Destination Hunt (or Egg Hunt)
As someone with previous experience in children’s activities,
(10 years running children’s birthday parties, I wrote an under 5s Music & Movement programme still in schools and nurseries today, and taught 1000s of children to dance and get fit)
honestly, I find many Easter Egg Hunts fairly anticlimactic.
You get up early, hide chocolate, the children find the chocolate, they eat it.
It takes about 5 minutes, and then everyone feels sick and won’t eat anything else all day.
A major problem with it is that there is already a house full of chocolate.
Auntie Jane and Uncle Dave will pop round later and bring more.
I propose that Easter Sunday is the one day of the year that ‘more chocolate’ is not THAT much of a treat.
A good hunt, though… I am all about that.
And a hunt doesn’t have to be on Easter Sunday – it can be at a birthday party,
at sleepovers (if you can cope with the shrieking), or as a romantic gesture for a consenting adult.
Or any other special reason you want to inject some theatre and anticipation.
If you’re feeling passive-aggressive, you could do a super hard one for certain people to find the Wi-Fi password.
Such fun.
So, here’s a simple idea today that hopefully, you’ll remember to bust out to achieve legend status later.
Or annoying mother status.
And, while we’re on the subject, you could use it to elevate an Easter Egg Hunt to something more hunt-y and less chocolatey.
Also – everything’s more exciting with a treasure chest.
My son bought me one with presents about 10 years ago.
I still love it very much and use it every day.
You could make a serviceable one out of a cardboard box if you are of the crafty persuasion.
The Destination Hunt: How to
Aim:
Create a series of clues that lead to the ultimate prize.
The Easter egg stash, the engagement ring, the sexy undies, the new car key – whatever it is – is at the very end of the hunt.
To begin:
walk around your house/space and note suitable hiding places.
Construct your clues with wordplay and rhymes (or not) around each.
A tradition for a destination hunt is for rhyming couplets on the clues (optional): Rhymer.com is a great free resource for this.
Depending on who’s doing the hunt, you can make the clues super easy or be more cryptic.
e.g.,
- The next clue is where you lay your head, under the squishy ____?_____ on your bed.
- Finding the next one is a little bit harder. Posh people say pantry; we call it the _______?_____.
- Or simply send them there: This clue ends the hunt and will fill you with pleasure. In the bird feeder, you’ll find your treasure!
Setting out your clues,
start with the end (the prize) one and work backwards.
That way, you can logic check the order you’ve placed them.
Be consistent with the clues.
Will they be on Post-Its? Little rolled-up scrolls? Gold envelopes? Whatever you choose, keep them the same for every clue.
Make them work for it.
The biggest mistake I’ve seen is making the clues and treasure too easy to find. Ideally, you don’t want people (even little children) to stumble upon clues meant for later in the hunt, or the hunt will fizzle out.
When the clue sends them to the right general location, you can always help with ‘warmer… colder...’ or give them a straight-up hint.
It’s no fun if it’s too easy – and it’s also over too quickly.
12 clues are the optimum number.
I have done enough hunts to know this.
Trust me.
12.
For anyone.
Especially if they are taking it in turns.
And think about the layout of your space.
If the person doing is able, have them zig-zagging from one side of the house/garden/building from clue to clue.
It’s much less fun when they are too close together
Happy hiding