Fun at Home: We are Going on a Daily Treasure Hunt



Thanks to Oriental Trading for sponsoring this post. We receive a small commission for products purchased through the links in this post.

I'm a Boy Mom and my energetic little boys miss their teachers, friends, and the many activities that they do throughout the week.  It's not easy for us as parents either. My husband and I are trying to get work done while homeschooling our children who have a several year age gap.  I don't necessarily mean this as a complaint, but more to just share with all of you that it's completely normal and acceptable to find this situation stressful as we all try to create our new routines. In today's post, I will share one activity that we created to entertain our energetic little boys -- A Daily Treasure Hunt Activity with supplies from Oriental Trading!  We hide a Treasure Chest that is filled with something fun for them to find every morning.  My hope is that not only do we provide entertainment and fun for them, but also that they will remember the quarantine as a happy time where they looked forward to their morning treasure hunts. 

Let me share the project details.

Supplies (available at great prices from Oriental Trading, plus free shipping on orders of $49+)

Large Plastic Treasure Chest Break Your Own Geodes Dino Dig Kit Colorful Masking Tape Reese's Cups (including gold wrappers) Directions You'll hide the Large Plastic Treasure Chest every morning and fill it with a fun activity.  You'll also want to use the Colorful Masking Tape to draw lines and X's for your children to follow as they get closer to the treasure!
Day 1: Break Your Own Geodes This is fun treasure to find! Once your children find the geodes, help them to place a geode in a bag or sock and hit it firmly with a hammer to break open (not included). Geodes may contain colored rock or sparkling crystals! What treasure will you find? Adult supervision required. Geode size and contents may vary. Please note that because these are natural rocks, results will vary and they may not all contain crystals.  This is a fun project, but we do recommend close adult supervision since a hammer is involved! Geodes are fun for a Treasure Hunt!

Day 2: Dino Dig Kit If you follow regularly, you know that my children love dinosaurs. We've even slept overnight at the Perot Museum where we were able to sleep in the room with dinosaur bones. We slept under a pterodactyl!   The Dino Dig Kit added to their favorite childhood memories. With this small dinosaur kit, children may conduct their own paleontological dig! This kit includes a polyresin dinosaur embedded in gypsum sand, plus a brush and stick. Includes a Seismosaurus, Stegoceras, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus and a Diplodocus. (6 kits per set) Completed dinosaurs are approx. 4". Assemble with glue, not included. This is perfect for a Treasure Hunt!

Day 3: Fill the Treasure Chest with Gold (Mini Reese's Cups with gold wrappers) and a Recipe The ultimate treasure is candy in a gold wrapper.  Reese's Cups are perfect!  Fill the treasure chest with Reese's Cups and then add a recipe that uses the candy such as peanut butter cookies with mini Reese's Cups, Rice Krispies Treats with crushed Reese's Cups, Puppy Mix with crushed Reese's Cups, or any other recipe that uses the candy. Candy with gold wrappers are perfect for a Treasure Hunt!

Our secret recipe was Hidden Gold Cookies. We made peanut butter cookies and inserted the mini Reese's cups into the center of the cookies after they came out of the oven so that they melted into a messy shape, but with the peanut butter filling in tact.  They were delicious!


Day 4: Build and Decorate Your Own Rafts with Rainbow Craft Sticks and Colored Masking Tape Fill the treasure chest with craft supplies to make rafts using Rainbow Craft Sticks and Colored Masking Tape. Encourage them to see if they float and to weigh items to find the maximum amount of weight that their rafts are able to support.  Ask whether their design could be modified to hold more weight! DIY Raft projects are a fun project for little pirates who love Treasure Hunts!


Day 5: Provide a Scavenger Hunt List for them to fill the treasure chest with items Provide a list of items that they should find and put into the treasure chest. The list may be to find "10 gold items (for preschoolers)" or "10 items to protect from pirates (for older children)" from around the house. For order children, they need to create a story of why they chose their items.  Once they complete the scavenger hunt, give them a prize! This is a fun activity for Treasure Hunts!
We hope that our Daily Treasure Hunt Activities add Fun to your days at home with your family!  Check out Oriental Trading for other fun Treasure Hunt supplies and everything that you need for other fun at-home activities!