treasure hunt hiding places

treasure hunt hiding places

Looking for and discovering a riddle is at least as funny as resolving it. Do not overlook this aspect of the game. This section will tell you what pitfalls to avoid to ensure that everything is running smoothly.

Take the time to reflect

Take the time to clearly determinate what will be the “authorised area” for the treasure hunt.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• Will the access be free to all the rooms of the house?
• Will the children be allowed to go to my bedroom?
• Will they have the right to search the cupboards? If so, which cupboards?
• Will the cellar and the attic be accessible to them?
• Will they have the right to go to the garage? Enter into the car?
• Etc.

Set the limits

If you do not set limits, children may think that they are allowed to do anything. They are indeed so excited that discovering the treasure will be the only thing that will matter to them.

To avoid having to continuously intervene during the hunt and to suddenly deny access to a place, we recommend you to clearly specify, and this from the very beginning, which rooms are authorised and which ones are forbidden. Of course, it is even better if you can physically block the access to the forbidden places (by locking the door or by placing some insurmountable obstacle in front of it…).

Take potential hazards into account

Pay also close attention to the hidden dangers that your little guests may be facing in your flat, your house or your garden. Avoid running mixers, irons in equilibrium on their board, visible saw blades on the workbench, razors on the sink and knifes on the kitchen counter… Do not forget to unplug all electrical devices as well.

You will also need one forbidden room, which you will lock and where your will store all your valuables you do not want to be destroyed by some clumsy sword thrust.

Have fun

If you always stay with the group, everything will necessarily run smoothly. With these caveats in mind, let’s now move on to the fun part.

Make optimal use of the available space and of the configuration of the different places. Also feel free to use some accessories to somewhat spice up the game: a string to suspend a parchment in a tree, a bottle to insert a message, a shovel to bury a small safe, some adhesive tape to fix a sheet under a chair, etc. Possibilities are endless, so let your imagination run wild!

Examples of hiding places

Possibilities where to hide the different riddles are endless but to help with this task, a list of potential places is available to you.

Booklet No.4 comprises 92 generic, ready to print clues (56 for an indoor treasure hunt and 36 for an outdoor one). These clues will allow the children to access all of the hidden places. Up to you of course to adapt them according to the configuration of the place where the game is going to take place.

Indoor hiding places

• Kitchen: fridge, sink, dishwasher, coffee machine, fruit basket, vacuum cleaner, drawers, cupboards, counter, underside of a chair, table
• Entrance: doormat, key cupboard, telephone, coat rack
• Living room: carpet, vase, photo frame, speaker, television, aquarium, table, chair, HI-FI system, DVD player, ADSL box, remote controls, coffee table, DVD or CD case, sofa, cushion, video games console
• Study, library: books, comics, magazine rack, printer, waste paper basket, desk, drawers, pencil cup holder, ream of paper
• Bedroom: bed, pillow, bedside table, chest of drawers, toy chest, toys, soft toys, terrestrial globe
• Bathroom, toilet: back of the toilet tank, toilet paper rolls, toothbrush cup, washbasin, shower, towel, washing machine, dryer, clothes hamper
• Miscellaneous: steps of the staircase, door, window, radiator, painting

Outdoor hiding places

• Garage, cellar, storeroom or garden shed: wheelbarrow, washing machine, dryer, clothes hamper, hot water tank, wine cabinet, car, bike, motorbike, storage cupboard, water meter
• Garden: stone, watering can, flower pot, tree, hole in the wall, windowsill, deck chair, end piece of the hosepipe, buried box, garden table, shed, bike, basketball hoop, trampoline, flower bed, hedge, parasol, kennel, bird table, letterbox, compost bin, slide, swing, balls, roller skates, sandbox, vegetable garden, statue

Riddles for the hiding places

During a treasure hunt, participants should discover objects and hidden treasures, and solve riddles. As the organiser, you have several options to put the children on the trail of the hiding places.

When the children give the proper answer to a riddle, you can simply indicate them where to find the next one. But we advise you to make the quest more playful by using one of the following codes:

Easy riddles

To help the participants find the next hiding places, you can for example ask them to solve an easy riddle such as:

Inverted letters

You can also provide the children with some printed riddle which you will have coded using one of the following ways: