with two legs and come back with six! (chair) Or I grow in the grounds and often have eyes that cant see but you do like making fries from me (potato) Or find something round? Something plastic? Something taller than you? The list is endless. Have fun!

Why not write the words backwards. I did one for my granddaughter birthday it was Harry Potter at grandkids parties each grandparents have to pick a game I wrote all the clues backwards and it drove them mad lol but they did it. Or item of clothing and they have to wear the clothes too that will have them laughing specially if it’s adults clothes or something

Don't know if these clues are any use?

parade.com/1249192/marynliles/scavenger-hunt-clues/

Hi Jools
Some ideas on here. This site is used widely in schools. Some resources are free or you can get a trial.
You could adapt the tasks.

www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/scavenger-hunt-activity-sheets-t-tp-2549619

Maybe a more cryptic message they have to decipher? Or devise an easy code for them to work together to work out? Picture clues ? Perhaps the one not taking part could devise the clues for the other one?