4th
of July Bingo Set - Downloadable!
American Independence
Themed Scavenger Hunt Lists Collection - DOWNLOAD
American
Revolution Treasure Hunt Puzzles Package
4th
of July Bingo Set - Downloadable!
4th of July Treasure Hunt Ideas
Thanks to movies like National Treasure, planning an American Revolution themed treasure hunt kind feel a bit daunting. Sure it would be great to have all of the props they had in the movie, but with a little creativity you can plan a great treasure hunt activity for your 4th of July party or classroom with a lot less.
First
off, what's the difference between a 'scavenger hunt' and a 'treasure
hunt?' These terms, you'll find, are erroneously interchangeable and are
not the same things. A 'scavenger' hunt relies upon a list that can be
'checked off' in any particular order. The list might contain objects
to collect, photos to take or other actions to be completed. Typically,
point values are offered for different items on the list (the more difficult
the task, the more points are typically awarded.) A treasure hunt however
focuses on destinations and locations over lists. Players will travel
from location to location until they reach a final destination. Often
times, the participants have no idea where they will be headed after they
reach their current destination. It's common to have the locations disguised
in the form of clues and puzzles, as well. More elaborate hunts, such
as these American
Revolution Themed Treasure Hunt Puzzles, require the participants
to complete small tasks at each of the locations.
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Now that we've established WHAT a scavenger hunt is, here are some handy tips to ensure that your guests have a great time. 1. For larger groups, try to stagger the players as they launch. A fun solution is to offer some type of game or task that the team must complete before they are given their first clue on the treasure hunt. In this way, you won't have 100 people running to the same location at the same time. |
2. Planning a treasure hunt can be a daunting task for larger groups. If you're working with a larger group, consider having at the final location a clue that will loop back to the first location. In this way, you can stagger the teams 'first locations' so that you won't have everyone rushing to the same place at the same time. How does a team know when they are finished if it will loop them in an endless circle? Simple, have them collect one small item from each location. Explain at the beginning how many there are to collect and that once they have all 5 (or however many) they are to meet everyone at a final destination.
3. Do what you can to have SOME sort of back story to your treasure hunt. Nobody likes randomness - it can create a feeling of pointlessness. Give them a REASON to complete your 4th of July treasure hunt. Perhaps they are looking for a Yankee general that was captured by the British army. Perhaps there's wartime gold to be found. Without bogging them the players down with details, offer them a stronger reason to complete the treasure hunt over just 'doing what you say.'
4. Focus more on the activity and less on the complexity of the puzzles. What you DON'T want is for a team to be stuck on the hunt without a way to complete it. They'll leave the activity feeling like they failed. Rather, create a treasure hunt that's 'easy' to solve (relative to your age group) so that EVERYONE will finish, but not all at the same speed. You'll find that this single component can make or break your overall activity's success.
5. Have fun puttting the teams together. Of course you can always allow the players to choose their teams, but sometimes it's fun to make it more random. There are multiple ways of doing this - here's our favorite: Figure out how many players you'd like on a team (4 is often ideal for one team.) On separate sheets of paper, in groups of four, come up with different American Revolution concepts/ideas/words, enough for each player to draw one. For example, if you have 12 players and you want them to randomly get into three teams, on 12 small pieces of paper write George Washington (on 4), British Colonies (on 4) and American Revolution (on the final 4.) Pass on the small pieces of paper, after you've folded them up so they can't see. When you say 'GO' everyone opens their pieces of paper, reads what's on it and then proceeds to find their other teammates. Once all four teammates have been found by eachother, they come running to you to grab the first clue to start the hunt. (NOTE: If you have a number of players not divisible by 3 evenly, no problem. Just make sure to have enough pieces of paper for every player to have one, duplicating a word/concept as needed. For example you might have 5 George Washingtons instead of 4, etc.)
Don't want to create your own puzzles for your American Revolution themed treasure hunt? Try these - CLICK HERE (also comes with a Bingo set and a set of scavenger hunt lists)
