Mastering the Safari Treasure Hunt

I remember my first treasure hunt.  I was 4 years old.  I followed simple clues, and a path on the floor to the treasure hidden in our kitchen oven.  It was play money, the best ever! 

I wanted the precious hooligans in my life to experience a memorable treasure hunt too.  So I researched, wrote, designed, prepared, shopped…for weeks.  The end result was a pretty cool kids party, enjoyed by a 3, 5, 7, and 10-year-old! 

I thought, why let all that work benefit just my family ~ why not share it with your family?  So here is my Kid’s Party Guide to Mastering the Safari Treasure Hunt.  

I’ve outlined all the steps I took.  I’ve also provided an opportunity at the end of this post to access free PDF printables for download.

What You Need 

Banner

I created a fun Invitation / Welcome Banner.

I downloaded a free image, then uploaded that to a design program similar to PicMonkey to create the overlay that I wanted.  I made the image 8 1/2 x 11 for standard printing.  And wallah! You now have an invitation for each child.

I also taped one to the front door.

Now you may decide to do something a little more extravagant, especially if a lot of kids are involved.  Since it was an indoor party in the middle of winter with just my girls and my nephews, we kept it simple.

Music

I planned on using Safari music from my Baby Einstein: Wild Animal Safari CD. They created their own wild animal noises during the hunt, but the music was a good way to set the tone and get them excited! 🙂

Props

I went to the Dollar Store and found the props, their “gear”, for the hunt.  You could also use items you have around your house.

Clues

The clues were the most difficult, and most time-consuming part of the preparation. Yet, they were also the most fun for me to do.

I again found free images.  I chose various animals you’d find on the African Savannah.  I then uploaded each image onto a template to design each clue.  I wrote clues, some of which I made up, others I found from a Google search, and still others I found from awesome pins I found on Pinterest.

I  incorporated a movement activity for each clue (i.e. ‘you found me now do a little dance’).  I also wrote an interesting fact for each animal on the bottom of each clue (i.e. ‘Lions can grow to 10 ft., longer than most cars’).  I had 14 clue cards in total.

Of course, what’s a treasure hunt without a treasure?  You can make it as inexpensive or expensive as you want.  I found lots of fun items at the Dollar Store.  The final clue giving the location of the treasure was read once a puzzle assembled from pieces of the African continent were assembled.

I glued the picture onto a square piece of cardboard, saved from a thin crust pizza box.  I promise it was clean! 🙂  The size was perfect, nearly an exact 8 1/2 x 11.  Then I cut along some of the lines of the picture, making sure to cut the clue into pieces in the process. I placed it all in a large Ziploc bag and stowed it in its hiding spot.

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  Oops, yes, this is a reversed image ~ long story...

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  Final Clue Puzzle

Treasure

I used a vintage makeup case to store the treasure trove, and gently placed it in my dryer.

Above all, fun, sweet memories were made.  I hope they will forever remember their first treasure hunt with the same fondness that I recall my own!

Invitation and Welcome

14 Clues

Final Clue Puzzle

Be sure to check out the Rainforest Treasure/Scavenger Hunt next!