Forest hide-and-seek

Easy to play, but always fun. One person hides in the forest and the rest can try to find him or her. If it gets too difficult, the person may make animal noises to give some directions.

Tracking in the forest 

Beforehand, make sure you have a map with some photos or descriptions of things you might encounter in the forest. For example, pine cones, oak leaves, mushrooms, beechnuts, certain beetles, etc. The children should try to find all the things and tick them off on the sheet.  

To make it easy for you, we have created a ready-made free downloadable cross-off bingo card for the forest. You can download it below. How quickly will your children find the pictures?

>> Here you will find the Forest scavenger bingo as a free download 

A classic forest game: "I throw the ball in the air for..."

We have played this so many times. I throw the ball in the air for…. But it still always fun. For this, you need a ball and a group of children. Play this forest game in an open space in the forest, with all the children standing in a large circle. The one with the ball shouts, "I throw the ball in the air for.... ". And then this child chooses a name of one of the children and throws the ball high in the air. If you hear your name then you have to try to grab the ball as quickly as possible. And the rest of the children run away as fast as they can.

Once you have caught the ball, you shout "Stop" and all the children stand still with their legs wide. You must then try to throw the ball through one of the children's legs. If you succeed, that person gets a penalty point. If the ball rolls past it, nothing happens. The person through whose legs the other person tried to throw the ball, can throw the ball into the air again. You will play the game until someone has three penalty points.

Jeu de boules with pine cones

Actually, you play this game almost the same as proper jeu de boules. The difference is that you play this forest game with... things from the forest. Each child looks for three pine cones to throw later. You make three big circles, kind of like a dartboard on the ground. For example, the inner smallest circle is 10 points, the circle around it 5 and the outer circle 2. Now the children can take turns throwing from a starting line drawn by you. The one with the most points will win the game.

Coocoo coocoo! Forest games with animal sounds

Write all kinds of animals and the sound they make on different cards. Divide the group into two groups. Each person from the same group gets an animal card and hides in the forest. They should occasionally make the sound from their hiding place. The other group are the searchers. They have to listen carefully where they hear a sound. When they have found someone, they have to guess which animal it is. If they get it right, then that group gets a point.

The forest chasing game

Are you with a large group of children and do they have too much energy? Then this forest game is an ideal game to play.

Create a route in a square, with each corner being a base for a group of children. Divide the group into four groups, each with an equal number of players. On your signal, one person from each group goes around all the bases as quickly as possible. When he/she returns to the group, the next one may run. If you catch up with someone from another group, they have to join your group. You can play this game until only one group remains. Or if you have less patience, stop when one group has no players left. The largest group will then win the game.

Tree  tag

A very simple forest game to play in between. It works just like tag, but when you stand near a tree you can't be tagged. So you play this game in a place where there are quite a few trees at 'running distance' from each other. If you are tagged, you continue with two taggers. Until finally no one is left.

The favourite among forest games: Real-life Stratego

Who has not played this in the past? Real-life Stratego is perfect for playing in a forest. A brief explanation. You have two teams, one of which has to capture the other team's flag. Thereby, just like in the board game Stratego, you have different roles. Someone with a higher rank gets to tag someone with a lower rank. And there are of course a few roles in between, which can take down the strongest ones.

If you are tagged, you hand in the card. You may take a new role from your own team. Each team has a certain amount of cards they can use. If you run out of roles, you are out of the game. So it becomes even easier for the opponent to take the flag. 

One of the most famous forest games: Scavenger hunt in the forest

Surely, a scavenger hunt is every child's favourite game to play. Set out a route in the forest in advance, for example using arrows, or affix maps to the tree with clues. It makes it extra fun to do different tasks during the route. For instance, certain leaves they have to look for or riddles they have to solve. Just be sure to tidy everything up at the end of the game.

>>Want to know more? Then here you can check out our scavenger hunts.

Forest games which you'll never forget: Memory

Let the children find sets of forest objects during your walk. For example, two chestnuts, two identical leaves, two beechnuts, two identical flowers, etc. Bring paper cups from home for the children to put all the items in. Put all the cups upside down at a picnic spot. That way you have your own forest memory. A super fun forest game that you can easily play again at home.

Pressing leaves or flowers for your own herbarium

Forest detectives: Spot the five differences

Who can best spot what has changed? That is actually the point of this game. Let the children look carefully at a part of the forest of about 10 by 10 metres. Then the group turns around and one of the children gets to change five parts from this part of the forest. Make sure it is visible to the group though. Then the children get to guess. One of the most fun, simple forest games to do in between.

Pine cone jumping

Work together to find the biggest pine cone you can. Attach a rope about one metre long to it. Now one person stands in the middle and the rest in a circle around it. The person in the middle will spin around with the pine cone. Who can keep jumping over it the longest?

Educational forest games: recognising trees

What kind of trees are there in the forest? With this educational forest game, your child will learn all kinds of things about trees. It works as follows: Blindfold your child and carefully walk to a tree together. Let your child feel and smell the bark. And give him/her a leaf of the tree so he/she can feel it. Then bring him/her back to the starting point. Can he/she then find the right tree? Then look together at what the tree looks like. What is the tree called, what leaves does it have, does it have fruit, etc.? A fun and educational activity.

