We’ve experimented with a lot of outdoor parties in our woods. Treasure hunts with clues or map, scavenger hunts, and the latest is a simple adventure course to find hidden objects. We aimed our party at 7-8 year olds but it could be adapted to suit younger or older children.
The aim of our party was to keep the kids engaged in the woods for at least 40 minutes before heading to our barn for lunch and cake. We split the group into two teams, with the fastest team to complete the challenge, the winners.
We hid 12 wood slices with pictures on them around the woods. We chose to use Native American Indian symbols for ours as it seemed to fit the theme nicely. We’ve found in the past that kids are incredibly good at finding things you think are well hidden so to make it more challenging, we added some ‘adventure’ elements to the hunt.
It’s worth mentioning, the woods we used belong to us, but everything we did could be recreated in public woods as long as everything is removed after the party. Just ensure the trees and natural environment is respected. Basically, leave everything as you found it.
We hid some of the wood slices up in the trees, only reachable by walking a slack line or climbing up a rope ladder. We also used a camouflage net, hung low to the ground between the trees which the kids had to scramble under to find the slice. We hung dozens of old plastic plant pots from the branches of a tree and the kids had to rummage through to find the pot containing the slice. The most popular element of the hunt was finding the slice hidden among the web of wool. Strung between the trees, the web of wool was simple and cheap to construct but slowed the kids down in their race to win.
Of course the winning team expect a prize so we made medals from some of the excess slices. Everyone who took part got a lolly, and the winners received their medal.
Medals for the winning team 
Things to find
A web of wool to scramble through
Our party was held in early March so we decided to have food and drink in our barn because it was more than likely going to be cold or wet. However, you could just as easily have a big picnic or a BBQ if appropriate.
We made our party bags to look like Tipi’s to work with our Native American inspiration. They were made from simple brown paper bags which we decorated as a family. The kids really enjoyed getting involved with all the details for their party.
Tipi party bags 
Simply Six Acres 