Treasure Hunt
Summer wouldn’t be complete for any kid without some kind of a treasure hunt. While visiting their Grandma Linda’s house this summer my kids had the treasure hunt of a lifetime! It involved battling evil giants, walking through tunnels of darkness and finding the remnants of an ancient king. Sound too hard to create? Think again. Linda shared her treasure hunt planning skills with me and now I’ll share them here at Nature For Kids! Let’s start with the map.
How To Make A Treasure Map: (that’s rad and looks pretty darn real)
Find a brown paper bag. Open it up into a rectangular shape. Tear the edges a little, then get it wet and crumple it up into a ball. Straighten the paper out and rub it lightly with a wet tea bag, a sponge with watered down brown paint or instant coffee. These first few steps will help it look OLD. Let it dry completely. Now *draw the map on it with permanent marker or fabric pens so it won’t run during the next step. After the map is drawn, very lightly rub the map with paper towels and a little dab of cooking or olive oil. The oil makes it more durable and sort of transparent. Blot the map between two fresh paper towels to get any excess oil out. All done!
*When drawing out the map consider replacing ordinary names with more mystical ones.
- Garden - Forbidden Garden
- Pasture - Valley of the Beasts
- Shed - Den of Darkness
- Lilac Bush - Witches Weeds
Before the treasure hunt began Linda gave everyone a bag to collect items along the way, a water bottle to stay hydrated and a sword to protect them from evil creatures. (see evil creatures below)
Evil Nanny Goats in the Valley of the Beasts!
Linda involved all the grandkids. One of the oldest, Brick, played the part of the giant. At 6′3″ he played the part nicely!
Linda created a skeleton out of styrofoam. One of their missions was to collect the bones in the land of desolation and put it together.
She also made a tunnel of darkness by putting tarp and blankets over the top of the clothesline.
After the conquering heroes had found their treasure they were awarded medals and crowns!
This treasure hunt will be remembered for years to come I’m sure! Now it’s your turn to create one. Morph this one to fit your location. Draw a map of the area. Change the names around a bit and make up a story line. Write out an instruction book and have the kids do certain things along the way (like collect items, fight monsters, etc.) The real treasure is the experience in my opinion! Send in your treasure hunt experience with some pictures. We’d love to hear about it here at Nature For Kids.
adventure, outdoors, treasure map, summer fun, kids, activities for children, activities for kids, treasure hunt
Adventure Time For Mom
Adventure time for who? Ohhh… MOM! Right!
As much as I love taking my kids outside and watching them experience the world around them, sometimes I feel the need for my own personal adventure experience that is tailored to my abilities, not my kids.
A couple friends and I got together for “Adventure Time For Mom” and decided to kayak down a fun section of the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River. We gratefully turned our kids over to grandmothers, babysitters and dads before we headed to the put-in area. It was strange being able to just jump in the truck without having to first pack diaper bags and buckle our kids in car seats. During the entire trip all I had to worry about was me. Weird!
We had enough boats for all of us thanks to kayak junkies Jinger and Yvonne. There were five of us, three of whom were pregnant (2, 5, and 7 months along). So here’s evidence that adventure doesn’t have to stop when you have kids, or even when you’re pregnant with them. Thanks for the motivation girls!
As we got the gear ready two guided fly-fishing boats launched off on their adventure. Once we got going we quickly passed them and didn’t see them again for the remainder of the two hours on the water…in which I soaked up just as much as the sun as much as I could. It felt sooooo good!
We went over some fun rapids, beached the boats for a quick swim to cool off and weaved in and out of islands with only a few tip overs. It was a much-needed rejuvenation. Whenever I allow “Adventure Time For Mom” I always come back a healthier, happier, energetic mama! So I encourage all moms, and dads for that matter, to take the time to go play without your kids on occasion.
I came across this women’s adventure based business while looking through my favorite catalog Athleta. The business is called Women’s Quest. They specialize in adventure retreats for women! I’m so going on one of these someday. They do bike tours in Italy, yoga and hiking retreats in Vermont, skiing and cooking classes in Colorado and a wide variety of other adventures. To get you ready for your next adventure check out REI Women’s Shop
Overall I think it’s important to take care of your kids by exposing them to adventure and nature but how can you take care of them if you don’t take care of yourself first? Have you allowed adventure time for mom lately? What do you do to rejuvenate yourself? Let Nature For Kids know by leaving a comment.
outdoors, adventure, mom, kayak, parenting
