During the game preparation phase, plan a hiding place for each clue. Make a note of the hiding places on the planning sheet then choose how to announce them to the children, using a variety of these options : 

- Use a simple phrase like “your next clue is waiting for you near the swing" (perfect for younger children).

- Pick from among our ready-made riddles further down the article (for children aged 7 years and above).

- Take a photo of the place where the clue is hidden. You can then show the photo to the children on a tablet, computer, TV, smartphone or paper printout.

- Or show one of our pictures of hiding places, which you can download by clicking here.

- You can choose to send the children off to look for clues in small groups (1, 2 or 3). This allows all the children to take part and stops the same ones always finding the clues.

Ideas for hiding places

Hosepipe : I can slither like a snake and spit out water

Cushion : Soft accessory used as a weapon in fights

Letterbox : The post passes through my belly

Drawer : Sliding storage

Slide : Did you know that I’m also called a chute?

Coat rack : I can be free-standing or wall-mounted, and things hang on me

Tree : My many arms hold birds and squirrels

Chair : My four feet help you rest

Swing : On me, children try to reach the clouds

Table : I have four feet, but I am not an animal

Parasol : The sun burns less strongly under my protection

Under the rug : You walk on it, but look underneath instead

Flowerpot  : I come in all shapes and sizes and hold plants and flowers

Aquarium : My inhabitants speak the language of bubbles

Under a stone : Lift this stone to find me

Under a bed : Well hidden, I listen to snoring

Hole in the wall : This little hole in the wall is my hiding place

Book : My leaves never change colour

Window : Allows light to enter the house

Broom : I am bristly and some fly on me in the sky

Gate : Open, closed, I let people through

Piano : Black and white, to hammer a melody

Door : Silently I open and close like a mouth

Bath : In the bathroom, my name contains a flying animal

Wheelbarrow : Tool for a handyman or gardener with one wheel

Fridge : It is a bit less cold here than at my big cousin’s

Tap : If you do not switch me off, I will flood the whole world

Doormat : Shoes trample on me!

Vegetable plot : Things grow here, before being picked and eaten

Radiator : Cold when it is hot, but hot when it is cold

Car wheel : Save me before I get run over

Television : Colour was one of my biggest innovations

Shed : A house for people with green fingers

Shoe : They always walk in twos

Hedge/Fence : I can separate you from your neighbour or the road

Telephone : At the end of the line

Buried box : I have been buried! Dig to find me

Under the keyboard : Modern object with keys

Hanging from... : Look up to find me

Hidden under... : Find me, I’m under cover

Entrust the clue to an adult present. Explain to the children that a person present will hand over the clue in exchange for a password invented by you.

Hide the clue in a balloon, blow it up, and then hide it among other balloons, which the children have to burst to find the clue.