How to do a Scavenger Hunt for Presents

Ever since the girls were little, my mom would create scavenger hunts for them to find clues that eventually led to a present.  She did this for birthdays, easter, and random times just for fun.  It's still something they ask for and was something Julia had asked if we could do for a few of her presents.  It sounded fun so I decided to make two scavenger hunts that would lead to the presents from Grandma and Grandpa.  They had ordered a few presents from Amazon and had them shipped to us.  Riley and I wrapped them and left them on the bed in the guest room.

We Facetimed my parents on my phone and I carried the phone around while following Julia so that they could see her find the presents and then open them.  I created some clues that I thought would require a little thinking, but likely not too much.  Or so I thought.  Turned out to be the best laugh I've had in a while!

FIRST SCAVENGER HUNT

Julia started with clue #1 for present #1.

Clue:  Chomp them with your mouth open wide, They taste so good - crunch, crunch - inside

I thought this would be easy because every time that she and I eat chips we are told to close our mouths.  Turns out there are a lot of things that we're told to close our mouths on while eating (lol!!).  Julia thought that maybe it was chips so she went to head to the pantry.  But then I realized that she'd see where the final present was for the other scavenger hunt.  So I told her she couldn't open it.  But then I realized that she'd be opening the top cabinets of the pantry and not the bottom so I told her that she could look after all.  But the next clue wasn't there.  Jeremy then said, "Um there's a pringles container on the counter."  We laughed and Julia found the second clue in the container.

Clue #2: Poof! the flame is gone; light it again when the lights are down.

Julia knew it was a candle, but then lifted the lids of two candles and didn't find it.  So she went to the drawer of the candle lighters, but I told her she was cold and needed to look at the candles again.  She was confused.  So I told her that she had only lifted the lids and there were other ways to find clues near candles.  She lifted them up.  Went over to the one on the living room coffee table and found the next clue.

Clue #3: First a black, then a white.  Played together they're just so quite... well they might... be a delight... if the sounds are right.

She wasn't sure at first and then realized it was the piano.  The card was sitting across the keys.  She set it on the top of where the key cover moves.  Somehow the card slipped between the key cover and went inside of the piano.  We couldn't figure out how to get the card back out.  Spent some time looking over and mostly just laughing hysterically so we just left it.

The problem was that we needed card #4 to tell us where the last card was located.  And I didn't remember where the card led so we had to do the scavenger hunt for the other present in order to figure out what the final clue to this scavenger hunt was located.  I couldn't remember how it ended without the clue from the piano... and that one was now hiding inside the piano.  ha!!!

SECOND SCAVENGER HUNT

Julia had to start the second scavenger hunt. 

Clue #1: After soccer, your socks you set upon this electronic thing that gets wet.

Julia knew immediately that it was the washer.  She found the next clue under her soccer socks.

Clue #2: Mom and Dad are getting buff; miles and miles of resistance 100 are tough.

Every time Julia tries the bike, she turns the resistance to 100.  The highest the bike will go.  She found the clue under the back of the bike.

Clue #3: Rub a dub dub...

Julia says, "Well that's the sink..." ???!!!!!  She heads to the sink and we're all like, "umm... it's not the sink."  Riley says, "Well what else could it be?"  So Jeremy and I were like, "Rub a dub dub..???!!!  Where do you rub a dub dub?"  Can't remember how they realized it was the tub.  Julia says, "Well there's two tubs so which one is it?"  I tell her to look in one of them.  Then realize that there are presents sitting out on the bed in the guest room so she can't to into that location or she'll see them.  So I tell her not to look there and to look in our bathroom - totally giving it away.

Clue #4: You're almost there, two more to go; you might need a snack of a marshmallow.

Julia was like "well this is easy."  She heads back to the kitchen to the bag of marshmallows on the counter.  It never occurred to me that we had a bag of marshmallows on the counter!  I told her it wasn't there.  I asked her what else she eats that has marshmallows.  She says, "hot chocolate?"  I then asked her what we always eat each night after dinner.  "Oh!!!"  Then realizes it's Lucky Charms... our favorite after-dinner snack these days.  She finds the final clue inside the box:

Clue #5: It's almost time, how can it be?  Make sure you're not cold like COE

Easy hint to check the dresser where we keep all our COE gear.  Voila!  She found the first present.

BACK TO THE FIRST SCAVENGER HUNT

At this point, I realized where the final clue for the first scavenger hunt was located because it was the one place that I knew a clue had been placed that we hadn't been to yet.  I tried to remember what I had written on the card that was now lost inside the piano.  Something like:

Stretch high and bend low, when you roll it out you can lay down low

Julia knew to check our bedroom where I like to stretch and do yoga.  I had rolled up my mat on the ground with the clue inside.  She kicked the mat open and found the final clue.

Clue #5:  When we want cookies, brownies, or sweets, this is the cabinet we need to greet

She knew it was back to the pantry and found the final presents.

It sure took a lot longer than I had anticipated and we had a great time laughing together.  Julia was given a soccer bracelet, two t-shirts, and a game called Kids Against Maturity.  So fun!

Then we gave her a few gifts from us:  jellybeans, gummies, and a Mean Girls poster that we used to tell her about how we'll be seeing the show in mid-May!

Happy birthday to our sweet Julia!!