Have a Camp Treasure Hunt

Camp directors are always looking for good ideas for camp activities. A camp Treasure Hunt is popular with almost any age group. This usually works best with teams which look for their own set of clues. Clues can be color coded according to teams, with instructions given that each team looks only at its own clues and leaves other colored clues as they are. Since teams travel with camp staff while looking for the clues, staff can monitor that teams are not taking or hiding other teams’ clues.

One clue leads to another, and the final clue leads to the Treasure Box which is filled with prizes or candy. You can set it up so that the team that finds the final clue first gets the treasure, but it’s more fun for campers if each set of clues leads to a treasure. This way, everyone is a winner in the end!

If you have been teaching theme lessons such as good character traits or Bible stories throughout the week, you can have a question based on these lessons on each clue. This makes a fun final wrap-up of the lessons at the end of the week. Give two or three multiple choice answers, with a correct answer leading to the next clue. For instance, the clue could say, “Which one of these is a fruit of the Spirit? A. Persistance (Go to the back door of the kitchen.) B. Joy (Go to the head lifeguard’s chair at the pool.) C. Determination (Go to the swing set at the playground.)

Clues can give general or specific locations. It’s fun for campers to need to search a bit at the right location. Some clues could lead to a staff person instead of to a location. That means they have to find that staff person. This adds interest, especially if the staff person requires them to do something to earn the clue, such as doing 10 jumping jacks, singing a song, or quoting the Bible verse of the day.

You can change the way your camp’s Treasure Hunt works according to what works best in your situation. I have held both indoor and outdoor Treasure Hunts with success. Campers love them!

Treasure Hunts can be part of a weekly camp theme such as “Pirate Week,” “Adventure Week,” “Discovery Week,” or “Safari Week.”

For inexpensive prizes and treasure chests, visit CampIdeas.MakeParties.com.

You are invited to share ideas with other camp professionals in our Yahoo Camp Professionals Group.