8 Exciting Treasure Hunt Clues For Kids They Will Simply Love

Do you often find yourself packing for that camping trip to the great outdoors? Are you looking for some new ideas to make the oh-so-popular treasure hunt even more exciting for your kids?

If you said yes to any of these questions, it is probably time you gave our post a read. Here are our recommendations for some super fun indoor and outdoor treasure hunt clues for kids. Go ahead and join in the fun with these treasure hunting games for kids!

8 Super Fun Treasure Hunt Ideas For Kids:

As we said, your kids will love the treasure hunt ideas that we share below. So, without any further ado, take your pick:

1. Make Your Treasure Hunt List:

Before your little one truly gets into the spirit of the treasure hunt games for kids, it is important for you to teach them about how they can prepare a treasure hunt list themselves.

You Will Need:

• A paper on which your kids can make the list – one for each kid

• A pen or pencil for each kid

• A clipboard for each kid

• A box in which your kids can keep the items that they will have to carry along while hiding them for the hunt

How To:

1. Set a time limit for your kids to come up with ideas on what types of instructions or riddles they want to add in the list. Depending on the age of your kids as well as the number of kids who are playing, you can either let them play as individuals or divide them into groups or pairs.

2. If your kids are not sure about what kind of riddles or rules they can write down, help them by giving them a few ideas. Some easy to write and easy to follow instructions or riddles could be as follows – if you think you are hungry, go here and find some yummy (the kids who read the instructions will have to go to the kitchen or the fridge), or, now here comes your second clue, they are easy and they come before your shoe (the kids will have to wear their socks) and so on.

3. Make it clear to the kids that this is going to be a list of where the kids will be able to find objects that are already hidden by the kids who are making the lists.

4. Once the kids have made their list of instructions, set them another time limit to hide the things accordingly and come back to the start point, where you will be keeping time. To make it fair, set some items that each kid has to hide and some instructions that each kid has to make.

5. The kid who reaches first with the list of instruction properly made and the items hidden accordingly will be the winner.

[ Read: Camping Games For Kids ]

2. Make Your Items To Be Found List:

Once your kids have learnt how to prepare a treasure hunt list (as shown in point 1), you can teach them how to help create a list of items that need to be found during the kids treasure hunt game.

You Will Need:

• A paper for each kid to write down the list of items to be found

• A pen or pencil for each kid

How To:

1. For this particular treasure hunt idea, your kids have to take a look at the area where the treasure hunt will be organized. The kind of items that the treasure hunters will be able to find will depend on where they are playing. For instance, your kids may be doing the treasure hunt in the woods, in the garden, at home, or in the neighborhood.

2. Give a timer to each kid to take a look around and understand their surroundings. The kids have to make use of this time to find out the types of objects or treasures that the hunters will be able to find here.

3. Once the time is up, your kids will have to start preparing a list of items that the treasure hunters have to go and find. Make sure you set a time for this as well. A few ideas that your kids can add the things to find list could be very simple things such as a dark orange leaf, a pine cone, a small rock of a particular color, marbles, etc.

4. The kid who finishes making the list first within the given time will be the winner.

[ Read: Fun Park Games For Kids ]

3. Set Up A Neighborhood Treasure Hunt:

Once your kids have learned how to create a treasure hunt list and how to read one, you can set up on one easy treasure hunt game for kids. The idea is to start with a place that is near the house and can also be easily accessed by younger kids without any safety threats.

You Will Need:

• A Pre-decided list for each kid

• A box or small basket in which the kids can collect the treasures

• A small timer or a watch for each kid to keep track of the time

How To:

1. Depending on how many kids are playing the game, you can either send the kids out to hunt individually or work in pairs or small groups.

2. Set a few rules for the game, such as players cannot go to their home, even if they are in a team. Also, to make sure that all the kids are safe make sure that no kid is allowed to go inside any house. Be very clear about the rules and make sure that the kids understand that if they go inside anyone’s house they will be immediately taken out of the game.

3. Hand all the kids a pre-decided list with various items that your kids will be able to find in the neighborhood. Here are a few sample items you can put up on a neighborhood treasure hunt list – a pen with a fountain nib, a ball point pen in a specific color, a safety pin, a small pair of scissors, a penny, and so on.

4. To avoid your neighbors getting irritated with many kids calling on their homes, you could also give the kids an area or specific lane to work on.

