6 Creative Ways To Kick Off Your Pirate Themed Treasure Hunt
Going on a pirate
themed treasure hunt can be a lot of fun, but often times the beginning
is a bit dull with all of the explaining, forming of teams, etc. Inject
one of these seven exciting treasure hunt launchers and you'll be sure
to grab everyone's attention!
The Kidnapping - Really surprise everyone by having someone dressed
up as a pirate fake a hostage situation with one of your guests. Of course,
it will be all planned in advance (be sure to choose two individuals who
won't mind not participating in your treasure hunt.) At a point in the
event or party when you'd like to kick off the treasure hunt, signal your
pirate to grab the other volunteer and yell out to the guests that unless
his treasure is found, something terrible might happen to his prisoner.
He can also offer the first clue to your treasure hunt before he disappears
into the crowd. As a fun ending, make sure the two are at the end of your
hunt…but with a twist. Have your 'hostage' standing there pointing
the sword at the pirate - showing that they got the upper hand after all!
The Missing Treasure - Begin your party or event with a treasure
chest that is highly visible (i.e. as a centerpiece on your main table,
at the entrance to your party/event, etc.) Plan an attention diversion
where the focus will taken be off of the treasure long enough for it to
be removed without anyone seeing. Explain that the treasure has been stolen
and that your guests will need to find out where it was taken.
The Discovery - This one works great for younger children. As part
of a previous activity immediately before your treasure hunt, allow your
guests to FIND a treasure map seemingly accidentally. Perhaps they were
digging up shells in the sand or are cleaning up after an activity…how
they discover the treasure map will depend on the space you'll be working
with for your party or event. The important part is that THEY find it.
They will be much more dazzled by the notion of searching for treasure
if they can believe that it might be real treasure!
The Uninvited Guest - For a very dramatic kick-off (and recommended
for older kids to teens/adults) have someone dressed as a wounded pirate
come barging into the main party room (preferably at a time when everyone
is assembled, perhaps when you are explaining the rules to another game
or making an announcement.) Have him stagger over to you (for he's been
stabbed) and with his last breath utter the word "TREASURE"
and then hand you a piece of a pirate map before falling to the floor
dead. Trust me, you'll have everyone's attention before he hits the floor!
The Wet Discovery - This one works great for a pool party. On different
sinkable items put the beginning details of the treasure hunt (you can
insert clues into water tight baggies - taped tight with packaging tape.)
The participants can either swim down to pick them up to discover the
initial treasure map OR they can swim down to pick one up as a part of
the treasure hunt itself!
The Breaking News - This one is great for setting the stage for
your treasure hunt days before the party or event. Using your favorite
word processor, create a bogus newspaper article about treasure hunters
that mysteriously disappeared after they set out to the look for a specific
pirate's treasure (the treasure you plan on having your guests look for.)
In the article you'll include details about a supposed curse placed on
the treasure and anyone who attempts to disturb its resting place. You
can mail this article anonymously to your guests days before your party
or include the article with your invitations. In the article you don't
need to mention anything about the treasure hunt activity that you are
planning. The article will be sufficient enough to engage your guests'
interest!
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