How to organize a gift search quest?

A holiday is always a long-awaited event that you want to make bright and memorable. On this day, it is important not just to give a gift, but to charge the hero of the occasion with energy and positive emotions. Therefore, the quest to find a gift is an ideal option for those who are tired of the monotonous annual greetings. If you give even the most ordinary thing in an interesting way, it will bring much more joy.

There are a huge number of options for conducting quests. The location of the “missing” presents can be found from the notes hidden at the stations, determined with the help of puzzles, found on the map, parts of which must first be collected and combined, and in many other ways that your imagination is enough for.

The number of stations, that is, parts of the quest, can vary from 4 to 10-15, depending on the complexity of the tasks. Do not make too simple and short a path to a gift, because a person will not have time to feel the excitement. But do not stretch the entertainment for several hours - the birthday person and guests may simply get tired. For a mini-quest, it is better to use more complex tasks, and for a long quest, on the contrary, connect measurements of the speed of completing tasks.

Before you start organizing, carefully consider the possibilities of your budget, as some quests can be quite expensive.Some people specifically order a courier service to deliver a task or buy expensive props. However, in most cases, you can do the improvised means at a low cost for stationery or print photos. Below is a list of things that may be variably needed for various quests. You can choose from them those that are more suitable for your plan:

• color cardboard;
• paper (plain or packaging);
• scotch tape (single or double sided);
• scissors;
• boxes of different sizes;
• markers or colored pens;
• Balloons;
• flash drive and computer;
• newspapers (letters or sentences can be highlighted in them);
• illustration pictures;
• photos (with a gift place or the following stations);
• cellular telephone;
• glue;
• color stickers.

This list can be expanded as far as your imagination is enough. You can print ready-made assignments or write them by hand on beautiful paper blanks. If you decide to make a card for your home scenario, it can be artificially aged with coffee mortar or milk. It can also be flashed around the edges with a flame from a match, burner or lighter. However, be careful: paper flares up quickly.

Regardless of the venue of the holiday, You need to consider several important steps for organizing the quest.

1. Choose an unobvious place where to hide a gift so that the birthday man does not accidentally look in there while passing stations.
2. Carefully plan each station (stage) that should not intersect so that the hero of the occasion does not accidentally miss a few steps. The answers to riddles need to be made unambiguous and not overly complicated, since you are planning a holiday, not an erudite Olympiad. If a person does not cope with the tasks, he will be disappointed, and not happy.
3. Consider a system of additional tips on finding a gift, if you still decide to do non-obvious tasks.
4. Prepare the props in advance. Do not put off this interesting lesson and think over all sorts of unforeseen circumstances.
5. Calculate the time as accurately as possible. If you independently organize a quest to find a gift at home before the guests arrive, it will be inconvenient if they come in the midst of fun. In the office, time can be limited to a lunch break, and on the street to nightfall.

If the birthday boy lives in this apartment, it will be much more difficult to arrange a quest. It is necessary to lure him out of the house under some pretext in order to establish the scenery. And you can also do this early in the morning, before awakening the hero of the occasion. In this case, choose non-obvious places that he will not declassify immediately after lifting (sink, toilet, closet with clothes or a refrigerator). Conversely, if you want to hold an event right away, leave the first riddle in one of these places.

When everything is ready, go to one of the options.

• Give the birthday party the first assignment to receive a gift. Further, the quest will develop along the chain: it will follow the prompts from one station to another, each of which will have information about the next (for example, “follow where the treasure is stored” - to the pantry; “find the highest cliff in this kingdom” - mezzanines of the highest cabinet). Riddles can be rhymed.
• Attach a piece of map to the finder that points to the next place.With each new stage he will find new fragments of the map leading to the treasure. But also you can give a whole map, marks on which he will have to put himself, solving puzzles. Do not forget to prepare for the treasure hunter a marker and other necessary requisites.
• You can independently ask questions that will help in the search for a gift. For example, put the prize in many boxes of different sizes, which can be opened after the correct answers. This option is good in a limited area, where it’s hard to hide and look for a gift.

The main thing for the quest in the office is to create a festive mood for all employees. To do this, you can give them holiday caps in advance or even use them at the stations. It will be more fun if a large number of colleagues participate in the organization of the event. Think ahead of time, convenient for all, that will not interfere with the main work.

In the office, you can use improvised stationery to create props. There is more space than in the apartment, which facilitates the planning of stations. The best option would be to attach each of them to an employee who will have to give a hint, riddle or piece of the map, leading to the next step. You can search for clues in different rooms, under the table or behind the blinds, in flower pots and other accessible places. However, do not put them in the drawers of the birthday table, because this can be regarded as a manifestation of bad taste.

The most intriguing will be the quest on the street, as you will have more options for preparing stations. However, check the weather forecast before carrying out so that the fun does not spoil the rain or snowfall. Choose daylight hours as it’s harder to find clues in the dark. Then follow some simple steps.

1. Think of stations in familiar territory so that the seeker does not get lost.
2. Find places where you can hide riddles. It can be a hollow in a tree or a crack in the facade of a building. It is better if the tasks will be given by a specially appointed person: so you will be sure that they will not be carried away by the wind and curious children will not pick them up.
3. Find reliable people who are ready to come in advance. You can connect sellers of shops, security guards and other people who will be in place and agree to play along.
4. Draw a map that pretty accurately displays the stations. Instead, you can use photos of the right places. Make sure that the culprit of the event recognizes them.
5. Consider whether the birthday person will go through the station himself or with an accompanying assistant. It’s good if someone takes pictures of what is happening on camera, so that in the future the shooting will return on a joyful day.

Quests can be arranged for both children and adults. It will be a fascinating surprise in a comic form for a husband, wife, beloved father and mother, friend or colleague. You can arrange it for a birthday, anniversary of the relationship and another significant event, the options and nuances of the event will depend on it.

The scenario can be prescribed depending on the person’s hobby. Perhaps now or in his youth he was fond of fantasy. Then prepare him a fabulous journey through Middle-earth or Narnia. If you like cars, arrange a race against the clock at the stations. Plant flowers - give a flower for each correct answer.

For fans of crosswords and charades, you can create your own crossword or rebus, the keyword of which will be the main clue. There can be many examples, the main thing is to create a festive spirit.

At the stations you can use mini-games: involving cards, decoding abbreviations for speed, rhyming answers or solving puzzles. But do not overload the player so that he feels excitement, not fatigue. For several participants, you can arrange mini-contests, but make sure that no one feels left out, because this is not a competition.

Even if your quest is not grand, believe me, it will bring all participants positive emotions and leave fond memories. Perhaps this way of presenting a gift will even become your family or friendly tradition.

On how to organize a quest to find a gift, see below.