5. The kid or group of kids who make it back first with all the items on the list and by following all the rules will be the winners.

[ Read: Outdoor Games For Kids ]

4. Fun Halloween Time Treasure Hunt Idea:

Here is a fun kids treasure hunt ideas that you can try out during the Halloween season. If you also have younger kids who would like to participate in the treasure hunt, assign an older child with each younger one so that they are safe and do not get scared.

You Will Need:

• A piece of paper for each kid with the list of treasure hunt items

• A pen or pencil for each kid to tick off the items on the list as they finish getting the same

• Fun Halloween based stickers to make the treasure hunt list seem genuine

• A polaroid camera for each kid

• A spooky bag or basket for the kids to bring back the items they collect

How To:

1. Make a fun treasure hunt list that incorporates various spooky elements of the Halloween spirit.

2. Here are a few ideas you can use in the list – click a picture of three bats that are flying above your head, get a creepy crawly in black, bring the broom that the witch made a landing on, click four pumpkins that have a creepy smile on their face, bring a big spider web, bring a spider that has a red belly, bring along a ghost mask or click a picture of the same, click an image of the moon as it is partially hidden behind the clouds and so on.

3. All the kids have to dress up for the part before they head out to complete their Halloween treasure hunt.

4. The kid who comes back first with the list complete is the winner.

[ Read: Party Games For Children ]

5. A Fun Treasure Hunt At The Mall:

A mall is a place that most kids will be familiar with, and it is also one of your kids’ most frequented places. To see how well they know the mall, or to give them a new look at their regular mall hangout, try this outdoor treasure hunt ideas for kids.

You Will Need:

• A piece of papzer for each kid with the list of treasure hunt items mentioned on it

• A pen or pencil to help the kids tick off each item as they collect it

• A small cloth bag for each kid in which they can store and collect the items that they have to bring back as part of the treasure hunt

• A digital or polaroid camera for each kid to click the images of the things they cannot carry away

How To:

1. Here is a list of items you can add to the mall treasure hunt item list – collect a straw from a restaurant, get a copy of the map of the mall, get an old receipt, bring a packet of the disposable packs of ketchup that come with takeout food, a paper napkin that bears the name of a restaurant, a takeaway menu from a restaurant, a price tag, three different business cards from people who work at different stores, a catalog from a store, a gift box, a shopping bag, a clearance sticker, one single French fry, a clothing hanger, a piece of gift wrapping paper and such.

2. Depending on whether you are sending out the kids as a pair, group or individuals, provide for one set of the list to each player or group.

3. Make sure that your kids understand the difference between convincing someone to give them something that they can bring back as part of the treasure hunt and just lifting something from the store and trying to get it out. If you feel the kids are too young and will not understand the difference, or may get into trouble, ask them to not touch anything. Hand a camera to each kid, you could even ask them to click it on their phone cameras, and to bring it back as a picture treasure hunt collection.

4. The kid or group that comes back first with all the items ticked on the mall treasure hunt list will be the winner.

[ Read: Backyard Camping Ideas For Kids ]

6. Mall Treasure Hunt In A Group:

Once your kids have understood the basic concept of playing treasure hunt in the mall, you can also introduce this super fun idea of a group treasure hunt. Make sure that your kids are divided up into groups that have an equal number of players each.

You Will Need:

• A piece of paper for each group with the list of treasure hunt items on it

• A pen or pencil to each group to help them tick off the items as they finish completing each challenge on the list

• A digital camera for each group to click the images of the treasure hunt items and to complete various challenges.

How To:

1. To make the treasure hunt fun, you can ask the kids to participate in an activity based treasure hunt at the mall.

2. Give your kids the option of either photographing or video shooting the different items or activities on the list. Here are a few fun things you could add to the list – a mother who is pushing a baby stroller with shopping bags inside it instead of a baby, an item that is priced at 99 cents, a group photo where every kid in the group is drinking from the same bottle of juice or soda but with their own straw, a group photo in which all the kids of the group are sitting in a bookstore and reading a book each, a group photo in which all the members of the group are riding in the elevator or escalator together, a group photo where all the members of the group have to pose as the mannequin in the display window.

3. The team that comes back first after completing all the challenges on the treasure hunt list will be the winner.

[ Read: Family Games For Kids ]

7. Popular Kids Character Treasure Hunt At The Book Store:

If your kids love books and already have a few favorite characters, you can try out this super fun treasure hunt idea that involves lots of favorite and well-known childhood characters.

