Want a creative idea for a fun family activity at home or around the neighborhood? Why not have a scavenger hunt? That is what our family did a few weeks ago. My husband has always loved making a fun list of creative clues for the kids in the form of a treasure hunt. And with a wide range of kids’ ages in our family, this is an activity everyone can participate in. Those all family activities can be hard to come by, especially on a limited budget.
This time, the theme was a pirate adventure for my son. All it took was some advance planning, creativity and a few dollar store surprises! Here are the highlights of the hunt for the treasure!
Hi, I'm Melissa. This is where I share inspiration for creating a simple, authentic and beautiful home.
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Great idea! I recently thought of doing this for my little ones – we haven’t done it yet, but I found some gold coin wrapped chocolates on clearance this week so now I’m ready with my treasure!
Monicas inspiring blog post..Something Old…Something New
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What a great idea..must try that with Grand children one day!!
annes inspiring blog post..Museum of the History of Science Oxford
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Such a fun idea. My parents used to hide oddly shaped birthday presents and send us on treasure hunts to find them. Sometimes the process is as much fun as actually receiving a gift!
Kristens inspiring blog post..Jack Frost Nipping at My Toes
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That is just THE neatest thing! The smile on his face tells the whole story!
Jinxs inspiring blog post..A Little Autumn Decorating
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isn’t it the truth. children love the simple and creative ideas with their parents! what fun..very motivational to set aside the laundry and plan something fun…I love the moms unite ( I am new to the blog world and have planned all my purchases to be from all these creative moms)
LuLus inspiring blog post..Happy Halloween
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That is way too cool!
Love it!
Becky K.
Becky K.s inspiring blog post..Keep Your Chin Up!
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oh my gosh! this is such an awesome idea! I am definatly going to be trying this with my little one too!!
Nikkis inspiring blog post..{Thats a Deal Thursday, Baking, Baking Baking}
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What a fun idea. I bet he loved it!
Jennifers inspiring blog post..Kat Boo-ed me!
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A few years ago a church in our neighborhood had a scavenger hunt for their teen youth group. Each group of two people was given a toothpick and told to come back with something larger that someone had given them. Two girls rang our bell, they had traded in their toothpick for a pencil and the pencil for a ruler.
They hit the jackpot at our house. We had just remodeled the basement and had….ta dah… a railing! They won
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This is awesome! I wish I was going on that scavengar hunt!!!
Karas inspiring blog post..Get your Flower on…
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This is the best idea EVER!
Meghans inspiring blog post..Happy Halloween!!!!!!
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Melissa, what a fun thing to do for your son! I’m sure they had a blast. I’d love to get a blog button to you & I’m working on getting mine tweaked, so hopefully I can get on your blogroll.
Have a happy Halloween weekend!
Rhoda
Rhodas inspiring blog post..It’s a Giveaway!!
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What a FUN idea! My ds would LOVE this!
jennykates inspiring blog post..Friday Confessions
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How fun! We were going to do a pirate treasure hunt for my oldest’s birthday party, but our budget wouldn’t even support a Dollar Tree treasure…sigh. So we just had a family birthday rather than all his friends over. He didn’t seem to mind too much, as long as he got presents!
I love your saying…it gives one pause to consider what a memorable life is truly made of…
Mrs. Qs inspiring blog post..Cry Out
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what a fun idea, I love it!
Pams inspiring blog post..Trick or Treat!
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I actually did a scavenger/treasure hunt for my husband in our early years of dating. We went camping at the beach and I was there ahead of him, preparing the hunt. It was great fun hiding surf wax and matches for the fire, etc.
I think my kids are at a good age to bring it back. Thanks for the fun reminder.
Mama Bjs inspiring blog post..Happy Halloween
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What a fabulous job you did. I have done a much more scaled back version. I LOVE yours though. I bet your son LOVED. BTW, Monica, make sure those coins you found on clearance, aren’t the ones from China, KWIM.
