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Activity for Kids: Pirate Scavenger Hunt

by | Sep 19, 2010 | My Life, Traditions & Memory Making

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Activity for Kids: Pirate Scavenger Hunt

Need a creative and frugal activity for kids this summer? Or maybe inspiration for a fun family night or summer birthday party? 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! Hide treasures in your yard and leave a few strategic clues to help kids find the prizes! Be as creative as you want.

For younger kids you can keep this very simple and hide things in plain sight, but for older kids think of clues to clever hiding places to keep them busy for a long time. Get creative and make them think!

You can have them measure distances between items with a measuring tape to help locate a prize, use a compass to find the direction to walk from a landmark, have them search for clues you set up around the yard, or count steps from a fence or tree to locate the hidden treasures they have to dig up or find in a tree. The kids will have a blast and your whole family will have lasting memories of a fun day or party!

Here are the photo highlights of the hunt for the treasure!

Activity for Kids: Pirate Scavenger Hunt

Activity for Kids: Pirate Scavenger Hunt

Activity for Kids: Pirate Scavenger Hunt

Activity for Kids: Pirate Scavenger Hunt

Activity for Kids: Pirate Scavenger Hunt

Activity for Kids: Pirate Scavenger Hunt

Activity for Kids: Pirate Scavenger Hunt

Activity for Kids: Pirate Scavenger Hunt

Activity for Kids: Pirate Scavenger Hunt

Activity for Kids: Pirate Scavenger Hunt

Activity for Kids: Pirate Scavenger Hunt

Activity for Kids: Pirate Scavenger Hunt

Activity for Kids: Pirate Scavenger Hunt

Activity for Kids: Pirate Scavenger Hunt

Activity for Kids: Pirate Scavenger Hunt

Activity for Kids: Pirate Scavenger Hunt

Activity for Kids: Pirate Scavenger Hunt

This post is originally from October 2008. My son is now 14 years old and still has pieces from this scavenger hunt on display in his bedroom–it’s a special memory!

Activity for Kids: Pirate Scavenger Hunt

26 Comments

  1. Yanet

    I love this idea! I’m going to try to do something like this for my boys. thanks for the inspiration.

    Reply
  2. Jess

    Love this! What an adorable idea! And I always get a kick out of International Talk Like A Pirate Day! Lol!

    Reply
  3. Tara

    Melissa…I loved this post…what precious time and effort went into this family activity…and I’m sure your son will never stop talking about it!

    Reply
  4. Glenda Childers

    Ah, I miss the days of creating treasure hunts for our daughters . . . we need some grandbabies, so we can do it again.

    Fondly,
    Glenda

    Reply
  5. Vee

    And that grin says it all!

    Reply
  6. Felicity

    What a wonderful day you had.
    Shared experiences like this are really what memories are made of aren’t they?
    We have regulare scavenger hunts in our house [and I’m not talking about the “Where’s your lunchbox, socks, permission form…?” kind!]
    One of my favourite things to do is a gift hunt on birthdays where we hide the gifts in different parts of the house with clues, it really adds another dimension to the gift-giving and receiving process.

    Felicity x

    Reply
  7. Lorilee

    FUN! My youngest son, who is now 15, wanted a treasure hunt at each of his parties for several years in a row. We had hunts in several themes-pirate, Egyptian mummy, and wizards! The invisible ink clues were the toughest! It took a lot of patience to hold the paper over the lightbulb til the lemon juice browned!
    Blessings,
    Lorilee

    Reply
  8. Gina

    My kids would love this-we’ve got to do this soon!

    Reply
  9. Ann

    Great idea. That would be such a great bonding time for our family.

    Reply
  10. Jasmine

    What a great idea. Love his smile at the end. My boys would love this.

    Thank you.

    Reply
  11. Kristin

    What an absolutely fabulous idea! Ive got a pirate of my own who would love to do this! (And I totally agree about the money/creativit.) ~K

    Reply
  12. Rachael

    Wow soooo cute, you guys are so creative!

    Reply
  13. Lesley

    This is such a cute idea and so well done! I’m really impressed … as always.

    Reply
  14. Stephanie

    Melissa, what a great and creative thing to do with the family. I love this so much!

    Reply
  15. Kourtney

    Melissa, Love this idea! Growing up my mom used to do this will our gifts and as we got older for our birthday money. She would leave riddles/poems/fill-in-the-blanks…we looked forward to that more than the gift I think! Great idea, thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  16. JM

    Cute idea! It sounds like so much fun – I would love to do it and I’m an adult! Very adorable dog by the way – Westie?

    Reply
  17. Deidra

    Scavenger Hunts were so much fun around my house when my children were young! I’d organize them for birthdays and have them giddy with excitement as they searched and solved clues that led to their present. This year, when my daughter turned 19 she asked for one again!

    Reply
  18. Jess

    You are too cute! I love this idea! Scavenger hunts are so thrilling for kids and are inexpensive to do. I do them all the time with the little guy I nanny for. Just simple ones (not nearly as adorable as this!!) he is 3 and it helps him to learn how to interpret clues and descriptions of things.

    Reply
  19. Fiona's Mosaic

    LOLOL How great!!! It reminds me of Jerry’s mystery trips he would take us on! So glad he hasn’t lost his touch!

    We did something like this once too. We had a “Treasure Hunt” here on our property, and then watched National Treasure. It was SOOOO fun!

    Reply
  20. laura

    oh my gosh – how FUN! love it!!

    Reply
  21. Darlene

    what a great idea. the scroll is the perfect touch!!

    Reply
  22. Amy

    Wow, what an incredible idea – you got me genuinely smiling! I think that is the stuff that lifelong memories are made of. Thanks for re-sharing!

    Reply
  23. Charlotte

    His smile is simply the best!

    Reply
  24. Karen

    One of my kids favorite Christmas Eve treats was a scavenger hunt for some very small gifts to be opened on Christmas Eve—thank you for reminding me of what fun that can be—with Grand child #1 on the way I’ll need to keep some of these things in mind.

    Reply
  25. Renee Aleshire Brown

    I found this post on Pinterest, however it was linked to what looks like a scraping site. Here’s the pin if you want to track it down. I used google to find YOUR post. Great job. Looks like fun.

    Reply
  26. Jim

    I just made a trasur map for my granddaughter she is 6..with map goes from her home in Or. To Ca. To my house.with big treasure here for her to dig up.

    Reply

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