One of the most creative forest games: Pictionary in the sand

Do you know the game Pictionary? Do you know you can turn this into a forest game too? Make cards with names of all kinds of things from the forest: animals, plants, trees, water, etc. Put these in an envelope. One child must then draw in the sand with a stick what is on the cards. The rest of the group has to guess.

Forest games in the dark: the Night Watch

This is one of the coolest forest games to play in the dark or twilight. Pretty exciting! One child from the group is the night watch. They have to wait outside the group. The other children are given a number for the hours of the clock. So from 1 to 12.

When this is done, the night watch may come. He/she calls out, "Here comes the night watch. The clock strikes 3 times."(or of course any other number of your choice) In this case, the one with number three, must sound three chimes of a bell. This can be done with a bell, or on a telephone, or by hitting a pan lid with a stick, for example. Then the person makes an animal sound. Now the night watch has to find the person. He/she can repeat the sentence over and over and have someone make a sound. When all the children have been found, the game is over.

Count down hide and seek in the bush

This game is often played during PE at school, but is also a definite favourite in the forest games category. There is one searcher who counts down from 10 to 0 with his/her eyes closed. In those 10 seconds, the rest of the children have to hide. You then have ten seconds to find them. Anyone found after those ten seconds is out of the game.During the next round, the players who are still in the game can participate. You then count down from 9 to zero. You again have ten seconds to find them. So each round, the hiders have less time to find a good hiding spot. When everyone is found, the game is over.

Geocaching in the forest

For those not familiar with this game. Geocaching is a kind of digital treasure hunt, which you can do anywhere in the world. You use GPS coordinates, via an app on your phone, to find a treasure. These ‘treasures’ are all over the world, hidden and set out by other people. When you have found the treasure using the coordinates, you put your name on the list and put it back for the next treasure hunters. It's one of the coolest forest games for kids, but definitely a cool activity for adults in the forest too. Here you can check out more information on geocaching.

Enjoy the forest games!

Secret codes and ciphers, we love them. That won't surprise you. Because let's face it, if you make an Escape Room, there must always be a puzzle with a good secret code. The trick is always to come up with a secret code that is not too easy and that also fits within the theme. Are you going to make a secret code for your children or for an escape room assignment? Then take a look at our list with the 25 best secrets.

Creating a mirroring secret code

This mirror secret code is always fun and not too difficult to create. Everyone has a mirror at home to decipher the text.
How do you create a mirroring text?

Pigpen cipher secret code

You have probably seen this secret code. The funny thing is that it has a lot of different names. But, whatever it's called, this is how it works. Each letter is equivalent to a shape it is in. Sometimes as a box, sometimes with a dot. Are you going to get started with a secret code for children? Then you should not miss this one.

Creating a secret code with sentences without vowels

This secret code sounds very simple. But trust us, kids really enjoy trying to read sentences like this. You have to pay attention when you create it, because sometimes it is quite difficult to write a sentence without a vowel.

Tr t rslf n r cmptr, s wht t ss? 

Sign language as a secret code

For each letter there is a gesture with your hands. It does take some practice to learn this. But it also makes it very special to be able to communicate like this.

If you are going to use it as a game, for example, hang the explanation of the different gestures with the letters somewhere. In addition, make a video with one word or have it portrayed another.

Polybius square

The Polybius square is a coding in which letters and numbers are placed in a 5 by 5 table. This secret code is named after the Greek scholar Polybius, who invented this secret code as early as 200 BC.

The cipher works with coordinates. Which gives you the number first horizontally, then vertically. For example 23 is the letter M. Can you decipher what it says with the diagram below?

53, 43, 13, 45, 21, 42, 54, 34

Matoran alphabet

There are many secret codes with icons that represent letters. Don't ask us why, but we are always very charmed by this Matoran alphabet. Probably because you can use it so beautifully in all kinds of graphic applications. As a cipher, this alphabet is extremely suitable to be used as icons in a graphical application. For example , you can nicely process the circles in a motif and have a secret code deciphered.

Deciphering Emoji Secret Code for Kids

If we then go straight to the secret codes with symbols, then it’s great to do this with emojis. This is especially fun with children. You can send sentences to each other via WhatsApp in order to decipher this secret code.

Braille as a secret code

A great invention to be able to read: Braille! But also very nice to use as a secret code. You can display the dots in different ways to create your secret code. For example, lay down materials in Braille. Or put different colours of pushpin in Braille on a plate. Get creative!

Create code wheel

How to make your own code wheel to decipher a cipher? It really doesn't have to be that difficult. How does it work? Put an encryption somewhere, so you know how to decipher this cipher. Then you can drop a hidden message, which you can decipher by turning the code wheel.

Create Morse code cipher

Morse code was invented as early as 1835, by how could it be otherwise, mister Samuel Morse .. Morse is a code that consists of long and short tones. We then put them down as (short) dots or as dashes. There are several morse generators on the internet to convert the code into sounds. But it is also nice to display the code, for example with lights. This can easily be done, for example, with a flashlight, with which you pass on codes. This way you can make your own creative secret code.

