A Halloween treasure hunt is a trail of riddles: each clue sends the kids to a hiding place, and at that hiding place is the next clue. The last one leads to the candy. It takes about fifteen minutes to set up and keeps a group of kids busy for half an hour.
Here are twelve riddles with a Halloween twist, each for a spot nearly every home has. Hide each clue at the answer to the one before it.
The twelve clues
- The fridge. "I'm colder than a ghost's handshake and I hum all night. Open my door and you'll see a little light." Tape the next clue inside the door.
- The washing machine. "I spin and I spin like a witch on a broom, but I only wash clothes, in the laundry room." Inside the drum, with the machine off.
- The bathtub. "Fill me with water for a witch's brew. Pull out my plug and I'll gurgle at you."
- The doormat. "Everyone who knocks tonight stands right on top of me. Lift up my corner, and what do you see?"
- A pillow. "Bats sleep upside down, but you lay your head on me. Look underneath, where your dreams used to be."
- The bookshelf. "I'm full of stories, some scary, some sweet. Look between two books on the lowest shelf you meet."
- A shoe by the door. "You walked to every house tonight in me, feet and all. Look inside the left one, by the wall."
- The toy box. "I'm full of toys nobody's playing with tonight. Dig to the bottom, it's hiding out of sight."
- A coat pocket. "Costumes are on, so the coats are all hung. Check the pocket of the biggest one."
- A plant pot. "I've got a green friend growing out of my head. Look under my saucer, the ghost said."
- The mailbox. "Letters come to me, but tonight I hold a note. Nobody mailed it. A ghost wrote it and stuck it down my throat." (A grown-up checks it's there first.)
- The pumpkin. "You've found them all, and the treasure is near. Look behind the pumpkin. It's waiting right here!" Use an unlit pumpkin, or one with a battery candle.
Make your own clues instead
Your house won't have all twelve spots, and a hunt is better when the clues fit the house. The Scavenger Hunt Builder writes a clue trail for the rooms you pick, lets you change any clue, and prints the cards plus a list for you of where each one goes.
Running it
- Hide them in reverse. Start by putting the treasure behind the pumpkin, then hide clue 12, then 11, and so on. That way you never lose track of where the trail goes.
- Hand over clue 1 yourself. Read it out loud to start, and let the kids take over from there.
- Stay one room behind. Close enough to help, far enough that they feel like they did it alone.
More riddles for other times of year are in 25 Scavenger Hunt Riddles for Kids.
