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Our scavenger hunt for Christmas gifts always gets an eye roll at first… but the kids love it and when asked about skipping last year, they both looked at us as if we were crazy! We love this holiday tradition and will continue it until the day we can’t do it anymore.
Update: You can find clues and rules for our scavenger hunt here:
Making Present Time Last Longer With A Holiday Scavenger Hunt for Christmas Gifts
This Christmas, we did it a little different.
Instead of tearing open packages non-stop on Christmas morning, we thought we would slow it down a bit.
With a Christmas scavenger hunt!
For an extra 30 minutes of work (thinking up clues, printing, cutting, and placing the clues), it was completely worth it.
The boys woke up at 4:40 on Christmas morning.
We promptly sent them back to bed.
They woke up again at 8 (which is more our speed), and we opened stockings and gifts with Grandma Teetsie and Papa on the webcam.
After the packages were open, the boys looked on the walls next to the tree and found clues. One for Michael and one for Jack.
Please excuse my cell phone picture :)
“Mom and Dad love you so much. Your next clue is on the hutch!”
And they’re off!
“Want to find your last present? Go look where you take a bath!”
The gifts that were part of the scavenger hunt were at the top of the boy’s lists. It was kind of fun to see them open all of their presents and then find out that they each had one more special one left.
We had the boys looking in the bathtub, inside Daddy’s truck, on top of ceiling fans, in the fire pit, and inside the Christmas tree.
It was a blast. I don’t want to bog you down with pictures of every clue, but here are some:
“One last gift before it’s done. We’ll make sure this is lots of fun! Your next clue is under the place where you eat dinner.”
“You found this clue with all the pens. Your next clue is in the den. Look up high. Are you hot?”
“I want to make breakfast, but can’t turn on the heat! If I do, I’ll melt your treat!”
“Back inside the house you go! You need to use your really long arms for the next clue. Find the cactus skeleton and look down its throat!”
“Your next clue can be found by the sidewalk on the ground.”
“Santa doesn’t want brothers to fight,
For your next clue, look where the fire is bright.”
“Go find your gift in the best hiding place in the house… if you can fit in there!”
Next year? We’re definitely doing another holiday scavenger hunt (or two).
I think it would be great for Christmas Eve pajamas, too.
I think we have found a new tradition!
What a wonderful idea! So much fun. I think I will have to try this out when my son is a little older. :)
Oh my gosh! So much fun!! I think I’ll adopt this for next year!
so fun!! We’re only done this a couple times with family when the presents are too large to wrap and put under the tree. Love the idea of making it a tradition!! Thanks. :)
LOVE this idea! What fun!
Fun! Thanks for sharing… it makes it almost like we were able to be there with you guys! Love you all!
What a great idea. You are just the smartest person. You def. have to remind people again of this early next year so they can prepare.
My clue for you would be get in your truck and have good luck – go to the airport and be a good sport. Your brother comes in at around 4 p.m. you can keep him till God knows when. (tehe)
Ha. ha. hahahahahahahahhahahahahahahha!
I’m curious. Did one of Michael’s clues lead him to a cellphone? Merry Christmas to all!
That is a pretty cool idea! I will have to keep that in mind for sure!
That’s very cool! As you know, I did a scavenger hunt as well for my mom. She loved it! I’ll be blogging about that soon.
The easter bunny has done this but Santa never thought to do that here.
What a cute idea! I love it!
I would love a copy of the clues. This looks like a lot of fun. Please email me! Thanks
I’m researching indoor plants and this really helped me!