Create SMS code

For the slightly older ones among us, deciphering this cipher will be a breeze. Remember on your old Nokia when you had to type a simple text message. It gave you an RSI thumb! An SMS code works as follows: If you want an A, you click the 1 button once. If you want a B, you click the 1 button twice, etc. Do you know what it says here?

Secret code without spaces

How easily can you read a text without spaces?

That'sactuallyfine.Youcanalsoreadwhatitsayshere.

If you occasionally hide a different capital letter in between, you can make a super fun secret code for children. Simple and funny.

You can create a code language that refers to a passage from a book. Refer to a book you have on your shelf or online. For example, put down the title followed by p18, r5, w3. Then you refer to the 18th page, line number 5 and you take the 3rd word. This way you can decipher a secret sentence with several words from the book.

Semaphore alphabet

If you are scouting or work in the shipping industry, then you are probably familiar with this semaphore alphabet. Normally you will see signals with two flags, which can be held in eight positions. In total there are many different possibilities, which are linked to a letter of the alphabet.

Secret code with wingdings font

We used to make a lot of secrets with this in class. Wingdings. It is a word font, where each letter and number represent a separate symbol. For example, you can even place entire texts and letters as a secret code. But be careful. It's just as easy to crack the computer again. Watch out for little brothers who want to read your secret diary. Do you know what it says here?

From numbers to secret code letters

Another secret code that we all know from primary school. Each letter of the alphabet represents a number. Where a=1, b=2, c=3 etc. If you are going to set up a quest and are looking for a simple secret code to decipher, apply it. Known and successful with every child!

Convert coordinates to ciphers

Do you want to map out a route, with a text linked in cipher code below? Then it is fun to work with the coordinates of a map. Coordinates are often written in latitude and longitude. The latitude goes with N(orth) and S(outh) with a number of degrees between 0 and 90. The longitude is the position E(ast) and W(est). Here the degrees are between 0 and 180 degrees.

Google maps uses decimal degrees without N or S. If you click on a location, you can see what these decimals are. For example, put five of those numbers in a row as a secret code and you can take the first letters of the city as a secret code.

Create code language through a barcode

Barcodes are a super fun way to create a secret code. A barcode is of course also a code language in real life, but in a game or treasure hunt, for example, it is a fun way to decipher a secret code. You can display the barcodes as letters, or convert barcodes to Morse code. Where a thick stripe is a long tone and a thin stripe is a short tone.

Hieroglyphics as a secret code

Unbelievable! Hieroglyphs have been around since 3100 BC. They probably wouldn't have thought it would ever be used as a fun Escape room secret code. Are you going to make this secret code? Note that hieroglyphs use the same character for some letters in our alphabet. For example, the K and the C.

The Vigenère cipher is one of the most difficult codes to decipher. Crypto analysts love this type of ciphers. It works like an encryption, where a secret key word is converted using another (clear) text. This conversion is done in a large table with the alphabet both horizontally and vertically. We will show here a Vigenère example cipher.

You have the 'clear text'. This is actually the outcome of your Vigenère code. We have chosen 'Look in the drawer' here. You shade these letters in the left vertical part. You also have a keyword. In our case 'games'. These letters are in red in the horizontal part. And the secret text, is what comes out. Making the code works like this: First find the L on the left and combine it with the G of games. You get that the R. Continue in this way until you have converted all the letters. Where you use the keyword as often as necessary. Pretty complicated secret huh...

Music notes secret code

Are you going to make a secret code with a group of music lovers? Then you should not miss this one. Musical notes basically go from A to G, but you can of course vary this. Or have missing letters entered in a sentence that does occur with A to G. It takes some creativity, but it's a super fun way to come up with a secret code.

Crack code tap

With the tap code, the letters of the alphabet are in a table, just like with the Polybius square. You can find out the letters by listening or watching how many taps, or 'ticks' there are. In addition, the number of ticks of the vertical row is added first and then the ticks of the horizontal row.

How to make a Caesar code?

The cipher named after Julius Caesar is still widely used. You can also see it under the term ROT. You give a pre-encryption for how much the alphabet changes place. For example ROT3, then the alphabet moves three places. Then A->D, B->E etc. A super old secret code, but still fun and simple to make.

This alphabet has also been used as a cipher for a long time. Because they are such angular shapes, it is ideal for scratching into something. If you are going on a quest in the forest, scratch a hidden code in a trunk (which is on the ground!) to decipher.

HTML colour codes as secret code

Did you know that every colour has its own codes? For example, a colour consists of an RGB code, for example, the blue of these letters has the code #0f72d6 . Want to create a secret code language? Or use a safe code for an Escape Room? Then you can create a colour secret code. For example, use every first letter from a colour code and make a word with it. Do you want to create a secret code with the colour codes? Then make the colour codes here .

Which secret code are you going to make?

Have you become really excited about all those secrets? We are of course very curious how you have used them. Will you let us know? Do you want more tips on how to use these secrets, for example, when making your own escape room?

>> Read our blog on how to make an escape room game yourself .

All the work has been done, you are going to have one more great day and then you won't see each other for six weeks. So this last day of school has to be extra special, right? A day full of entertainment, being together, fun activities at school and of course games. We have put together some inspiration for you. Whether you have a last day of school with pre-schoolers or a last day of school for the upper classes. There is something for everyone. 

