Looking for a reason to get the whole family outside to explore?

Lou Likes: Treasure Trails (www.treasuretrails.co.uk)

My sister-in-law first got us into Treasure Trails when she sent my oldest one for his birthday a few years ago.

With each one a different theme, these brilliant treasure hunts will get the whole family thinking, really noticing what’s around them and exploring new areas (without noticing they are actually walking!).

Buy them as a paper copy or buy and download them then answer the questions by walking (or in some cases cycling) to the various clues.  They are challenging (I will confess, I’ve taken advantage of the text-based answer service they provide for a few clues!) and give the whole family a great purpose and reason to explore.

We’ve enjoyed solving clues to crack a code around Surrey’s Box Hill, discovering history we’ve previously walked past in the Cotswolds’ Chipping Campden and loved the cycle-based treasure hunt around London’s Richmond Park.  We’re looking forward to discovering more about Dorking with our next one.  Each one take a good few hours so you can break them up into smaller chunks if you prefer not to do them all in one go.

I think they make a fantastic present (light to send just being a booklet and something a bit different that is not more “stuff”) and there are over 1,000 across the UK so great for holidays or seeing more of your local area.