Treasure Hunt

Scavenger Hunts, Treasure hunts, whichever you want to call them, there's no questioning that they're fun to do! However, making them yourselves isn't always easy, especially if you want to make multiple different ones or you want them to be a little more complex than your average treasure hunt game. So when treasure.run reached out wanting to team up on a post I was super excited. Here's  the one that I tried from treasure.run. What I think is great is that they have many different puzzles, and you can pick what your 6 clues get to be.  Keep reading for a chance to win your own free game! 

These are perfect for a rainy summer day, cabin fever winter day, summer play, birthday party, or whenever you want.

To start off with what I really liked about this site is that you can pick where I wanted the 6 clues to be. From the beginning making this game was very personable. There are many possibilities of clues and you can make custom ones, but they help you out with places you can start like your mailbox, garage, sink, carpet, couch, trampoline, floor lamp, or microwave. After you pick your 6 clues you are able to then pick the order you want them to be played. If you like the order you picked them in you can leave it or if you want to rearrange them you have the option to which is easily done by just moving the square symbols around. 

From there you continue onto the actual clues. Not only are you able to pick the order of the clues, but you are also able to pick what you want the clues to be.  There are 5 easier ones and 4 harder ones.  What's nice about this is you can gear it to what works for the kids or adults you are making the treasure hunt for.   You are able to change each clue if you want and you are able to use the same clue in one game if you'd like.

I played this game with my 3 year old. While she can't read, she still had fun! She loved guessing the clue, even if a couple times she needed a little more guidance. I was surprised to see what she did know, there were a couple she got right away! I would make sure you pick clues that you know your kiddos can do because it's that much more fun for them.  

After you pick the clues you want, its just a couple more clicks and you're done. For what you get I'd say these games are affordable. There are 3 ways to buy, $10.00 for a single game, $20.00 for the Party deal, you get 4 game credits, or $30.00 for 10 game credits. With the 2nd two options you can use the credits whenever and they don't have a expiration date.  Then from there you purchase the games you chose and you can download the game right to your computer. 

One more thing that I appreciated about this company was that when you get the download and you print your clues, they also include a sheet that has the answers, and how to hide the clues.  This was particularly helpful for me because I get a little confused easily as to which one goes where. It made it so simple to hide each clue. 

Other than a couple ways to make it work for you, this game really was fun and even my 3 year old loved it!

Here were a couple of her favorite clues:
1. Mirror; you hold up the paper in the mirror to see the clue.
2. Circle all the blue letters: I'm not sure if it's always blue or if they change the color, but my daughter loves blue so she had a blast pointing out the blue letters and even circling a few herself.
3. Letters fell down; my husband really liked this one.  It's just as it sounds you ,move the letters up to blank spaces and then solve the puzzle.

Finally, a couple things to know to prepare, which they tell you on the site:
1. Some clues need color to help you solve so you will need a color printer for your clues.
2. Some need scissors, or pens to solve, so have them on hand.
3. Allow for time, this isn't your average treasure hunt, kids are going to need a few minutes for each clue.  They say on their site it can be about 60 minutes of fun, about 10 minutes per clue, so plan accordingly.

Here's a little sneak peak of our treasure hunt. 

Check out my facebook page and like or comment for a chance to win your free game!! You can check out my facebook page here or click the facebook icon on the top right side of my page. Winner will be selected at random and I'll reach out via a facebook message to let you know if you've won! Contest is open until 7/17/16 at 5pm CST. Good luck! :) 

Date Night

Ok let's talk date night.  First of all it was so much cheaper before kids!  Now, by the time we figure in babysitting, dinner and whatever else you plan to do it can add up!  Not only that, but my husband and I have to factor in me staying at home now. Where spending money on eating out, going to a movie and then someone to watch our kids used to seem a lot, now it makes us think about what we could spend our money on (or save it rather on) instead.

Now, I have to say date nights are important to marriage.  It is so good for you to get some time alone with your spouse away from the kiddos every so often.  It is worth spending a little money, but it doesn't have to break the bank. I have a few different options that vary in price.

1st: Date Night at home

There are tons of ideas for home date nights on Pinterest.  My husband and I have started trying to hang out more at night together spending more quality time and less just watching T.V. together.  Our new favorite is playing card games. We even keep score in a little notebook. Now, I will say some nights we pair playing cards with watching a T.V. show that we fancy, but some nights we try to stick to just playing cards and talking. It is great to reconnect in this way.  We use to play games in college together and it's fun to do that again as a married couple.

2nd: Date Night out 

So this one my husband and I stumbled upon by accident. We are part of a bible study group that gets together a couple times a month. This happened to us back when we just had Baby Girl. We had set up a babysitter for the night and everything. Then probably about an hour before the sitter came we realized we had the wrong night. We didn't have Bible Study that night, but rather it was the next night. So what were we to do just an hour before? Canceling was an option, yes, but we figured we already had a sitter planned so why not have a date night?  

We ended up just going to Culver's and walking around Walmart, enjoying being able to talk.  This option all we paid for was the sitter and dinner at a fast food resturant.  We didn't need to go do anything that cost a lot, but just enjoyed being able to be together outside of our kids. 

3rd: Date Night Swap 

This is my favorite! Good friends of ours pitched this idea to us about a year ago and we are so glad that we said yes. We alternate date nights each month with a month in between of getting our families together.  For example, this month is my husband and I's date month, March will be theirs and then in April we will get together as families at one of our houses for dinner.  

It's the best of both worlds.  One couple gets a date night with free babysitting, so depending on what you go do the night could be entirely free!  The other couple gets their kids to have a night over at their friends' house for a little bit.  This is what we typically do, let's take this month for example.  Our friends will come over around dinner time with their kids, my husband and I will head out for our date.  When it's bed time, one of the spouses (typically the husband) will take their kids home, while the other (typically the wife) will stay and put our kids to bed.  Then next month we will flip flop.  

It really has been such a great thing added to our lives. We've made it a game/challenge to try and spend little to no money. So other than usually getting dinner we really have almost a free date. In the spring I look forward to going for a walk together in our town or one close by. If you have some close friends, I really suggest this idea, even if you just get out once every couple months for free that's something!