Since we are a game site, we think that a great game on the last day of school should not be missing. So which game is suitable for which group? And what is the best way to play such a game on the last day of school? And finally, we have some other activities that should not be missed on your last day of school. 

Games for last day of school for year 4 to 6 

For the age group 9 to 12 years, there are many fun games to do during the last day of school. Here we show you two of our games: 

Escape room last day of school 

Many classes have already played them. The children's escape rooms from Playgroupgame. Of course you are not really going to escape from the classroom. These are games that you print out and prepare and then you can play them in different groups. Actually you can play it as often as you like. As long as it is with different groups of children each time, otherwise they know the solution. Make it a competition, for example, to see which group of your class or school is the first to 'escape'. On average it takes an hour per group. 

The materials can be set out in the classroom or a gym, for example; the rest of the game is interactive. It will be handy if one of the groups can bring a mobile phone that day. If you don't want to, you can also play the game without a phone. Many schools indicate that they laminate the materials, so that it can be played more often by several groups. 

Games for last day of school for preschool and year 1 and 2

For the really young children at school, the tension curve is not very big. For the last day of school they are happy with a nice course of games.  

For the children under six (preschool) these are fun activities for the last day of school: 

Farewell song for the summer holidays 

The tradition is that you end the year singing loudly with the whole school. In our schoolyard, it is always a celebration to hear all the children singing at the same time. You have six weeks off, but the first few weeks you will surely still have the songs the children sing in your head. Looking for fun songs to sing on the last day of school? These are always a favourite: 

• End of school song (covid -19 year)
• Song: Celebrate a great school year

Last day of school poem

As a teacher you get a lot of presents from children on the last day of school. Enough chocolate to get you through the summer! But how nice it is to give the children from your class something themselves. We have put together some last-day-of-school poems for you for inspiration: 

• End of year poem – Teachers pay teachers 
• Goodbye poem for students – Classroom freebies 

Scavenger hunt around school

We have already written a blog about it once; "20 ideas to organise a Scavenger Hunt". In fact, we have a free E-Book on that page, which you can download.

How fun is it to have all the children from the school in groups, accompanied by parents, taking a small tour of the neighbourhood with a scavenger hunt. Of course, one of the teachers (or someone from the parents' committee) will have to set out a route. Keep  especially the safety of the children in mind. So no routes where there is a lot of traffic. And also keep the age of the children and the difficulty in mind. It should be suitable for all ages at primary school.

We have therefore created 2 ready-made Scavenger hunts. One is suitable for 4-7 year olds and one is suitable for 7-10 year olds. The upper grades often find a scavenger hunt less interesting. So if you don't feel like spending a huge amount of preparation time to come up with a game on the last day of school, we have already made these 2 scavenger hunts for you.

All you have to do is set out a route at your own location and put up our material there. The last school will be a big party.

Swinging out, jumping out, slipping... 

When the children actually leave, make it a spectacle by waving them off. For example, let all the children jump out of the school via a trampoline. Or put a bench from the gym against the window where everyone can slide out. 

Don't have that option in your school building? Then this will always work on your last day of school: Turn the music up loudly. Put each child in pairs with their hands against each other. And let them run through each class as a pendulum. Start with the toddlers and end with the year six. 

Convenient for schools 

Complete package for schools: For older children in the final years of primary school. Buy 2 escape room games and you get the second game with a 25% discount. And super handy for schools, you only have to print these games once. If you then laminate them, you already have a fun activity ready for next year's summer party/teacher's day or whatever. You may reuse these games within your own school. 

Ending the last day of school with colleagues 

And then... it's time for a rest. And... a cosy ending with your school colleagues. Would you like to play another fun game with your colleagues on the last day of school? Then check out our games for adults. 

We hope we have given you enough ideas. We are looking forward to your response. Will you let us know below? 

Have a nice holiday! 

If you don't have the time to read the entire blog, but are interested in a treasure hunt for children, you can also download the E-book for free here. It's also great for rereading the tips. They will be sent to you for free. 

Have fun creating a outdoor treasure hunt for your children's party at home. 

Outdoor treasure hunt with photos

WhatsApp treasure hunt

This is for the slightly older children, who still like treasure hunts, but you can't get them to walk by drawing arrows on the road with pavement chalk. The children follow a route and receive the treasure hunt assignments via WhatsApp. So you have to make them in advance.

If the children do not yet have a smartphone, you can let them go out with one. If the children are older and have their own smartphone, you can first create a WhatsApp group so that several children can read the messages.

The scavenger hunt assignments may consist of, for example: sending a music fragment followed by the assignment. "Who is the artist who sings this song? If the number of letters of the first name of the artist is odd, go left, otherwise go right". You can send photos that they have to find and at the location you can still indicate the direction (with chalk, for example). Or you can ask a question about the photo, which determines which way they should go in this WhatsApp search.

