Advent treasure hunt: 24 clues, one a day
Twenty-four riddle cards, numbered 1 to 24, for readers aged 8 to 12. Give one each morning in December and hide a small treat at the place it points to. Below are 3 of the 24 riddles, free to read and use.
The clues are AI-generated. The 3 sample clues on this page are fixed examples: every visitor sees the same three, and every buyer gets the same clues. The full pack costs $9 and is a digital download: nothing is shipped, you print the cards at home.
3 free sample clues from the Kids 8-12 edition
These three clues are taken word for word from the Kids 8-12 edition. Copy them onto paper and try them today.
I've got a spine but not one bone,
I've leaves, yet I was never grown.
With others like me, row on row,
between us is the place to go.
Answer: Bookshelf
I have two hands but cannot clap,
a face that never takes a nap.
I tick and tock the day away,
behind me, find the clue today.
Answer: Behind the wall clock
I've got twelve parts but I'm no clock,
I've numbered days in every block.
In December I'm nearly through,
behind my pages waits a clue.
Answer: Behind the wall calendar
How an advent treasure hunt works
An advent treasure hunt swaps the chocolate-window calendar for a clue a day. There are 24 cards, numbered 1 to 24, one for each morning from 1 December to Christmas Eve. Each card is a four-line riddle that points to a place in your home, and a small treat waits at that place.
- Print and cut the cards once, at the end of November. Keep them in an envelope with the answer key, out of sight.
- Each evening, look up tomorrow's place in the answer key and put the treat there.
- Each morning, hand over that day's card, or leave it on the breakfast table.
- On 24 December the last card leads to the Christmas tree, where the final treat or an early present waits underneath.
What to hide each day
Treats do not need to cost much. A wrapped chocolate, a sheet of stickers, a new pencil, or a paper token for "you choose tonight's film" all work. Flat things are easiest, because several places are tight: behind the wall clock, under the computer keyboard, behind the wall calendar.
Hiding places in this edition
The riddles in the Kids 8-12 edition use wordplay, so the answer takes a moment: something with a spine but no bones, hands that cannot clap, keys that open no door. The places include:
- Bedroom: inside the pillowcase, under the bedside lamp, the wardrobe door handle, under the money box.
- Desk: under the pencil case, taped under the desk, under the keyboard.
- Kitchen: the side of the fridge, beside the bread bin, under the fruit bowl.
- Hall and living room: shoes in the hall, coat pockets on the hooks, the umbrella handle, under the rug, under the top board game box.
Tips for 24 days in a row
If you miss a day, give two cards the next morning. If your home does not have one of the places, such as a bike helmet or a suitcase, write your own riddle for that day on one of the four blank cards. With two children, let them take turns reading the riddle aloud and put two treats at the place.
Clue 1 names the fridge, and its place is the outside: the side of the fridge, with the door shut. Clue 6 is the shower wall, so use it on a morning when the shower is dry. An adult places every treat, and nothing goes inside an appliance or on anything that is hot or running.
Prefer one big hunt? The same cards work as a single chain on Christmas morning: hide card 2 where card 1 points, card 3 where card 2 points, and put the present under the tree.
What is in the $9 pack
One payment of $9 (USD) gets all six editions. It is a digital download: nothing is shipped, and you print the cards at home.
- 6 print-ready HTML files, one per edition: Kids 4-7, Kids 8-12, Teens, Partner, Grandparents, and Family (all ages). Each file is a web page that you open in a web browser and print from there.
- 24 printable clue cards in each edition, numbered 1 to 24 and laid out 4 per sheet with dashed cut lines.
- 4 blank cards in each edition for writing your own clues.
- An answer key in each edition: the clue number, the hiding place it points to, and what to hide there.
- A cover, a how-to-play section and a safety note in each edition.
- A README text file: what is in the pack, how to print, two ways to play, and safety notes.
The name is added by hand. The cover and every card carry a blank "For:" line: print first, then write the name with a pen.
Each edition is laid out for 10 sheets of A4 or US Letter paper. That layout was not test-printed. If a sheet of cards spills onto an extra page, set the print scale to 95%.
The clues are in English. Black-and-white printing is fine.
Get the pack on Gumroad: $9, digital download
AI disclosure
The clues are AI-generated. They are not written individually for each buyer: every copy of an edition contains the same 24 clues. You write the name yourself, by hand, on the "For:" line of the printed cards.
Price and refunds
The price is $9 (USD), paid once on Gumroad, for a digital download. Refunds follow Gumroad's refund policy.
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