Our Halloween Treasure

I was really lucky growing up. I was the second of five children... I didn't bear the burden of responsibility that goes to the oldest, I didn't have to be the middle child, and I was old enough to remember a lot of the activities we did when the two little ones were too little. I remember a lot of really fun things that my mom did for us. Probably one of the most special memories was the series of activities she would coordinate every Christmas season... so that each of us kids had one "Countdown to Christmas" activity to do every day in December. Some were advent calendars, (I think they were homemade... I wish I had the creativity to make similar ones now.) But I also remember daily treasure hunts. It was so excited each time I got the symbol that meant I got to do the treasure hunt! There would be a clue for us to follow to find some sort of treasure... I remember a couple of Christmas-themed activity books I really enjoyed. I am so grateful to my mom for creating those memories - I still think about it every time Thanksgiving rolls around. Of course, I'd love to give our kids special memories too.

With our first round of holidays approaching, I found that we truly didn't have much in the way of decorations or fun kid stuff. (I have plenty for Christmas, because I am addicted to that holiday... but nothing outside of that!) So, I had a brainstorm... thanks to memories created by my mom. What if I found a way to add to our collection through some fun activities? When I had this idea several weeks ago, I quickly went shopping on Amazon and found a few kids things for Halloween... and then waited until we got closer to October.

We have Family Home Evening every Monday... a lot of you don't know what that is, so I'll explain. It's basically just a night where everyone stays home for the purpose of being together. We have a lesson, (last night it was about choice,) usually sing a song, do an activity, and have a dessert. It's a way to make sure that we are spending regular time together during the week. I have decided, during the holidays, that each Monday we will do an activity to lead up to the next holiday. Starting with last night, since it was close enough to October, we began our Halloween activities... and we started with the Treasure Hunt.

I admit that I didn't want to reinvent the wheel, so I went onto Parents.com and found some rhyming clues where I just had to plug in the locations. Although the clipart and format are mine! :) After homework and snack was done yesterday, I gave the kids a challenge to build the biggest city they could using Charlie's blocks in Charlie's room. They were on cloud nine... while I shut his door and set to work on the Treasure Hunt. I printed out the papers, cut them up, and rolled them into little scrolls. Then I hid them in all the appropriate places. I wrapped up the treasure and put it in the final spot... and then I went to go check on the city, which had unfortunately been knocked down by Charlie. "Oh well," I said, "Let's have dinner."

When the time came, we had our lesson and I let the kids know that they had treasure to find. "Did you say TREASURE!?!?! What? How are we going to do that?" Lynnae had a huge smile on her face as I explained that there were five hidden clues that would lead them on their way. I told them they would each take turns finding the clues, and that Lynnae would be our reader. Then I said, "The first clue is hidden underneath a piece of furniture in the kitchen." Since it was Lynnae's turn to go first, I really didn't think it would take too long. The only furniture we have in our kitchen is a table and four chairs... but she was very confused, so I finally had to tell her to look up under the table... where she found that I had taped it. She was super excited to have found the first clue!

Lynnae and Charlie both excitedly unrolled it. Charlie looked pretty confused, but was laughing really loud and getting hyper by the second. Lynnae read the clue out, and then pointed Charlie toward the fireplace for his turn.

Now it was Charlie's turn to be confused, so I asked Lynnae to help him. I suppose it would be pretty hard to know what you were supposed to do if you have never gone looking for clues before! Finally Lynnae spotted it, and got Charlie to see it too... "I FOUND IT!!!! I FOUND IT!!!" He pulled it off and handed it to Lynnae to be read. It told them to head over to the stairs.

I had purposely hidden this one a little better because I figured they'd be getting the hang of it by now. Lynnae was really excited when she found this one. And Charlie said, "Did you find it Lynnae? Did you find a clue?" Lynnae could barely contain herself enough to read it and send Charlie over to Boone's food bowls.

Charlie knew what he was doing now. He carefully pulled the food bowls away from the wall and pulled that clue right off. He wanted to read it himself, but I finally convinced him to give it to Lynnae so that she could find out what to do next. This one sent them to Lynnae's bed.
Lynnae started running so fast that I had to ask her to slow down and wait for the family... I didn't want Charlie to miss out on the excitement, because I thought she might find it really fast. But, I guess my clue hiding skills are too good for an 8 year old, and this one took the longest of all. Finally it was found and it told us to "run" downstairs and look where we keep Charlie's plane.

We all headed quickly down the stairs, where Charlie got to pull his plane out of the "hangar" and saw a present sitting behind it. (We have one of those desk-styled counters in the kitchen, and under it we store his plane and our backpacks. We call it the hangar in honor of the plane.) When he pulled out the present he saw writing on the back of it... he handed it to Lynnae so that it could be read.

Lynnae's breath got faster and faster as she read, "1 treasure is found, but two more are hidden. Look in the hangar and more gifts will be given." (Yes, I actually made one rhyme up myself.) The kids threw everything out of that hangar and found two more presents behind Lynnae's backpack.

The presents were labeled - one for Charlie, one for Lynnae, and one for the family. Charlie got to open his first. I was surprised at how gingerly he unwrapped it! As soon as he saw it he started screaming, "It's my FAVORITE!!! Little Einsteins! My favorite mommy! Look daddy!" it was so cute. It was the first time I heard him use the word "favorite" all on his own, without prompting. He got a Little Einsteins Halloween book, and was very upset when he had to put it down to watch Lynnae open hers.

Lynnae quickly unwrapped her gift and found her own book, "Twas The Night Before Halloween". She was super excited and chose to read it that night for her reading time. (Charlie also listened to the story excitedly, Lynnae is getting very good at reading to Charlie!)

We picked numbers to see who would get to open the family gift, and Charlie was closest. He opened "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown," which Lynnae says she has never seen... but is very excited to watch tonight!

We had so much fun with the Treasure Hunt, it easily ranks up with the best things we have done as a family. Lynnae was so excited when she went to bed, telling me she had never done anything like it and that it was, "the best ever." And, for the rest of the night and all of this morning, Charlie has been re-finding clues and practicing articulating "Treasure Hunt". We are glad that we have done something fun that will give us books and a movie to watch as Halloween approaches this month. I can't wait to do another one... possibly for Thanksgiving supplies in November! (Pictures with the kids in them will be posted after the adoption is final.)