We have several Christmas traditions we enjoy, but I think my favourite is the Treasure Hunt.
When our children were small, and it came time to prepare or finish preparing the Christmas morning breakfast, it was sometimes hard to pull myself away from their excitement to take care of the breakfast chore.
The Treasure Hunt became the event to give me the opportunity to go to the kitchen and they could wind down from the excitement of opening gifts. It took some pre-planning, but that was part of the fun.
When our children were small, and it came time to prepare or finish preparing the Christmas morning breakfast, it was sometimes hard to pull myself away from their excitement to take care of the breakfast chore.
The Treasure Hunt became the event to give me the opportunity to go to the kitchen and they could wind down from the excitement of opening gifts. It took some pre-planning, but that was part of the fun.
In the early years, the clues were often pictures cut from old catalogues and magazines. A visual clue with the name of the item printed beside it took them to the location of the next clue. Much like some of the pictures used in today’s emojis found in writing text messages. At the end of the hunt, they would find their special gift and breakfast would be ready. To keep it interesting, each child had a different set of clues and each treasure could or would be in a different room. Often as not, it would somehow be sitting in plain sight all the time they were on the hunt.
As they got older the clues I came up with needed to be a bit more imaginative. They soon realized that an odd ‘something’ in their stockings was, in fact, the first clue of the hunt. They learned to take time opening gifts, checking the back of gift tags and listening to the conversations about gifts opened. Completely reading each tag became a must!
When they were old enough to have a driver’s license, the clues got ramped up even further. Sending them off on a tour to find road signs and landmarks with words they needed and sometimes stopping at friends (previously arranged) to gather up more information on their quest to the find the treasure.
As adults, they still expect to have a Treasure Hunt when we are all together for Christmas, and so the tradition continues.
Share your traditions with us. I would love to hear about them.
Ann Edall-Robson
Author, Photographer, Lover of Life
"Capturing moments others may never get to experience."
Author, Photographer, Lover of Life
"Capturing moments others may never get to experience."
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