Clued In Kids sent us two of their treasure hunts to review. We received the Soccer Printable Treasure Hunt and the Homework Reward Printable Treasure Hunt. Both of these scavenger hunts are in PDF format as are several of their other ones, but they do have some hunts that come as pre-printed clue pads. They even have multiple treasure hunts in a pack as well as “treasure” (plastic golden coins) available separately to add to the fun. These treasure hunts are geared towards a variety of ages from as young as four on up. Teens can set the hunts up and help their younger siblings solve the clues.
Helen Bertelli, the founder and president of Clued In Kids, grew up watching a British show called Treasure Hunt which inspired her to make her own for the kids in her neighborhood. She dreamed of growing up and earning a living by creating treasure hunts. Her family went through some scary medical issues, and through those battles, she was inspired to fulfill her dreams. It’s a neat story if you’d like to read more on her About Us page.
The Soccer Printable Treasure Hunt has a soccer theme (of course) and includes various puzzles and activities such as a decoder, answer the clues to fill in the boxes, folding the paper a certain way to reveal the clue, hidden picture, word scrambles, connect the dots, a physical activity, math problems, determine the time, and a riddle. There are twelve clues and at the end, they find the treasure you’ve hidden. You also get an answer key to hang onto in case you need it.
The Homework Reward Printable Treasure Hunt has a school theme and has the kids do such things as solve a maze, decoders, physical activities, riddles, folding project, a little math and a clock puzzle. There is also an answer key for this one, too. Again, there are twelve clues and they have a treasure to discover at the end.
These were the simplest scavenger hunts I’ve ever organized. I printed the clues out, cut them apart, and then I had my teens hide the clues where it tells you to. I also came up with the treasure for the end of each hunt. I used candy for one and dollar bills for the other. Other than the printed clues and the treasures, all we needed was scrap paper and a pencil. And the kid hunters of course.
I had my daughter (8) and son (11) participate, and like I said, the teens hid the clues as directed. The teens also helped them with the clues as needed (and because they were curious…and who can resist a scavenger hunt??). The first scavenger hunt had enough candy for everyone, and the second only had a dollar for each of the younger two kids.
The scavenger hunts are really cute, and a simple way to entertain the kids for a while. It was fun to listen to the excitement of their voices and the pounding of their feet as they traveled all over the house searching for their next clues. The kids LOVED these, and were thrilled to know that they can do them again because we have the PDFs for them. They even said they wouldn’t mind doing it even without the treasure at the end.
I think these are wonderful to have on hand for a rainy day, for when they have some friends over, for birthday parties, or just because. Clued In Kids even has ideas for using these as Christmas gifts or stocking stuffers. There is hardly any effort on mom’s part, and the kids take off with the clues and stay occupied for a little while. You could even have the treasure be a project which would give them something more to do making the fun last even longer.
The Soccer Printable Treasure Hunt is available for $5.99.
The Homework Reward Printable Treasure Hunt is also available for $5.99. At this time, if you sign up for their newsletter, you can get the Homework Reward Printable Treasure Hunt for free.
By the way, you might find their free Puzzlemaker handy. You can find Clued In Kids on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. Don’t forget to check out their blog.
