Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Treasure Hunt

Every now and then I get the creative bug, and I come up with an idea. I decided to make up a treasure hunt for my boys.
First I made up clues...silly, rhyming phrases to help the kids guess where the next clue was hidden.
I'm not going to share all of them, because that's slightly embarrassing, but here's the first one:
We’re going to play a little game,
Because watching TV all day is really lame.

To find the treasure, follow the clues
And play fair, or everyone will lose.

The next clue is where Mama blogs,
Is she the guiltiest of being a computer hog?
Here is my pile of clues before I started taping them around the house in hidden places.

Here are the boys with their first clue, ready to go hunting for treasure! They were excited and even willing to put up with me and my camera for the occasion.

One clue led them to the mailbox.

another to the bird feeder.
and even to the recycling bin in the garage. I think I had about 15 clues in all.
Culminating to the final clue,
This is the final clue you’ve been waiting for,
Head to the place you get water on the floor.

A treasure awaits you, if you’ve been good.
In the place where you bath often, or at least you should.
which led to the master bathroom, where I had hidden the treasure in our big tub. Most of it was silly stuff from the Target dollar section, but a few bigger things, like Lego kits and the TV show Two and a Half Men on DVD.
They had a lot of fun (and so did I)!!

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fun, fun, fun. You found the time

To entertain your kids with rhyme.

A clever and fun mom you are, it's clear.

How do you have time to blog AND be mom of the year???

Valarie Lea said...

Very fun idea!! I will have to try this with Syd and Logan, they would love this. :)

Skeller said...

Woohoo! I hearby dub you the MOM of the WEEK!!!

Karen said...

That sounds like so much fun! Too bad I only have one that reads. Maybe pictures would work?

Cathy said...

That's awesome. My dad used to make up mystery clues around the house. I loved it.

Krystyn @ Really, Are You Serious? said...

Rhea! What an awesome idea! That is super creative and gets the kids' brain juices flowing!

Shannon said...

Great idea!
I love the dollar bins at Target!!!

Jennifer said...

that is a great idea!! I used to do things like this for my brothers and sister when I would babysit them... of course since I was just a kid too, it wasn't new stuff from the store... it was something though. We used to have fun doing that.

I should do this with the kids... Trevor would be able to guess the places to go... and maybe the girls would catch on some. :)

hmmm... maybe next week, we are going camping again this weekend... we leave Thursday night... and come home on Sunday.

i'm beat. i have a lot of house work and some catching up on blogs... wanna guess which one wins. lol

xoxoxo

Jennifer said...

that is a great idea!! I used to do things like this for my brothers and sister when I would babysit them... of course since I was just a kid too, it wasn't new stuff from the store... it was something though. We used to have fun doing that.

I should do this with the kids... Trevor would be able to guess the places to go... and maybe the girls would catch on some. :)

hmmm... maybe next week, we are going camping again this weekend... we leave Thursday night... and come home on Sunday.

i'm beat. i have a lot of house work and some catching up on blogs... wanna guess which one wins. lol

xoxoxo

Heather said...

What a cute idea!!! I bet they loved that!

Jen said...

That is so AWESOME! Great idea, you are so creative. I might have to borrow that one.

CrystalChick said...

You ROCK!!
I have been wanting to do a scavenger hunt/road rally with my friends for awhile now but no one was all that interested, and I guess with the price of gas and the lunatics on the road it's not safe to drive around like that anymore. But it's soooo fun to follow clues try to win the prize at the end!

Angie's Spot said...

That is AWESOME! Will you be my mom? :-) Seriously though, treasure hunts are way fun, especially when there are cool prizes at the end. I might have to do this with the girls before school starts next month.

sassy stephanie said...

What fun! And so creative. You get the Mom of the Day trophy.

Live.Love.Eat said...

How cool! We do this on Easter but I need to do this on a regular occasion and get away from the same things.

Hope4Grace said...

Awesome idea. when it's pouring rain or snowing outside, I'm gonna so try this.....beats pulling my hair out.

Cristin said...

Can I hire you out for summers and school vacations to keep Graham out of my hair??

I LOVE your mailbox by the way...

Amy said...

I will definitely have to do one of those for my girls, that is way cool! Thanks for the idea :)

John Deere Mom said...

Hello, Mother of the Year! Maybe I will do this one day...when one of them can read. Otherwise it would be like work for me. And that's no fun.

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

How amazing are you. That you do this just for fun. And all the other fun stuff you do with your kids. While I am like "mom's blogging. Go play." Kinda the leave me alone style of parenting. Sometimes. :-)

But...we actually do scavenger hunts with clues. And you can decode the clue when you have found everything. We do this at Christmas. Like two years ago it was a Disney trip...last year a cruise. Wonder what mom might come up with this year...

Claremont First Ward said...

I used to love treasure hunts. I need to do this for my children, too. Thanks for the idea.

Mama Dawg said...

So cool! I did a treasure hunt my for daughter's birthday party and the kids had a blast!

i beati said...

how long did it take them ??

Amy said...

What an AWESOME idea!! And I totally want to do one now!

Aunt Julie said...

This is just the kind of game I play with my family! We're having a big reunion at the beach in 10 days, and Aunt Julie and I are planning a Beach Scavenger Hunt. I'll let you know how it goes--we have kids who range in age from 10 to 26, and they all play, every year!

miri68 said...

You are awesome! Thanks for a great idea to do with the boys! They get so bored doing the same things each day.

trublmaka said...

You so totally ROCK!!

You're AWESOME!!!

We did an easter hunt for our kids a year or two ago with friends, the bush and trail bikes lol
The kids loved it.. Especially the ton of chocolate they scored at the end of it! lol

Chatterness said...

You are a great mother!!!!

Kelly said...

Looks like they had a great time...great idea too!

angela | the painted house said...

What a fun mom you are!

Amanda said...

Now THAT is a fantastic idea. I am going to have to try that, as we're nearing the end of summer and entering big time boredom land!

Andrea said...

That is a great idea! I also have done a photo scavenger hunt where each group finds something in the neighborhood and takes a picture of it. There are rules that every person has to be in the picture, etc....then you upload them to judge who wins!

The grass looks so green there, even though Texas is HOT, HOT!!

Jules said...

Wow. Love the ending jackpot!