Tasks treasure hunt

You explain to the children that you are going to do an outdoor treasure hunt, but every time there are several ways to go, the children must first solve a task. You make the treasure hunt assignments in advance and give the children an assignment at every intersection. To get you started, we have come up with a few treasure hunt assignments that you can use for this type of treasure hunt: You will have 1 minute to stand in the right order from tallest to smallest. Or when the kids are slightly older: you will have 1 minute to stand in the right order, from oldest to youngest. And if you want to make it really challanging: tell them they are not allowed to talk.

Outdoor treasure hunt with QR codes 

Everyone has seen them, but 50% wonders what it is and what it does. A QR code is a code that can be read by a QR reader and is a kind of link to a website. That makes this kind of outdoor treasure hunt not suitable for everyone, because you need a website on which you can place assignments in advance.

But of course you can also make the treasure hunt assignments about websites that simply exist and ask questions about them.

How does it work? You go to a website, copy the URL (the address line of the website). You go to the following website: https://www.qr-code-generator.com/, where you paste the URL. That website will generate a code that you must download and print.

Then you stick the QR codes on lampposts, fences, electricity boxes. The children have to search for the QR codes using their smartphone. They have to set up a QR reader beforehand. They hold the smartphone in front of the QR code and the phone will go to the website of your choice. You can give them questions about the websites beforehand.

Example: on https://www.playgroupgame.com/escape-room-at-home/ you let them go and then you ask a question: 'from what age can children play the game Escape Room - The Pharaoh's Treasure?  The children enter the website with the QR code and look up the answer. You add: 'if the answer is odd, you go left, otherwise you go right'.

That is how you can make this outdoor treasure hunt.

Ice-sticks code hunt

Reflection tour

But what if you don't do the outdoor treasure hunt during the day, but at night in the dark? When the children are a bit older, they dare to do it. A bit of excitement is, of course, great fun. And perhaps as a parent you should just tag along for a bit. The reflector trip is made by sticking all sorts of pieces of aluminium foil to poles, fences and so on. Give the children a couple of torches and they can use them to shine around and find their route. Don't stick the aluminium foil at crossroads but dozens of metres behind it, so that they have to look in all directions to find where they need to go. They will never forget this outdoor treasure hunt.

Do you want to read more? Or would you like us to send you the 22 tips (for free)?

You can then read through them at a later time and receive them in a handy document to use.

Treasure hunt questions

You come up with various treasure hunt questions in advance. It's nice if the questions are about the children themselves, but of course you are free to come up with your own scavenger hunt questions. Then you can do two things:

• you take a sheet with quiz questions and ask a question at each intersection. This can be multiple choice: answer A is left, B is right and C is straight ahead.
• You hang the questions up somewhere, so that the children can run to them and read the question themselves. The latter is of course the most fun. The more interactive the treasure hunt assignments or treasure hunt questions are, the better.

Bead hunt

This outdoor treasure hunt is particularly fun with smaller children (4 - 7 years) at the children's party at home. The children are given a bead chain. At each intersection, they have to look at a bead on the chain that determines which way they have to go. For example, blue means left, red means right and green means straight ahead. Here too, you can play two fun variations:

• You use the first bead for the first junction, the second bead for the second junction, and so on.
• At each intersection, a number is written on the pavement (using, for example, pavement chalk). This number corresponds to the number of the chain.

Treasure map for your outdoor treasure hunt

Boil a tea bag in hot water for a while and immerse it. Sprinkle some coffee powder on your treasure map. Take the teabag out of the water (watch out, the water is hot) and rub the powder with the wet teabag. This will cause brown stains on your map. You can use a hair dryer to dry it quickly or put the map on the heater. When the treasure map is dry, roll the paper flat with a rolling pin.  If necessary, you can then rub some coffee, cinnamon or tea over the surface. This will darken the fibre of the paper and create a beautiful old effect that is similar to a roll of parchment. Finally, rub the treasure map with olive oil. So the card will remain in a good condition longer.

Code outdoor treasure hunt

If you are going to create this hunt, then you choose code characters. You can choose for example Japanese characters, Chinese characters, Greek characters. The children are given a decoder sheet on which they can decode the characters.

This way, they will find codes along the route, which are then converted into letters to form a word or sentence. You can do this outdoor treasure hunt together with Tracking (n°1), but you can also tell the children where to go next by decoding a few characters.

Codes always work well, it has something secretive and therefore exciting. There are also pens for sale where the text is only visible by shining a light on the paper. Plenty of things that children will look at with big eyes and amazement. So using codes is also one of the more fun scavenger hunt ideas.

Geocache

Geocaching is a super cool thing to do. It is an app on your smartphone and even with the free version you can let the kids search for the treasures that are nearby. There are treasures in every neighbourhood.

Often hidden in small boxes, picture rolls. You search together with the children; you click on a treasure and then you will see how many metres your will have to walk and in which direction.

The treasures are always in sight (i.e. screwed under a bench, mounted on a fence etc), so you don't have to dig. Please note: Close geocaching treasures neatly again and hide them in the same place. After all they are there for all those who love the game. www.geocaching.com

Hunt: Nature trails

We have already talked about outdoor treasure hunts with tracks. Apart from pavement chalk, you can also think of natural tracks. Make an arrow from branches or stones or other things you can find in nature. You can also make this treasure hunt with a group of children and then let the other group of children (who have an activity first, for example) search for it.

