I need help to devise a new treasure hunt for grandkids!

I used to do my own for my children but have discovered a company called ‘Treasure Trails’ for my grandchildren which are geared around your own town, perhaps a murder mystery or treasure hunt all using historical things of interest locally, great fun for all the family it’s amazing what you find! Not expensive to buy either!

Hi how about a treasure hunt in a wood. Different leaves, feathers, nut cases (prickly nutcase)
Birs sighted and seen. Sit for 10 minutes with eyes closed and list number of sounds. ie wind, rustling leaves, birds etc
Creepy crawlies

We have often done these. Depending on the exact circumstances, we would try useful things, like gather a bowl of blackberries, tasks like make biscuits or a sandwich. Find out things - do you have a co-operative neighbour? Something like, ask Mr Neighbour to tell you a story about when he was young / ask Ms. Neighbour to tell you about when she worked at the shop - story to be told to you and maybe their parents. Walk round your local town / Park, looking for information boards and come back with something new. We love these, good luck!

You say the children are ten, so road drill has been well and truly learned by now, so if the area they live in is one you can safely go out for a walk in, you could try the following:

They have each to find ten of the following, or a mixture of them. I don't know if you are in a city or the countryside, so these are just ideas.
statues of historical personages; historical monuments; beautiful buildings,; ugly buildings ; (their taste not yours);
3 different trees; 3 different animals (these only apply if you are in the country, in a town use 3 different vehicles; and 3 different machines; 3 places they have never been to; 3 places they have been and can tell you about; something they thought funny; something they thought strange.

Strictly speaking it is not a treasure hunt, but near enough perhaps to make a pleasant change.

You could get a simple colourful picture and stick it on card or cartridge paper. Then cut this out with scissors to make a jigsaw. Then they have a written clue to begin looking for the pieces each one leading to the other and they have to make up the jigsaw which then gets them a prize. You can also do quite a good slightly different type of clue. So you have a bag (no peeping) which they may touch and smell . Then it might be that each clue would lead to a colour . e.g. a cut orange so that they smell the fruit and then have to look about for a clue that is coloured orange . e.g. an orange t shirt left at the back of a chair or under a pillow. That then has another clue to lead on to another colour , so you could have an actual banana , or perhaps a banana milk shake - which they need to taste to decide what it is, then look for something yellow etc etc. So this uses all their senses. I have used with junior age children the lovely scented leaf geraniums. They can look similar, but when pressed smell quite different. Another safety example to show them that just because something looks the same it may not be . So you could have different ones in plant pots and perhaps some mint or salvia to again press the leaf and then go and hunt for something with a similar smell or a connection. You could have a note beside the mint (if they are meat eaters ) that says this goes well with ??? and have a toy lamb or a picture of a lamb to find. So these are quite good to do as everyone has different skills so one child may make quicker connections or just enjoy smelling the leaves. There is a great scented leaf geranium that smells of sharp lemon and can make your mouth water. If you have some home grown cherry tomatoes put one or two in a bag and then that lovely smell of tomatos home grown. They will be ready for a meal at the end of this trip! It is quite fun to do with adults at a party too. If people are blindfolded they can do very well or very badly depending on how they use their senses - non smokers of course do much better hurrah!

Some great ideas here. I like to do Treasure Hunts for my grandchildren too. I’m working on one for this weekend - a Rainbow Trail. Hide 7 items around the garden - one in each of the rainbow colours. They then have to write or draw on their answer sheet what the item is and where they found it e.g red jumper in the tree, orange duck behind the water butt etc Older ones can help the younger ones - ages 3-10 years. Mind you I might swap either indigo or violet for pink as they’re quite close in colour. Probably too simple for your grandchildren jools1 but someone may find it useful.