The Quest: a Neighborhood Treasure Hunt, Amazing Race Thingy

– Posted in: Elfie, Kid Friends, Newt, Parties, Things To Do with Kids, Treasure Hunts, Worst Mom Randomness

So you’ll all be relieved to know that the children are still alive. And not locked in a closet. After last week’s bad behavior episode that led up to the birthday extravaganza, Newt and Elfie seem to have “come down” from their royal delusions and are back to being regular old commoners like the rest of us.

The party went really well. As it should’ve since I spent approximately the same number of hours working on it as I did on my wedding. I’m usually not that creative when it comes to these sorts of things, but I actually came up with a pretty cool activity that I want to share because, frankly, it was kind of a pain-in-the-ass, and I don’t like the idea of all this work being wasted on just one party. I have no idea what to call it — maybe a clue-solving, neighborhood-crisscrossing adventure with a little dash of treasure hunt and Amazing Race thrown in. So now you guys can just copy it and make your kids feel guilty because you “worked so hard.”

By the way, this sounds complicated, but I swear I’ve worked it out. So just hang with me and follow the steps (sounds like I’m taking you through rehab). Trust me — the kids dug it and all the adults had fun playing their little parts.

• The Set-up

First, we covertly “stole” the birthday cupcakes that the kids had already seen. Then we dressed up one of the moms in a witch hat and told the kids this story. “An evil witch has stolen Elfie’s birthday cupcakes. There’s only one way to get them back. You all need to go on a quest to retrieve three magic flowers. The magic flowers will make the witch happy and she then she MAY let us have the cupcakes back.”

We had about 20 kids, so we divided them into three teams: Fire, Earth, and Water.

“Here are your first clues. You must do EVERYTHING the clues say to do in order to get the next clues. If one group fails, the cupcakes will be lost.”

• The Clues

We sent the kid all around our cul-de-sac. Obviously you’re going to have to tweak these to fit your own layout and resources.

a) Go to the big rocks in Newt and Elfie’s backyard.  BE CAREFUL!!! There you will find a guard. He will not let you pass until you defeat him. Your clue is hidden in the trees.
-This is where my crazy husband and his friend (see photo) were waiting with swords to fight the kids. Some used swords, others wands or spells, others went hand-to-hand. The clues were hanging from the tree branches.

b) Go to the abandoned house. There you will find a musician. Answer his question and you will get your next clue.  
-My dad plays the guitar. He played “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and made them guess the tune before giving them their next envelope.

c) Go to the house across the street from Newt and Elfie’s house. When the people answer the door, you must all do a dance. Then you will get your next clue.  
-My neighbor was waiting for them. She watched them dance, then handed them their envelope.

d) Go to Newt and Elfie’s backyard. Find the statue that is holding your team’s symbol. Say the answer to this riddle to the statue. Your quest is almost over.
-In another part of our backyard, there were three people dressed in togas. Each “statue” held a team symbol (glass of water, candle, rock) and a flower. In the envelope containing the clue that led to this station, the kids found another envelope with a riddle. When they said the answer to the riddle, their statue came to life and gave them their flower.

• The Kooky, Puzzly Part 

We didn’t want everyone going on the same route (because then only one team would have to figure something out and the rest could just follow), so we had to figure out a way to send everyone off to different clue stations. So this is where things get a little nutty. Stay with me!

Okay, so tweak your clues, and print out three copies. Cut them apart. Then lay them out like this:

  • Team Water: c-b-a-d
  • Team Fire: a-c-b-d
  • Team Earth: b-a-c-d
This is the path each team will take. When they get their first envelope, Water will be sent to location c, Fire to location a, and Earth to location b. Then everyone (theoretically) circles around and doesn’t really run into each other. Nice, right? 

• The Envelopes

Get fifteen envelopes, five for each team. Label the first four with the team name on the front and 1, 2, 3, 4 on the back. It helps to use different colors (blue for water, red for fire, green for earth). On the last three, write “Water Riddle,” “Fire Riddle,” and “Earth Riddle.”Now in the order you have them lined up, put your clues into the envelopes. So for Team Water, put c in #1, b in #2, a in #3, and d in #4.

Now put the following riddles in their envelopes, and then put them in each team’s envelope #4. By the way, if you can’t figure out the answers to these riddles, you should probably just forget this whole thing and let the kids run around in the sprinklers. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

  • Water Riddle: I make boats go up and down. I’m also what you do when you say goodbye.
  • Fire Riddle: I’m how something feels when it’s not heavy. I’m also what you need in the dark.
  • Earth Riddle: I’m a tiny little bug that builds hills. And I’m also your mom’s sister.

• The Execution 

So here’s a little diagram of where all the numbered envelopes should go. Those pathetic little drawings are supposed to be a guy with a sword (a), a statue (d), a guitar (b), dancers (c), and a witch.

Every team starts out with a #1 at the house. And #4 leads all of them to the backyard where they meet their statues and must answer their riddle. Once they say the correct word, the statue comes to life, hands them a flower, and tells them to take it to the witch at the front door. When they do, she lets them in and, low and behold, the cupcakes are back!

• The Conclusion

I’m clearly off my rocker. Because who else would go through this much trouble. And then write it down for you people so that you can go just as crazy. I think I need to up my meds.

 

If you like this sort of thing, we did another version where the kids save Dragon Island from evil monsters. And you might want to check out The Not-So-Amazing Race and the Kick-Butt Harry Potter Birthday Party. Also nuts.

 

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8 Comments… add one

XLMIC July 14, 2011, 5:06 am

okay… that is soooooooo effin' RAD!!!! i love stuff like that! i need to bookmark this post so that I can do something like that for one of my kids' parties! Thanks so much for giving us all this awesome creative info 🙂
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PartlySunny July 14, 2011, 6:21 am

Ugh, I'm glad you actually like it and don't think I'm CRAZY! Because as I was typing this up and trying to make sure it was understandable, all I could think was, "You've totally gone off the deep end this time. This is why you can't sleep at night, you freak."

The Glad Gardener July 15, 2011, 3:16 am

I love it!!! I am so going to steal this one year when my Ladybug is older. Super cool and congrats on your awesome creativity and patience!

Julie July 15, 2011, 9:39 pm

LOvE LOVE LOVE this! You know me…I enjoy going over-the-top for ephemeral things like parties, too!

Dave July 15, 2011, 10:41 pm

Oh yeah, you ARE off your rocker. What troubles me is that your husband and some friends seem to enable your madness. Just kidding. Looks like you guys had a lot of fun, and it'll be a b-day that Elfie and Newt will never forget.

PartlySunny July 17, 2011, 6:02 am

Yay! Steal away! Make sure you let me know how it goes if you end up doing it.

PartlySunny July 17, 2011, 6:06 am

Yes, we're definitely kindred spirits in this department. Everyone, meet Julie. Who, if you can believe it, has gone even crazier at her kids' birthday parties. I really should do an expose on you, Julie.:)

PartlySunny July 17, 2011, 6:10 am

You're just mad because I didn't invite you to be one of the soldiers to defend the rock. Next year, we'll have the hounds of hell and you can bring Cooper.

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