Odour traces

DIY scavenger hunt

Why all the preparation? Let the children create their own treasure hunt. Give them a few choices (string, chalk, paper, pen) and let them come up with their own creative scavenger hunt ideas. Of course, you already have these blog ideas in your head, so you help them along a bit. Then, during the children's party at home, you split up the group into several groups and they go off on each other's treasure hunts.

Scavenger hunt

This kind of treasure hunt means that you make an A4 sheet with 25 boxes on it. You put a picture, or a letter, or some other symbol in the boxes. Tell the group that they can find all the 25 photos, for example, somewhere in the neighbourhood. You indicate the limit of the search and give them a certain amount of time to search in small groups. You give them a smartphone or camera.

They have to take a picture of every place that corresponds to a photo as proof that they have found it. Your treasure hunt children's party will be a great success.

You can also put assignments in the 25 boxes of things that the groups have to find and bring back home. For example: a dandelion, an earthworm, a daisy, 5 blades of grass, a handful of sand, an animal etc etc.

Dice hunt

Not officially a treasure hunt, but a lot of fun to play. You divide the group into several small groups. With small children it is useful that a parent goes along. You give the children a dice and they set off with it. They have to throw the dice at every intersection they come to.

If they can only go left or right, 1, 2 or 3 means they go left and 4, 5 or 6 means they go right. And if they can also go straight ahead, then 1 and 2 mean going left, 3 and 4 mean going straight ahead and 5 and 6 mean going right. They throw a total of 20 times. After those 20 throws, you look where the group has ended up. The group that is furthest away from home wins the game.

You can easily check on Google Maps which group went the furthest in terms of distance.

Alphabet hunt

The route will run from A to Z. Older children can also do the treasure hunt by going from A to Z, but each time you skip two letters. So at the first intersection there are 3 letters on a piece of paper with a direction. A (left) G (straight ahead) R (right) for example. As they have to do A first, they turn left. At the next intersection, they have to choose B (or D for older children). The first few times it will be easy for them, but they are children, so keeping their attention for a whole alphabet.... it is often not easy.

10x left, 10x right

You will notice that the children often do not arrive at the final destination properly. This game is therefore only suitable for children who know the traffic rules well and are able to participate in traffic without supervision. If necessary, the game can be played by bicycle, depending on the distance. And as an organiser you are free to make it 5 times left and right of course.

Footsteps quest

Take 4 shoes, 1 left shoe and 1 right shoe of the same pair, 2 other shoes. Beforehand, make a printout of all 4 shoes on an A4 page and include the meaning of the printout. The children take the 4 A4 pages with them on their treasure hunt. At each intersection you put a shoe print with the left or right shoe of the same pair. It means turn left or turn right. You use the other two prints for walking straight ahead if necessary and to give them an extra assignment before they can walk on. You let them sing a song, give them a maths problem, you name it. That is how you can make this great treasure hunt.

Readymade treasure hunt clues

If the children go on a treasure hunt outside, it is fun if they have to search for the right solution. Use clues to help the children on their way outside. When you make it rhyme, it becomes even more fun. To make things easier, we have listed five ready-made treasure hunt clues for you. You do not have to come up with the answers to these ready-made treasure hunt clues yourself. We have listed them for you at the end. They are all clues that fit into a fun outdoor treasure hunt.

1. I’m very lovely, with beautiful colors en I smell sweet.
   Look down to find me! I'm near your feet.
   
   
2. I am quite a treat for the animals flying in the sky.
   They feed here and take care of their babies. It's a place you can't beat.
   
   
3. I make something that you will like a lot.
   But watch out, I produce a lot of smoke and I am very hot.
   
   
4. With your feet to the sky and the wind through your hair,
   Watch out, you're between the ropes and not on a chair.
   
   
5. I know you think I look weird
   I am small, cute, have a red hat and a white beard.

The answers: 1 flowers; 2 Birdhouse; 3 Grill; 4 Swing; 5 Garden gnome

Free printable nature scavenger hunts for kids

It is wonderful to go for a walk in the countryside with your children. If you want to do a fun outdoor treasure hunt, take a nature scavenger hunt and you and your children will have a great time while walking. Our free E-book with the '22 best ideas for an outdoor treasure hunt for kids' also contains a printable nature scavenger hunt for kids. 

To conclude

We hope that this has given you enough inspiration for making a scavenger hunt. You will undoubtedly succeed.

If you are looking for more scavenger hunt inspiration, take a look at Pinterest. There are lots of extra ideas there. That should be good, right?

Take a look around our site at our games for groups. Besides games for children, we also offer fun games that you can play with a large group of adults.

More info about our group games?

If you need help or have any questions, please contact us at [email protected], +31 6 837 77853, we are happy to help.

We hope that these outdoor treasure hunt ideas have inspired you to create your own treasure hunt. Did these 22 tips help you? Sharing this post is appreciated.

Kids escape room, popular with your family or for a birthday party

What we find really cool to do is to play escape rooms. We have played quite a lot of rooms already. And yes, fortunately most of them escaped. Well, except for the time I accidentally included the locker key of our coats in the game. Why doesn't that key fit anywhere? Stupid, stupid, stupid.

What is an escape room?