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Love this! Thanks for sharing
Liz@VioletPosys inspiring blog post..Happy Halloween
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I love it. It’s so creative and totally not something you see every day! I love that you shared the pictures with us as well.
Happy Halloween to you and your family!
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Happy Halloween!
Hugs,
Liz & Mabel
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what a great idea !
you’re right, it is not the money we depense, it is what we want to do with our kids !
happy halloween ! (did you see the cake I made ?)
have a great day (and a great evening!)
Valerie
leonetlola (Valerie)s inspiring blog post..Halloween (part 2) : Un bien bon gâteau !
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thanks for the little tag LEON & LOLA !
leonetlola (Valerie)s inspiring blog post..Halloween (part 2) : Un bien bon gâteau !
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very cute! I love your pirate scroll!
Gidgets inspiring blog post..It’s the Absolute Ultimate!! #11~ Sweet Potato Solutions
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Oh my goodness! This is the cutest scavenger hunt I’ve ever seen!!! You are so right. It’s not about the money. The love you put into things and the care is what is most important! I am definitely sharing this with friends. Thanks!!
Loralee – No Fuss Fabulouss inspiring blog post..Happy Halloween!
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What a fun time! I once did a scavenger hunt for my daughters birthday party and had a chest filled with mardi gras beads at the end! They had such a fun time.
Melissas inspiring blog post..Boo! House Update and Weekend Plans
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What a perfect scavenger hunt. It looks like your son was having a great time! Good job!!! Laurie
laurie millers inspiring blog post..Apples
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Holy Shipmate- too cute. I will have to save that idea and do with my grandchildren- we did someone a little like that with our children when they were small, at the beach. :} Happy memories! Talk about scavenger hunts…we must be thinking alike
I have a little picture scavenger hunt contest going on over at my blog started last week, ends Nov 7th. :}
Love how you told the story with pictures :}
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Scavenger Hunts are the best! So fun for the kids!!
Happy Day – I’ll wave as I drive by this weekend
Sandys inspiring blog post..If You Think Apples Were Good – Try Pears!
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How fun is that? Cute little pirate you have there!
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This is a reeallly fantastic idea, I am so pleased you posted it, I think we should try it with our family too! Thanks so muchfor sharing this idea!
~Amber
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oh yes just a great idea and budget friendly, my kids love this, in fact adults love it too…
Sarah
sarah @ a beach cottages inspiring blog post..A Beach Cottage Toolkit
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What a fabulous idea! I am going to be trying this with our family and friends soon!! YAY just the idea I have been looking for!
Thanks for the great post!
Reginias inspiring blog post..~~Happy Halloween~~
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Funny you should mention this, we are going to do a little geocaching this weekend.
Darlas inspiring blog post..Asthmatic Bronchitis
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What a great idea Melissa. What a cute son! Makes me wish I had little kids again or some grandkids would be even better!
Hugs,
Cathie
Catherines inspiring blog post..Kreativ Blogger Award and a New Little Painting
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What fun! I loved the skull under the branches and the creative things you did with the clues:>)
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This is such a cool idea. Good for any age, just change up the theme if needed.
I am so definitely going to do this for a family adoption party. We don’t do the individual grand scale birthday parties but we do a once a year large adoption party. How much fun this will be once our crew is too old for the children’s museum.
Love it!! ~Kat
Kats inspiring blog post..A Good Season for Missions
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Your site is a new favorite of mine. I love all the great ideas. I’ll be checking back often.
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I love this post it reminds of my early birthdays. My mother would use string and wind it through the house over chairs under tables and you had to follow it to the end to find your gift. Simple but fun.
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When my son turned 7 last month we had a pirate party complete with treasure hunt. The boys who attended are STILL talking about it.
Laura Ingalls Gunns inspiring blog post..Happy Halloween!
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This is such a fun idea!
I love doing things (especially at the holidays) that create big memories like this, rather than spending lots of money.
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So sweet to see your little guy. It’s been a while. My little one would love that!
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Melissa,
Thanks for visiting my blog and for your very kind comments.
