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Friday's Grand Connection Fun
by Mary May Larmoyeux
I love looking at the magazine Family Fun! Grandparents Patrica and Paul Slaga of North Carolina shared a great idea in the August 2009 issue. They have "Tricky Treasure Hunts" with their grands.
In either their house or yard, the Slagas hide several wrapped "inexpensive treasures" such as small toys, art supplies, gummy bears, stickers, etc. Their grandkids work together to solve brainteasers to locate each prize (the prizes could also be together at the end of several clues).
The Slagas give creative clues such as verses with missing rhymes, symbols or pictures taking the place of words, or numeric codes. Here are some examples of possible creative clues:
Verse: "Jack and Jill went up the _________." Answer: hill. So the next clue or prize will be on whatever your grandchild will know is the "hill."
Picture: Have a picture of a refrigerator and either tape the next clue to your refrigerator door or put a small prize inside your refrigerator.
Numeric code clue: Assign each letter of the alphabet a number such as a = 1; b = 2; c = 3 ... z = 26. If your first clue is: The next clue will be by the 2 12 21 5 chair. Answer: blue. Then, the next clue will be by the blue chair.
Another idea is to send a grandchild on a magazine or newspaper scavenger hunt. Jot down some age-appropriate questions about various articles, words in headlines, photos, etc., and give them to the grands. After they find the answers to the questions, reward them with some type of wrapped prize or treat.
It would be pretty easy for us to prepare these types of scavenger hunts for out-of-town grands. We could send the clues to them in the mail with small wrapped prizes or extra money for an ice cream cone, etc.
Do you have any scavenger hunt ideas ... or special memories of scavenger hunts? Please share them as a comment. Also, if you have a scavenger hunt with the grands, I'd love to hear what happens.
Have a great weekend,
Mary
www.marymaywrites.com
co-author of The Grand Connection: 365 Ways to Connect with Your Grandchild's Heart
© 2009 by Mary May Larmoyeux. All rights reserved.
Photo © Ioana Grecu | Dreamstime.com
3 comments:
How fun!!! I used to love scavenger hunts! Okay, I still do, but how can you not. :-)
What were some of your favorite scavenger hunts, Sharon? Were they inside or outside?
They were outside. I remember going to very places around the neighbor hood to collect things. So much fun.
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