In short for those who don't yet know what an escape room is: An escape room is a location where you are locked up together with a group of friends. By solving puzzles and codes in different rooms, you need to escape as quickly as possible. Many of the rooms have a special storyline in which everything happens. Only by working well together, it will usually be possible to escape. This is also the most amazing thing about an escape room. Because working together turns out to be quite difficult in practice. Adrenaline does the strangest things to you. You immediately see all the characters coming back into the game. Are you a leader who takes the initiative or a silent puzzler who solves most of the puzzles in the end?

Kids escape rooms are becoming more and more popular. With our girls we have regularly done a family escape room. Super cool family outing. The funny thing is that children often look at puzzles in a very different way. We ourselves sometimes think in a very complicated manner. While they have the solution right in front of you.

Escape room birthday party at home

When we started our gaming site a number of years ago, it was of course no surprise which game we were going to make: An escape room! But to rent and renovate a spooky abandoned basement went a bit too far for us. (let alone our two left hands!?). The challenge was to make an escape room that you can do at any location. We were so proud when the game the Maffia Gang (our first Dutch Escape Game) was finished. Playing an escape room is fun, but making it is just as much fun!

Our first escape room birthday party  

For our youngest girl we once organized an escape room children's party. That was a few years ago. Back then you didn't have a lot of escape rooms for children. Everyone loved the party. All the children came out of the room bouncing and full of adrenaline. Now we are lucky that we have a top escape room on location in our neighborhood. Tailored down to the last detail and a good fit with the storyline. With many different rooms for adults and children.

What should you pay attention to?

Are you organizing an escape room children's party for the first time? Then here are a few tips you can look out for in advance:

With two cars

Luckily, there are escape rooms at many locations these days. But most of the time it is a bit of a drive. We used to stuff some more children in one backseat. With the police checks nowadays we don't do that anymore. You often need two cars for a birthday party to get somewhere. And then you sometimes have the misfortune that a room can only be used for a maximum number of children. So you must first figure this out in order to be able to arrange it.

Giving away puzzles

Then there is the final risk of an escape room birthday party. The "whining" girlfriend that ruined it for the rest. "Yes, I know!" An escape room is just the most fun when no one has played the room yet. How annoying it is when someone reveals all the puzzles. So now that it is so popular to escape, it is useful to check in advance whether any of the children have already done this escape room.

Complete your birthday party with an escape room invitation

I am sure we are not the only ones with this funny habit. When we organize a party for our girls, then everything should match the theme. Whether it was a witch party, Paw Patrol children's party or a who is the mole children's party. Sounds familiar?

How nice it is, when you already receive an invite for an escape room children's party at home, to get you in the mood. And when you leave, you also get something that represents the theme. It takes more time, but it’s worth it. Worried you haven’t got the time? With these handy tips, it's easy:

Fun ideas for making invitations to an escape room birthday party

Do you organize it at home or at another location ? And how do you surpass last year and all those parties of the children they go to school with?

That's why we wrote this blog to help you get some ideas for organizing a great children's party at home with games your child and his or her friends will still be talking about for years.

We have selected a top 18 of kid’s party entertainment ideas for you, which undoubtedly will give you some useful suggestions. Have fun preparing!

You can let the children do their own thing, but you can also choose to help the children with the makeup or ask someone from your own circle to do this. You put on some cheerful music and the girls will have a great time. Worth considering for a children's party at home.

Birthday Child: The Night Watch

This is a game that children do not know these days, but the generation in their thirties and forties undoubtedly still remember this. The Night Watch is a game that is played in a dark room. All children except one hide in the room. Make sure there are enough benches, closets where they can hide behind.

How does it work ? Each child picks a ticket from a bag. On those tickets you write an animal name with a number in front of it. For example 1: dog, 2: cat, 3: cow, 4: horse, 5: pig, 6: lion. One child is the Night Watchman and he enters the room. The child says: the Night Watch calls 3. The child with number 3 (the cow in this case) makes the sound of a cow. The Night Watchman has to guess which child this is. If he guesses correctly, the child comes out. If he gets it wrong, there is no reaction and the child remains seated.

The number of turns the Night Watch needs to find everyone, is the number of penalty points scored. If you let each child be the Night Watch once (and change the species of animals a few times, it will be more fun), and the one with the lowest score wins.

And one thing’s for sure: Once the first child has been the Night Watch, they all want to be the Night Watch again.

Kids party entertainment: Old-fashioned Games

It sounds old-fashioned, but of course it's still fun to play various games from the old days during a children's party at home. You will notice that many children have never heard of these group games. Set out a course in the garden or in the park with various games. Make a scorecard and attach it to a string, so the children can wear the scorecard as a necklace. Create some kind of diploma in advance and start playing!

As an example we have chosen a small selection of the possibilities you have:

Old Dutch game: ‘spijkerpoepen’, or in other words ‘Nail pooping’

Preparation: You take 2 wine bottles or beer bottles and put them on the ground. Then you tie a rope to a long nail and then you tie the rope around the child's waist, so that the rope with the nail hangs half a meter above the ground behind the child like some kind of tail. The child’s task is to lower the nail into the 2 bottles as quickly as possible. You take a stopwatch (nowadays on every smartphone) and keep track of the time. You write that time on the scorecard, so at the end of all games you can see who did it the fastest. If you have younger children, it's quite a job to get the nail in the bottle. If the kids are a little older, you can make the challenge a little bigger by telling them that the nail may not hit the bottle.

