Send Your Preschoolers on an Easy Treasure Hunt

Nothing is worse than bored kids stuck inside on a rainy day. Instead of listening to the kids whine, send them on a treasure hunt!

With these seven tips, your kids will be off (and entertained) in no time!

Easy Treasure Hunt

1. Decide on a Treasure

The first question you need to decide before you begin your treasure hunt is what will be the treasure. The world is your limit! You can use movie tickets, candy, oranges, toys, birthday presents, books, or even a favorite stuffed animal.

My strong recommendation is to find a treasure which is easy to hide.

2. How Many Clues

Determine how many clues you need. Begin with only 3-5 clues the first time you play with your children. Preschoolers are easily frustrated. When your child comes back begging for more, just add more treasure hunt clues the next time!

3. Use Index Cards

Grab a pile of index cards to use as the clues. You can hide the index cards as they are or place them inside an envelope. Both methods work.

If you have two or more children searching, they can solve the clues together or you can color code the index cards.

4. Hide the Treasure

The secret to a successful treasure hunt is to work backwards. Hide the treasure and draw a picture on an index card of where the treasure is. For instance you could hide the treasure in a laundry basket and draw a picture of the laundry basket on your card.

5. Continue to Hide the Clues

Now you find a hiding spot for the index card with the laundry basket and draw that hiding spot on the next index card. As an example, you may have hidden the index card on the piano keys. Now draw a picture of the piano on another index card before hiding this card.

Continue to hide index cards until you’ve completed the appropriate number of clues. Remember to keep the game super easy the first time you play it. Leave your child begging for more!

6. The Final Clue

Give the final clue (or first clue) to your child to begin the treasure hunt. Now watch your preschooler search for the next clue!

7. Enjoy the Treasure

Once the treasure is found, spend a few minutes enjoying it together.

Bonus: Next time try creating 20 or more clues for a more advanced game. Searching for the treasure will keep your kids busy. Remember to save the cards. The next time you choose to play, simply mix up the clues and reuse them to create a new treasure hunt!

Treasure hunts are fun on a rainy afternoon. They also make a marvelous game to play at a birthday party. Kids love searching for treasure in the house or backyard.

Have your kids searched for treasure lately?