10 ideas for ‘hunts’ during lockdown.

All of these activities are best enjoyed when adults and children do them together. They can work with younger and older children and children enjoy both the solving and the setting of them. These activities can be repeated and tweaked and involve children being active which is great during lockdown. Remember that ‘treasure’ doesn’t need to be a physical prize. It could be a cuddle, an activity to do together, a message or some pre-made treasure that you have created together.

1. I Spy – a classic traditional game which can be used with any age of children. With younger children this is a great way to reinforce phonics by saying the sound an object starts with rather than the name of the letter. It can also be played by bringing together all sorts of random objects in one place and in this way can be played with a friend or relative online too.

   

   

   

   
   
2. Go find it – this is a simple game one can buy as a set of cards and it is easy to make your own version. You don’t need to have cards to play it and it can work indoors and out. Not only do children enjoy it but it also develops vocabulary in younger children. The aim is simple – one person asks the player (s) to find an item which is …. ‘brown’ or ‘stripy’ or ‘heavy’ or ‘tiny’ or ‘spiky’ or ‘lined’ or ‘lovely’ or ‘smelly’ etc etc etc and the players have to go and find one and bring it back. As a challenge, one can ask for something ‘yellow and curvy’ etc.
3. Hunt the teddies – as simple as it sounds. 10 teddies are hiding and the player (s) needs to find them. Teaching children the ‘warmer and colder’ concept helps when finding those last tricky ones.
4. Treasure Hunt with clues – Draw some pictures of places you are going to hide a teddy/item. For example you might draw the trampoline and the player needs to go there and find the item. With the item would be another drawing, for example the shoe area or sofa or watering can etc At each item, another clue is found. Once these drawings have been made they can be used again and again in a different order and can be added to by the children.
5. Riddles Hunt – this is similar to the above but involves leaving riddles or clues rather than pictures. This is suitable for all children as long as someone can read the clues and older children will enjoy writing their own clues too.
6. Alphabet Hunts – these can be real hunts or mental hunts. Write out the alphabet and then search the house/garden for things which begin with those letters. For mental hunts it might be ‘names of people’ ‘animals’ etc. Some letters are far easier than others!
7. Scavenger Hunts – these are simply a list of things to find and many can be found online. They tend to either be specific things (eg a ladybird, a holly leaf etc) or descriptions (eg something spotty, something spiky etc). With restrictions on where we can go, you and your child could have fund writing some that will work in your space.
8. Maths Scavenger Hunt – write out the numbers 1 to 10. Can children find 1 of something, 2 of something, 3 of something etc.
9. Rainbow Hunt – whilst out on your daily exercise, how many rainbows can your child spot?
10. Gingerbread Trail – just as Hansel did in the story, can your child lay a trail to some ‘treasure’. It could be a trail of pebbles to get started or it could involve twigs and sticks laid out in arrows. Depending on space this can be challenging but you can be creative and have children working there way around then house in small steps to something at the end.

If your child creates an interesting treasure hunt, why don’t they share a picture of it with their teacher on Seesaw?