Bite the cake

Tie the slices of cake to some string and hang them on a line. The children can come one by one and bite the slices of cake, but before they do that, you must first blindfold them. Then you turn them around a few times and then they can go and look for them. They have to keep their hands on their backs. The cake has to go all the way.

Balloon kicks

We used to hate it when we were kids, but most kids love it. Inflate 1 balloon for each child and tie it with a string to the ankle. The assignment is to kick each other's balloon. The one who keeps the balloon in one piece the longest wins the game.

What can I taste? 

Let the children take turns to come to you in a separate room and put on a blindfold. Then you give them some flavors to taste on small spoons and they have to guess what it is.

Enough games to keep them sweet for a few hours. Especially smaller children still love to do this.

Think of materials such as tubes, vacuum cleaner hoses, gutters, lego, garden hose, toilet rolls, cardboard tubes, curtain rails, lampshades (as funnel), train rails, stones. At Recycling stores or DIY stores you can also get plenty of ideas. On the internet you can find enough examples to do a great job. Of course, you can also choose to divide the group into smaller groups, so that several small jobs can be made. And maybe you can connect them if you let them work on several floors in the house.

It will take some help from you as a parent, but the result is a proud group of boys (or girls) with a homemade tough marble job. In the summer you can also do it outside and choose a water track instead of marbles.

With possible activities for a birthday child, this one should certainly be on your list. This kid’s party entertainment is simple to organize and gives them 100% fun.

And a disco party is not a disco party if there are no games of course. You can play musical chairs, but you can also stop a song in the middle and let the children finish the sentence of the song. Girls certainly want to try a real disco party at home as a children's party.

Human stratego

Most adults will have heard of Stratego and lots of people have played it. The board game where you have to defeat the army of the other party by conquering the flag. Your army consists of different kinds of army ranks.

From Marshal to Scout. The higher rank beats the lower rank when they meet on the board. So the Marshal always wins, right. No, there is 1 figure: the spy who is the only one who can defeat the Marshal when he meets him on the board. And there are bombs on the board, which even a Marshal can't withstand. The difficult part of the game is that you don't know the rank of the opponent's piece beforehand, because they have their backs to you.

And so there is Human Stratego, which you can play very well with a larger group of children. They already play this is a lot at school with the whole class. Running after each other, stealing each other's flag. The children love it. One of the best kid’s party entertainment: fun and healthy!

And of course you secretly invite the parents fifteen minutes earlier to come and watch the show. Maybe it's possible to turn a room in your home into a circus arena. You need some creativity and the necessary materials, but a circus show during the children's party at home is a real happening.

Kid party entertainment: Human memory

A short, but oh so fun group game for children, is the Living Memory. We all know the game memory where you have to find 2 of the same pictures. Now 1 child must find 2 of the same children.

How does it work? All children are in 1 room, except the one who has to solve the memory. The children make 2 numbers and agree in advance on a certain movement that they do when their name is said. For example, 2 children agree to make a pirouette when their name is mentioned. Another 2 may agree to jump in the air and another 2 may decide to roll on the ground. Each turn, the child who guesses, may call 2 children's names. If he calls 2 children's names that do the same thing, they will leave the game. Just as long till all the children have been guessed. Simple, short, but great fun as a kid’s party entertainment activity.

Children's party at home: the Pajamas sleepover party

Especially when the children are older and there is no more homesickness, a pajamas party is of course very cozy. Everyone wearing onesie, all the mattresses next to each other in the living room and in the evening after you have played all the games on this top list, you can watch a nice movie together with the lights out. Some popcorn and drinks and you have your own night movie theater.

Kids party entertainment: Laser game 

This is a game you can easily create at home. What do you need ? 1 room and a few balls of red wool. You use that red wool to tie wires crisscross through the room. The wires are the lasers. The children have to go through the room without touching the lasers. So make it difficult. Somewhere underneath, somewhere above. Make sure they need each other to avoid certain wires. Very nice to play together with the children at your child's birthday party. Laser game is short and can therefore be combined with other fun children's games at a children's party at home.

Craft party

Are you familiar with Pinterest on the internet? Just look at Craft Party and the ideas will come right at you. Children (certainly until a certain age) always like to do crafts. Of course, the concentration curve depends on the age, so take that into account when you are planning what you are going to do with the kids. But during the children's party at home sitting together at the kitchen table, rolling up sleeves and having a good time, is very cozy and the kids will make something they can proudly show to their parents later on.

Create your own kids slime party

Nowadays it's impossible to imagine making mucus without it. Wow, what a mess we had in the kitchen. But the kids thought it was a great party.

Never too old te play

With these ideas we hope we have given you some inspiration for fun children's parties. Maybe you have some great ideas you want to share. You can respond to this blog, but you can also go to [email protected]

Playing is not only for kids, adults also like to play a group game during a weekend away. So surprise your friends, family or colleagues with a fun game.

"You're never too old to play".