Follow the clues - find the prize

   When my sister was younger, we used to play this simple indoor scavenger hunt game. I would give her a clue, each clue would lead to a new clue until she found...the prize! She loved it, so of course I brought it into the next generation by doing it with Kay as well. The only problem with this was that the first few times we did it, there was a small surprise waiting for her at the end. Then one day she was begging to play so we did but imagine the disappoint when there was no prize at the end!

  We recently picked up a thrift store toy truck (big spenders we!) so I made up some clues and hid them around the house. When it was time to play, I handed her the first clue - a picture of the fridge. (I was proud that when I pointed out that the clue began with an "F" she sounds out, "Efff....fridge!" (Okay, the not-so-accurate drawing probably helped here, but let me have my moment!) On the fridge was a picture of...the dog bed. And so on until she got to the clue that was just a door.

Her challenge was to find the door that her new-to-her toy was waiting at. She checked every door in the house until finally looking in the bathroom and quickly got to playing.

   The cool thing about this game is that you can adapt it to your child's level. For the younger crowd you can use just pictures, for Kay I use my drawings and the word, and for kids a little older you can use simple words to practice reading. 

    I like to think of it as making her work for her surprises. No freebies here! (Yeah...right!)

  Welcome to the Hands-On Play Party! To keep up to date on the latest and greatest hands-on play ideas, follow the  Pinterest board dedicated to all things hands-on play! 

My co-hosts have been busy too: 
                               12 Sensory Play Ideas to Encourage Hands On Learning | Lemon Lime Adventures

                                                                      Happy Earth Day | Stir the Wonder