CHILDREN’S ACTIVITY 7: TAKE PART IN A SCAVENGER HUNT

A scavenger hunt takes a little bit of planning, but it can be brilliantly entertaining to prepare as an activity! They can be done on larger scales at school or local fetes and festivals, or on a smaller scale for intimate birthday parties or even just for friends visiting for tea!

The aim is that you hide a prize in a location and a trail of clues lead the children towards to finding that prize. Our main tip is to work backwards when putting the scavenger hunt together so you don’t run out of great hiding places for the prize!

There is great opportunity for creativity when putting the scavenger hunt together and you may find you enjoy planning it as much as the children enjoy doing it! Writing out your clues, you need to make sure they are age appropriate – shorter hunt would be more appropriate for younger children. The hunt could take place inside, outside or a combination of both!

GET CREATIVE:

1. Kids can be put into teams to add an element of competition
2. Smaller prizes could be found at each clue
3. The scavenger hunt could have a theme and the children could dress up
4. Clues could involve images, codes, puzzles or photographs
5. Each clue could have a piece of information that they have to keep hold of and will assist them in the final clue
6. Clues could become more difficult as the hunt continues

CHILDREN’S ACTIVITY 8: MAKE A PAPIER-MACHE MASK

Papier-mache mask making is a great excuse to get messy! It’s also a great way to get creative and come up with new and interesting mask ideas. For starters you could try different animals, abstract masks, Venetian masquerade style masks, different types of human faces or spooky Halloween masks for that time of year.

TO DO THIS YOU WILL NEED:

1. Newspaper torn into strips of 1 inch x 6-7 inches in size
2. An inflated balloon
3. A large mug wrapped in cling film to balance the balloon on
4. Create a sticky paste using one part flour to two parts water. Mix it to get the lumps out.

HOW TO MAKE IT:

1. Dip the newspaper strips in the sticky paste and layer over the balloon being sure to leave eye holes or a mouth hole as desired
2. Once dry, apply a second layer and leave to dry completely
3. Next, you can add features like a long nose using a toilet tube, eyebrows using foil secured with masking tape, ears, horns or whatever you like!
4. Add a further layer of newspaper over the top of these features and leave to dry
5. Once it’s all dry, you can pop the balloon through one of the eye holes
6. Paint the mask and leave to dry!
7. Finally, make some small holes at the sides of the mask and feed some thread through so it’s easy to tie onto the face

Why not take some photos of your children wearing their masks or you could even get them making the masks so they can put on a little performance or even create their own play!

CHILDREN’S ACTIVITY 9: HAVE YOUR FACE PAINTED

At most fetes, festivals and local events you’ll find a face painter doing a great job of turning your child into a tiger or a woodland fairy. However, this is something anyone can have a go at!

Your local fancy dress shop should have a selection of face paints for you to choose from. Depending on the costume you’re going for, you’ll probably need a base colour like orange for a tiger or green for The Hulk. You can get single pallets of these primary colours that can easily be spread across the whole face with a sponge. Then you will need some smaller pots or face paint crayons in different colours to do the details. If you buy pots, don’t forget the paintbrush to apply it!

Did you miss Part 1 and 2? Click here to read Part 1, and click here for Part 2!