I love the idea of a scavenger hunt. We used to do that during my boys’ birthday parties and it was always a HUGE hit. I have never done it “just because,” but I am going to have to try this! I am always looking for creative, fun ideas for my boys.
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Ah, Melissa, this looks like such fun! What great memories too:)
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We have done this, and it’s always a blast. I haven’t done a pirate theme though…what great fun!
I do them for different holidays. I even did one when I was at my wits end….it tied fun things and chores together. They would have to clean the toilet before they found the clue etc….great for me, and encouraged them to do a better job.
Jen@Balancing Beauty and Bedlams inspiring blog post..Family Traditions – What’s in your jumping pile?
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Melissa, what a beautiful post. I love seeing the excitement in your son’s eyes in each of your pictures of the hunt for buried treasure. My middle son is now 14, but a couple of years ago his birthday party was all pirate-themed, even down to a pirate ship cake that I made (from a recipe found on the internet.) Your pictures really took me back … those are some wonderful memories. You are so right… it’s not about how much you spend, but about what kind of memories you make as a family.
Blessings,
Christi
Christi from Charm & Graces inspiring blog post..Grace for the Journey… Happy "Falling Forward"!
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Adorable photos. My parents used to conduct scavenger hunts and I did a few too many years ago. What a fun reminder to pull this idea out again, dust it off and play all over again.
P.S. Your photos would make a great scrapbook page-lol.
Have a great week!
Lisa from celebrate CREATIVITYs inspiring blog post..A Bursting Star
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What fun! You did a great job! And I love that Winston helped! I will have to get top work on a hunt for my son to find Christmas gifts, I think.
Lisa @ Stop and Smell the Chocolatess inspiring blog post..Bloggy Giveaway Winners!
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Oh, my boys would love this! And my girl too!
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What fun! It looks like he had quite an adventure! My big boy would go crazy for this! Hope all is well!!
::Sylvia::s inspiring blog post..Blissfully Domestic Inspiration Book
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We haven’t done a scavenger hunt in a long time. Maybe I will have to put one together for our Thanksgiving gathering.
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If you love the idea but don’t want to plan it, go to http://www.letterboxing.com. Our family LOVES this!
Cute adventure for your little guy!
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whoops….it’s http://www.letterboxing.org. Sorry.
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i LOVE this melissa! i am inspired. we have done this kind of thing for easter baskets to make them go on a hunt to find them. but it’s been YEARS since i did that. life gets in the way an you forget to be creative ON your kids not just for your kids. making something for them to participate in. i love this. he looks so happy.
meg duerksens inspiring blog post..FOUR
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Your scavenger hunt was really well done! This may have already been done, but our favorite scavenger-hunt-type-activity is Letterboxing! You get the clue from the website and then off we all go to find it. So much fun!
Jen
http://www.ListPlanIt.com
Jennifers inspiring blog post..List of Ways to Curb Spending through the Holidays
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We’ve done this several times, only on a very large scale. We have ten children and several drivers, so our hunts range all over our home state of Colorado. We use hand drawn maps and creative clues, with a range of prizes from milk shake certificates at McDonalds to golf club passes. It’s way fun and wonderful bonding! GPS geocaching is for sissies! (Your photos are adorable!)
Lisas inspiring blog post..Snowing…
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Hi there – who doesn’t love a true treasure hunt! I love this post – it is wonderful. I recently blogged about: Se7en Mini and Se7en Major Treasure Hunts.
If you are interested take a look here is the link:
http://www.se7en.org.za/2008/09/03/se7en-mini-and-se7en-major-treasure-hunts
se7ens inspiring blog post..Quick and Easy Play-Do in se7en Steps…
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Oh my gosh, your son is adorable! What a wonderful day (and great photos for the record books!). Lovely!! xo Terri
Terris inspiring blog post..Quality! But at what price?
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That is just so darn cool! I hope you don’t mind, but I posted a link on my blog. LOVE this idea!
Jennifers inspiring blog post..Pirate Ships oh my!
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