If there’s one Halloween activity that’s never let us down, it’s a treasure hunt. It costs next to nothing, it works on a rainy October evening, and it turns a bag of sweets into an adventure.
We’ve been doing Halloween treasure hunts since Isabelle was tiny, when her clues were pictures of the fridge and the bath with a sticker of a ghost on them. As she got older, the clues turned into riddles, and these days she’s more likely to be setting the hunt for younger cousins than solving it herself.
To save you the job of writing clues, I’ve put together ready-made sets for three age groups: little ones, primary-age kids and teenagers. Just hide them around the house, and let the spooky fun begin.
How a Halloween treasure hunt works
It couldn’t be simpler. You hand your little monsters the first clue, which leads them to a spot in the house where the next clue is hidden, and so on until the final clue reveals the treasure.
You’ll need:
- Your clues, printed or handwritten
- Somewhere to hide the treasure (a cauldron, a bucket or a box works well)
- The treasure itself (see our prize ideas below)
- Optional: a torch, for playing in the dark
How to set it up: start with the location of the treasure and work backwards. Hide the last clue in the spot the second-to-last clue points to, and so on. Keep the first clue in your hand to give the kids. Most importantly, make a note of where each clue is hidden, as there’s always one that nobody can find!
Halloween treasure hunt clues for toddlers (ages 2–4)
Little ones can’t read riddles yet, so use picture clues instead. Take a photo of each hiding spot, print it out and add a Halloween sticker (a pumpkin, bat or ghost). Your toddler looks at the picture, toddles off to find that spot, and discovers the next picture waiting for them.
Easy hiding spots for picture clues:
- The front door
- Their bed or cot
- The bath
- The fridge
- Their toy box
- The sofa
Keep it short (four or five clues is plenty) and hide the treasure somewhere they love, like their toy box. For an extra giggle, have a grown-up in a sheet waiting at the end with a gentle “boo!”
Halloween riddle clues for kids (ages 5–10)
These rhyming riddles each point to a spot around the house. Hand the kids the first clue, then hide each one in turn in the location the previous riddle describes. The answer is in brackets, so snip that off before you hide them!
Clue 1 (hand to the kids): I’m chilly like a haunted crypt, look where the milk and cheese are kept. (fridge)
Clue 2: I spin around like a witch’s brew, but it’s dirty socks I stir, not you! (washing machine)
Clue 3: Look in me and who do you see? A spooky face staring back at thee! (mirror)
Clue 4: Witches wear pointy ones, black as night; find where we keep ours, left and right. (shoe rack)
Clue 5: I’m full of spells and stories tall; you’ll find me standing by the wall. (bookshelf)
Clue 6: Not a pumpkin, but just as round; look where the apples can be found. (fruit bowl)
Clue 7: Mummies rest in tombs all day; where do we flop to watch TV and play? (sofa)
Clue 8: Fill me with bubbles, not with slime; you’ll find me upstairs at bath time. (bath)
Clue 9: Monsters hide beneath me, some folk say; go and check, but don’t run away! (bed)
Clue 10: Trick or treaters knock on me; open up and the treasure you’ll see! (front door, with the treasure hidden just inside)
Not every house has the same spots, so feel free to swap clues around or skip any that don’t fit. You don’t need all ten; six or seven is plenty for younger ones.
Halloween treasure hunt for teenagers (escape room style)
Teenagers might roll their eyes at a treasure hunt, but turn it into an escape-room challenge and it’s a different story. The trick is to make the clues properly hard, add a time limit, and lock the treasure away so they have to earn it.
Ideas to make it teen-worthy:
Use a padlock. Put the treasure in a box with a 3-digit combination padlock, and hide one digit at the end of each of three puzzle trails.
Write a secret code. Shift every letter one place along the alphabet (A becomes B, B becomes C), so “BATH” becomes “CBUI”. Let them work out the code for themselves.
Try invisible ink. Write a clue in lemon juice or with a UV pen, and leave a torch or UV light nearby as a hint.
Tear up a clue. Cut a clue into jigsaw pieces and hide them in different places.
Harder riddle clues for teens:
- I have keys but open no locks, space but no room, and you can enter but never go inside. (computer keyboard)
- I have a face and two hands but no arms or legs, and I’m always running out. (clock)
- The more of me there is, the less you see. Switch me off and check where you sleep. (darkness, pointing to their bedroom light switch)
- I get wetter the more I dry. (towel)
Add a scary twist. For teens who love a fright (like ours!), switch the lights off, give them a single torch and play spooky sound effects while they hunt.
Halloween treasure hunt prize ideas
The treasure doesn’t have to be expensive. Some of our favourites:
- A cauldron or pumpkin bucket of sweets
- Glow sticks and glow-in-the-dark bracelets
- A Halloween film and popcorn for a family movie night
- Spooky stickers, tattoos or face paints
- A small pumpkin to decorate or carve
- For teens: tickets to a scare attraction, or a takeaway of their choice
Tips for the best Halloween treasure hunt
Play in the dark. Switching the lights off and handing out torches instantly makes it ten times spookier.
Pair up siblings. Mixed-age teams work brilliantly, with older kids reading the riddles and younger ones running to find the clue.
Take it outside. On a dry day, move the hunt into the garden, using the shed, the washing line, a plant pot and the bins as hiding spots.
Keep a cheat sheet. Write down every hiding spot. Trust us.
Make it part of a party. A treasure hunt is the perfect opening game for a Halloween party, and it gets everyone mingling straight away.
If you’re adding candles or lit pumpkins to set the scene, it’s worth reading these Halloween safety tips for families first. Battery tealights are a much safer choice around excited kids in costumes!
Will you be setting up a Halloween treasure hunt this year? Let us know how it goes in the comments, and tag us in your photos!
Looking for more family-friendly Halloween fun? Take the treasure hunt outdoors with a trip to one of the best pumpkin patches around Manchester, where you’ll find everything from toddler-friendly farms to glowing after-dark pumpkin trails.
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