Activities for a Mayflower Treasure Hunt

Dress for the Hunt

• The Pilgrim clothes many people think--buckled shoes, tall hats and black and white jackets, pants and dresses--were not actually what the Pilgrims wore on a day-to-day basis. The Pilgrims liked to wear colors and used dyes on their clothes. A simple costume for the girls in the hunt might include a solid colored, long-sleeve blouse, a solid skirt that falls to the ankles, black slip-on shoes and a white bonnet. For boys, a button-down shirt, khaki pants cut to just below the knee, knee-high dress socks and black shoes provides a Pilgrim look.

The Map

• Every treasure hunt needs a map and, in this case, it's a seafaring on. The Pilgrims sailed on the Mayflower, leaving Southampton, England, intending to land in Northern Virginia. They came close, using maps and compasses.

  For your Mayflower treasure hunt map, use a piece of cream or light brown construction paper. Draw the map details in black permanent marker. Decorate the edges of the map with pictures of sea monsters. Be sure to draw a compass rose in one corner. Lightly spritz the map with water and crumple in into a ball. Then lay it out flat, making sure to not smooth out too many wrinkles, until dry. Rub the side of a brown crayon over the tops of the wrinkles for an aged look.

The Clues

• Use the map to give the direction each participant should walk, but use Mayflower quiz questions to reveal how many paces in each direction they should go. At each stop on the map, have a small prize, such as a piece of candy, and a trivia question with a number as an answer. That number is how many paces participants should take to find the next stop on the map. Some ideas for questions include:

  How many days did the voyage across the Atlantic ocean take? (66)

  Add together the four digits of the year the Pilgrims set sail. (1620 = 9)

  How many passengers did the Mayflower leave England and arrive in America with? (102)

Prizes

• No treasure hunt is complete without prizes. At each stop on the map, provide a small, hidden treat such as a toy ring or piece of candy. The final stop of the hunt should contain the largest treasure. Purchase a small cardboard treasure chest or decorate a box with plastic rhinestones and sequins and add your treasure. Some ideas include the book "Mayflower Treasure Hunt" by Ron Roy or Ann McGovern's "If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620," Mayflower model kits or compasses.