Family Reunion Activities: Maximize the Bonding at Your Family Reunion with an Exciting Treasure Hunt!

• Base the hunt on a selected theme. You can incorporate elements of tropical islands, pirates and ships in a more traditional sense. Or, you can choose something non-traditional like an Alice In Wonderland adventure. There are no rules - just have fun!
• Allow your family members to explore the history of the clan as they try to discern the locations of the treasures. Base the clues on family facts that will help everyone to learn about everyone else. Try to make the clues obscure and bring out interesting facts about relatives that are sure to be remembered.
• Bring the family together by assigning random teams to locate the treasures. The whole point is to get to know each other - right? You don’t want everyone just sticking together in the small groups that they arrived with. Encourage random team efforts to remind all that this family is one big team that acts together!
• Planning is very important. Spend ample time on the telephone with various family members before the reunion. Uncover little known and interesting family facts to base your treasure hunt clues on. Especially spend time talking with the family seniors. This will help everyone to remember their heritage as the years pass.
• Remember that the actual “treasures” do not have to be extravagant. The fun is in the hunt! The more small treasures that you hide and leave clues for - the more fun for all. Include a lot of small treasures to give everyone a chance to at least uncover something.
• Make sure to place treasures for the young - and the elderly. Everyone likes to find treasure! Encourage all participants (in private) to not touch certain treasures - leave them for the children and the seniors.
• You can entice your treasure hunting family members further with “gold” coins that are available in almost every toy store. These types of inexpensive props will go a long way towards setting the proper mood and making the hunt real - especially in the minds of the children.
• Plant a “Main Treasure” somewhere that is actually very challenging to uncover. It could be a true bounty of actual cash! If everyone contributes just a dollar or so, the loot can be quite pleasing to discover.
• Smaller treasures along the way to the main loot can consist of items like classic family recipes, reprinted traditional photos, small gifts and any other fitting items.
• Keep your family pumped-up for weeks in advance by emailing them little hints to the clues that will be presented in the treasure hunt. By the time they arrive, they will be bursting with energy to begin the hunt - even if they try to act cool about it!

Remember that the true treasure in any family reunion treasure hunt is the togetherness that is created. The whole purpose is to get to know those family members that you never have - and to instill a general base of family knowledge in all participants. Even if there are members that will not be seen until next year’s reunion, they will be left with a sense of belonging and love that cannot be shaken.

Happy Treasure Hunting!

Image Credit: WhiteAfrican