Christmas treasure hunt for grandparents
Gentle, nostalgic rhymes, with hiding places that can be reached standing or sitting. Below are 3 of the 24 clues, free to read and use, and a guide to running a hunt at an easy pace.
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 Grandparents edition
These three clues are taken word for word from the Grandparents edition. Copy them onto paper and try them today.
I'm warmed, then filled, then left to brew,
I've poured a thousand cups for you.
Lift my lid, I'm dry today,
a little clue is tucked away.
Answer: Teapot
You look for us three times a day
and find us never far away.
Our case snaps shut, it's near your chair,
open it: a clue is there.
Answer: Glasses case
The little ones know where I hide
and what delights I hold inside.
Lift my lid and there you'll see
a folded clue on top of me.
Answer: Biscuit tin
How to run a Christmas treasure hunt for grandparents
Most treasure hunts are written for children, with clues under beds and behind sofas. The Grandparents edition is built the other way round. Its hiding places can be reached standing or sitting, with no crawling and no climbing, and nothing heavier to lift than a teapot lid or a small radio.
- Open the Grandparents file in a web browser, print it and cut along the dashed lines. The cards are laid out four per sheet.
- Keep card 1. Hide card 2 at the place card 1 points to, card 3 at the place card 2 points to, and so on. The answer key lists all 24 places in order. An adult hides the cards; grandchildren make good helpers.
- Put the present at the Christmas tree, which is where card 24 leads. If bending is hard, put it on a chair or a side table next to the tree.
- Hand over card 1 with a cup of tea.
Make the cards easy to read
Each card is a quarter of a sheet. If small print is a problem, give a grandchild the job of reading each rhyme aloud. Clue 3 points to the glasses case: if the glasses are needed to read the cards, lay that card on top of the case and leave the glasses out.
Hiding places in this edition
- By the favourite chair: down the side of the armchair, the glasses case, beside the television, under the radio, beside the clock.
- Kitchen: the teapot, the biscuit tin, the bread bin, the fruit bowl, the recipe book, behind the kitchen calendar, under the tablecloth.
- Keepsakes: the photo album, the sewing box, the bookcase, the letter rack.
- Around the house: the window sill, the linen cupboard, a coat pocket, the dressing gown pocket, the bedside table drawer, by the telephone.
Their house or yours
The rhymes talk about the grandparent's own things: "Your favourite seat", "a thousand cups for you". The hunt works best in their home. If they are visiting you, pick the cards whose places exist in your house and skip the rest, or write a replacement clue of your own on one of the four blank cards.
Keep the pace gentle
Do not time it. Eight to ten cards make a relaxed half hour; all 24 can be spread over an afternoon with a break in the middle. Keep walking routes clear of wrapping paper and trailing cables, and switch the lights on in the hall and on the stairs. The teapot card goes in only when the pot is empty, dry and cool, and the television card stands beside the set, not on it.
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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