Ideas for a treaure hunt in the woods for lots of 6 year olds please.

[nevergoogle]

DS1 has decided on a treasure hunt in the woods for his birthday this weekend.

Invitations will go out friday.

So, how do I do a treasure hunt for 6 year olds?

Fun ideas please.

plllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaassssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

DS did tracking a cubs recently and loved it, pretty easy.
One group goes off (or an adult) and uses twigs to make arrows to point the direction that they have gone in. Crosses made of sticks show No Entry routes.
The second group follows 10 mins later and follows the trail.

Meet at a suitbale place, play a couple of games. Groups are reversed for the way home.
Not quite a treasure hunt, but the boys at cubs loved it.

Invites going out just the day beore? That's very short notice!

Can you start by outting them in teams. Give each team a back with a compass, map, pen, notepad, etc. in.

Have various checkpoints to get to to pick up new clues to the next checkpoint. They have to collect all the clues before they can work out where final prize is.

Have a small goodie per child at each checkpoint - can form part of their party bag.

yes, invited going out friday, treasure hunt will be sunday. with any luck not everyone DS wants there will make it.

it's not meant to be a big deal. a good run around in the woods, the park and some cake.

easy?

the tracking idea is good. we don't want to go complicated with clues as they are only just learning to read. the arrows with twigs and stones etc is good, have done that before to lead the children to a pile of goodies.

you could do a "We're going on a bear hunt theme" - let them act out each bit - slosh through mud, water etc - blow on each other for the wind, bubbles make good'snow' . Then 'find' a bear (where you've hidden it beforehand to scare them and let them run all the way back through the mud etc. kids love that story! Just tell them to wear wellies tho!

did wonder if DH could get a bear outfit to scare the shit out of them.

We did one once with different coloured pipecleaners, you wrap each round trees, bushes, anything - some hidden, some high, some obvious etc. - and then they have to go find them and join them all together. Prize for longest pipecleaner-chain and prize for longest bit of same colour, IYSWIM. Just means half an hour beforehand scattering the pipecleaners.

we're doing the pipe cleaner game, thankyou.
and the tracking.
any other ideas?

oh wow, we have had a great day.
25 kids showed up.
followed the stone and wooden arrows on the ground on and off a trail through the woods. where they found a balloon they had to search for the treasure (tupperware tubs filled with goodies).
the kids were put into teams of 5 and each team given a length of different bright coloured netting material (which kept them together and also we mixed up the fast and slow ones to make the teams fair).
a wooden fortress in the park was covered in coloured pipe cleaners (kept 3 kids very busy before people arrived), and in their teams they ran off to collect them and make them into one big pipe cleaner.
lots of cake and juice and goodies.
fab fab fab.

good parents award to us, thanks!