Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Tips On How To Write Good Clues For An Exciting Treasure Hunt


If you’re making a treasure hunt you are probably trying to come up with a few clues. The majority of treasure hunts for children happen around the house, so the subject of your clues will be normal things you come across in a home, places such as behind the couch, under the bed, or in the refrigerator. Treasure hunt clues for around the house can be easy or hard depending on what age you're making the hunt for. For example, let's say we are coming up with a clue to lead the treasure hunters to the bathtub, an more simple clue for younger kids could be:

Soap and water you will find in me
When you get out, clean you will be

A bit more challenging clue for the bathtub geared towards older kids might be:

Boats sail the high seas in me,
But not a man is lost at sea!
My shores are shiny and very slick,
My waters won’t ever make you sea sick!

One of the keys to writing good treasure hunt clues is to make sure you pay attention to your target audience and adjust the level of difficulty of the clues. For sure you need the clues to be a bit tricky, but you don’t want them to be way too hard .. If they are, the treasure hunters may get frustrated and give up.

Despite what you might think, a good treasure hunt does not necessarily mean you have to have a great treasure. A good treasure hunt begins with great clues! It’s not referred to as “give me a treasure”. It’s called a “treasure hunt.” Yes you will need a treasure, but it is actually all about the hunt. The enjoyment is the challenge of hunting. And in order to put on a great hunt, you will need great clues.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Treasure Hunts

Everybody loves a good treasure hunt. It seems like when we were kids we got a chance to take part in treasure hunts quite a bit; whether it be hunts that our mothers or fathers prepared for us, at birthday parties, or connected with school activities. I remember when I was young, Santa Claus would often stash one of our gifts and leave clues for us to locate it. It was terrific, and it was typically our biggest and best present that was hidden. Oh what a fantastic treasure to discover! As grown-ups it’s much harder to take part in really fun and exciting treasure hunts, but there are some options out there that can fill the void for those Indiana Jones wannabes.

Geocaching is a popular way to treasure hunt. The way geocaching works is that individuals hide a cache or “treasure” and provide the geo coordinates for where the cache is located. Commonly the cache is a metal box of some kind containing a log book and a pen or pencil to write with along with several fun assorted items. When a cache is located, the finder signs the log book and may choose one of the “treasures” from the cache and is encouraged to leave something else in its place. Although that's a description of a typical cache, caches may differ in their purpose and size. Some caches are quite tiny for instance a film or match container. These generally only contain a log in them and are for the pleasure of the hunt. Often caches will be stashed in places where you can find something appealing to see or a great view. Geocaching is certainly one way to obtain your treasure hunting fix.

Metal detecting is another modern day type of treasure hunting. Utilizing a metal detector, you'll be able to get out there and discover all sorts of old buttons, pins, coins, and jewelry. It can be really exciting hearing the tone tell you that you will find something beneath you and then digging for your treasure. There are plenty of locations to go metal detecting, but one that may turn up some precious treasure is around old homesteads. A long time ago some people would not put their money in banking institutions, they would bury it. Usually they would bury it close by their dwelling, and in many cases where they would have the ability to see it from the house for instance in view from the kitchen window. Some other frequent locations were dog houses or chicken coups where there was a “built in alarm.” Metal detecting can be another fun way to do some present day treasure hunting to uncover real treasure.

Finally, another way you're able to do some modern day treasure hunting is to look for groups that put on treasure hunts. There are still individuals that really enjoy treasure hunting and will create treasure hunts for other folks to take part in. A few even offer a reasonable amount of cash for figuring out the clues and discovering the treasure. Some of these may charge you for the clues and others are free. There aren't a great deal of these groups out there, but there are some and they can be great fun!