> kids treasure hunt
Treasure hunt with Hugo
Hugo the dog sniffs out everything. Here you make clue cards for a treasure hunt at home or in the garden: Every card tells where the next one is hidden, and the treasure waits at the end. With pictures for children who cannot read yet, or with secret writing to crack, plus your own places, riddles and a secret word.
Text: as chosen below. Pictures: a drawing instead of words, for children who cannot read yet. Mirror writing: The card is held up to a mirror. Number code: A = 1 to Z = 26, the key is on every card. QR code: The clue is inside a code a phone can read, with the place in small print underneath for you.
Applies to text, mirror writing and number code. Easy: “Look in the fridge.” Tricky: “It is always cold in here, even in summer.”
3 to 12 places, from the list and your own together.
One line per place: first the place, then a colon, then your clue. Without a clue the card says “Look at:” and the place.
As chosen: first the places from the list in their order here, then your own from top to bottom.
1 to 999999. The same number and the same places give the same order.
Optional, at most 20 characters. Goes on the first card: “Hello Lotta!”
Optional, letters only. Every card carries one letter, on the treasure card the children put the word together.
4 cards in A6, 2 cards in A5 landscape with larger print for children who cannot read yet.
The preview appears right away.
The last page is the hiding plan for you. Cut the cards along the dashed lines. When printing, choose Actual size or 100%.
How the hunt goes
Goes well with: Seek and find · Quiz · Counting with Hilde
Your entries and drawings do not leave this device. The cards and the PDF are made here in the browser, nothing is saved, not even your own places or the name.
How it works
- 01Tap places or enter your own, choose Easy or Tricky.
- 02Download the PDF, print it and cut out the cards.
- 03Hide them by the hiding plan: Card 2 goes to place 1, card 3 to place 2 and so on. The treasure and the treasure card wait at the last place. You hand card 1 to the child.
The chain. With N places there are N clue cards and one treasure card. Every clue card tells a place, and the next card lies there. A place may only appear once, otherwise the children do not know where to look; the tool reports places with the same name.
Secret writing and pictures. Pictures: Every place from the list that has a matching picture (for example ice cream for the fridge or the moon for the pillow) shows a colored picture and the place in small print underneath for you. Places without a picture and your own places get a text; the tool tells you which. Mirror writing: The clue is printed mirrored on the card, in front of a mirror you read it normally. Number code: The clue consists of numbers, A = 1 to Z = 26, a slash separates words; Ä, Ö, Ü and ß become AE, OE, UE and SS. For both kinds of secret writing use 2 cards per sheet, then the print is larger.
QR code. Every clue card carries a QR code that holds only the clue text, no link and no address. The camera app of a phone shows the text without loading anything from the internet. For children who can read, with a grown-up or an older sibling at the phone. The place is printed small and gray under the code so you do not have to scan while hiding.
Secret word. Clue card 1 carries the first letter, card 2 the second and so on. If the word has fewer letters than there are cards, the last cards stay without one. The treasure card has boxes, as many as the word has letters.
Shuffled. The number shuffles the order. The same number and the same places give the same hunt, another number a new order. With Shuffled the number is printed small on every card, so cards from two printouts do not get mixed up.
Limits. Your own places up to 50 characters, clues up to 150 characters. The font on the cards is Helvetica; characters it does not know (emoji, some letters of other languages) are left out, and the tool says so. The secret writing knows letters, digits and the characters . , ! ? : - and quotation marks. Hugo is on the cards only as a small paw print, so the sheets stay black on white and cheap to print.