Treasure hunts fill us with nostalgia of happy days, dressed up in pirate hats, exploring the nooks and crannies of our grandparent’s garden. And at the moment, a treasure hunt is a great way to keep the kids entertained from the safety of your home or garden.
Add extra fun to your hunt by drawing a map of your home or garden and pinpoint where the treasure is hidden. This provides a great opportunity to introduce maps to younger children and have the older ones brush up on their map reading skills. Understanding how places relate to each other is a vital skill and our article map reading skills for children is a great place to begin.
Start off with a simple map of the room or floor of your home. Think about drawing objects from a child’s view.
Mark the treasure with an X to identify where it is hidden. For older children you could even include a grid and list coordinates of where X marks the spot.
If your child is already familiar with maps, why not add contour lines if the treasure is located on a shelf or in a tree? The map can be combined with clues too, for an extra challenge!
With so many ideas to get started, it’s now time for you to hide your treasure (which is all part of the challenge!) and draw your own map for your little ones to follow. Hide multiple items to extend the fun for longer! We’d love to see how creative you can get whilst we ride out this storm.
Share your photos on social media using #GetOutside and tell us who’s the best treasure-hunting pirate in your family!
For more ideas on how to keep the kids entertained and connected with the outdoors, visit the GetOutside Hub.
Published 21/04/2020. Edited: 14/01/2021
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