You Will Need:

• A piece of paper for each player with the treasure hunt clues written or printed on them

• A phone or digital camera if you want your kids to click the clue items and bring back as pictures

• A basket in which your kids can bring back the books they find that have the characters mentioned on the list

• A pen or pencil to help your kids tick off the items from the list as they keep completing the challenge

How To:

1. To begin with, make sure you take the kids to a bookstore while it is not too crowded.

2. If you are a regular at the bookstore, tell the staff that you are just encouraging the kids to participate in a book based activity and that it is alright for them to browse alone.

3. Hand out a list to each player and tell them they have to find all the clues inside the book store itself. Your kids will first have to fill in the blanks in the riddle and then look for the character it is referring to. The kid who finishes the riddle correctly and can find the book that it refers to first will be the winner.

4. Also inform all the players that they cannot ask anyone else to help them figure out the clues, as it will amount to cheating and the player will be taken off the game.

5. Here are a few rhyming clues you can put down on the kids character treasure hunt list.

• Do you have a tuffet

• These pigs were growing up

• Humpty was not the only one who fell

• Have you ever seen a diamond in the sky?

• She had a super cute lamb

• Do you eat whey and curds

• Look through this to see trees and grass

• Or maybe spiders and singing ___

• Each one built a home

• If the wind blows their chin hairs around

• Perhaps they could brush them with a _____

• Did you hear of London’s bridge?

• All this excitement might make you hungry,

• See if there is a snack in the ____

• Do you have pockets filled with rye?

• What do you open and close?

• When saying hello or ____________?

• Maybe it wanted to learn math

• If it got super dirty at school

• Do you think it needed a ____?

[ Read: Water Activities For Kids ]

8. Fun Treasure Hunt Around The House:

Once your kids are back home, make use of some super easy yet fun to figure out treasure hunt ideas that your kids can play inside the house.

You Will Need:

• A piece of paper for each kid with the treasure hunt items mentioned.

• A pen or paper that will help your kids tick off all the items they complete from the treasure hunt list.

• Alternatively, if you have a chalkboard or a whiteboard at home, you can write out the treasure hunt clues for kids on the same, and each kid will have to come back and check the instructions.

• A small bag or basket in which your kids can collect the items as they find them.

How To:

1. Make sure to hide out the things in the places that you are mentioning in the treasure hunt list.

2. Here are a few fun instructions you can set out your kids on.

• If you are in a hungry mood, go here first and find some food (you can hide the next clue in the kitchen, the fridge or even on the dining table)

• Now that you are on your second clue make sure to get them before your shoe (you can hide the next clue in your kid’s cupboard where they keep their socks)

• If you would love your teeth to be clean and to shine, pick this up and spend some time (hide the next clue near your kid’s toothbrush area)

• If you want to learn and to grow, turn this page and then you will know (, you can hide the next clue in a book and keep it on your kid’s bookshelf. You can also keep the clue in one of your books and place it on your kid’s bookshelf to see whether or not your kid can spot the new book)

• Add some color and fun to your days, pick these up and you will be on your way (hide the next clue near your kid’s crayons or coloring or art supplies cupboard)

• Take a walk and step outside, as this is where you will ride (hide the next clue where your kid keeps his bike or maybe even near your garage)

• It is time to relax, and it is time for you to think, so please go here and have a nice cool drink (you can hide the next clue inside the refrigerator, on top of the refrigerator or tape it on the door of the refrigerator)

• Keep it clean and keep it dry, can you guess it yet? Oh come on, just give it a try (you can hide the next clue near your dryer or your washer)

• You are now almost at the very end, and this is where your guests will come in (you can hide the last clue near the main door)

• This is your final clue this is your final prize, so look into this and look into your eyes (hide the final gift next to a prominent mirror in your house)

[ Read: Indoor Games For Kids ]

Try out these super fun and innovativetreasure hunt ideas for kids parties to let them enjoy some creative as well as adventure time.

When do you plan to try any of the ideas we shared here? Do add your tips and let us know which of the above your kid loved the most. Leave a comment below.

Was this article helpful?

Community Experiences

Join the conversation and become a part of our vibrant community! Share your stories, experiences, and insights to connect with like-minded individuals.