A Secret Treasure Walk

Originally published 4/05/2011 at explorealongtheway.com

This activity is a slight variation on the scavenger hunt and it can be included along with other activities the children may engage in while walking. At the beginning of your walk, tell your child or children that they want to look for a secret treasure. This treasure is not something that they will pick up. In fact, it doesn’t have to be something that someone could see or touch; it may be something that the child can hear or smell.

The key element of the secret treasure is that, whatever it is, it should be something that makes the child smile.

Another fundamental aspect to this activity is that when the child (or adult) notices their secret treasure, they should keep it secret and not point it out to other people. This item or experience should not be something the kids have on a scavenger hunt list. In fact, they shouldn’t be expecting to find it at all. It is this unexpected quality that makes it a treasure.

For example, on this morning’s walk the ground was wet and many earthworms were scattered over the sides of the road. I was walking along, alone, and watching that I wasn’t stomping on the still wriggling creatures (I have an odd fondness for earthworms – oftentimes, I’ll pick up worms and set them back onto soil). Then, I noticed in the sand, leftover from the icy winter weather, random curving lines that created a crackle pattern in the damp sand.

Obviously I was looking at the numerous trails of earthworms, far more tracks than even the quantity of earthworms I’d seen on the road could have made. In the warm, wet dark of the previous night the earthworms crept above ground rejoicing in the return to spring and the fact that they were no longer trapped under the frozen topsoil.

As I am sharing my secret treasure at the end of my walk, so you and your children can share your secret treasures. It doesn’t matter if more than one person treasured the same object or experience (since the item stays in nature we can share the memory). We may become jealous of another’s observations (only one person saw the hawk overhead) and it challenges us to sharpen our observation skills the next time.