My family (3 adults and a child) is planning a mid-May trip to New York. We're not into the whole tourist thing, and have already gotten great ideas for things to see and do from other posts. (Thanks!) Now I'm putting together a "treasure hunt" that will keep my son occupied during the "dull" times (like MomaQNS and when mom is shopping ;-)

I plan to list things he can find (see, smell, taste, hear) and check off, maybe with milestones and prizes (check off 5 things, get a pretzel.) I've got the obvious/easy things -- have any NYC treasures to add to the list? I'm looking for things that will make him take notice of his surroundings, think about the details, enjoy himself (and refrain from whining ;-)

Many thanks!

Gokatgo,

Unfortunately, I've never visited New York so can't give you any ideas. But I wanted to say that it is a great idea to design a treasure hunt (or scanvenger hunt) for kids when going on vacation. I put together a scavenger hunt list of 25 items for my nieces the last time we were in Florida - they REALLY got into it.

So I'm topping this message for you, because I know there are a lot of people on this board who could give you some great ideas!

Hi gokatgo,
I'm not sure what the obvious things you have are, but some of the ones that occurred to me are:
Chestnut roasting on an open fire
Horse drawn carriages
yellow cabs
subway entrances
street musicians/performers
the lions "statues" at the main library
gargoles on buildings
rooftop gardens/community gardens
playgrounds
multi-dog dog walkers
gas stations


Have fun. I think your treasure hunt is a great creative idea.

Go to www.gocitykids.com and click on NYC to see what NYC kids will be doing during that time. The Museum of Natural History, Met, etc. often have great activities for kids. Plus he could see what his peers are doing. Chelsea Piers has great sports activities.

Things from books he might have read --

Where did James and the Giant Peach land?

Is this the neighborhood where the Indian in the cupboard lives?

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Give him a camera -- disposable ones work fine -- for him to use to take NYC back home with him.

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How many ways do new Yorkers get around. Feet, skateboards, bus, subway, tour bus, ferry boat, bicycles, unicycle????, etc.

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Use the camera to take pictures of letters on signs that spell out his name, one picture / one letter at a time.

BAK

What a fabulous idea! We're going to Boston in April and I'll try to get a treasure hunt together for my daughter! As for NY, of course it depends on where you'll be but see if he can find:

- sweet smell of a Honey Nuts cart
- smell of horses, either the carriage horses or Claremont Stables on the Upper West Side or Central Park riders
- signs in Spanish, French, Russian, Chinese (or Japanese or Korean), Greek, etc.
- eat a bagel with a shmear and lox, slice of pizza from a pizza place with a man's name (Ray's, Sal's, John's, etc. - or find a sign for a Ray's Pizza), Japanese fast food ramen noodles, a hot dog with a papaya drink (found at any Gray's Papaya - must eat standing up)
- find the Empire State Building when lit up at night (see if you can find out or figure out why it's in those colors that night)
- look for bike messengers, policemen on horse, doubledecker sightseeing bus, carousel (Central Park or Bryant Park), where they drop the ball on New Year's Eve
- see if you can still get a subway token (I have no idea whether you still can in these days of Metrocards) or subway or bus map
- if you're walking around Central Park, find the statues of Alice in Wonderland, Hans Christian Andersen or Balto (the dog)

Have fun and let us know how the visit went!

That is such a cute idea! But your son isn't going to be "scavaging" by himself, right? (there goes my motherly instinct again!) If so, a good idea is to give him a cell phone to keep in touch!

A visit to Grand Central Station might offer enough for a scavenger hunt of its own. Plenty of nooks, crannies, connecting tunnels, and levels to explore. A lesson in schedules, ticket-buying, map-reading. A very small transit museum with small exhibits and subway-themed mementos. Some possibilities:
-see constellations on the starry ceiling
-see the "dirt" rectangle on the ceiling that shows the color of the paint and stonework before the recent renovation
-see people on the glass wlkways between the large windows
-listen in opposite whispering corners under the arched ceiling in front of the Oyster Bar
-see, hear, smell trains arriving and departing
-taste lunch at one of the lower-level food court options
You will have a great time.

When I take my children (9 and 7) to art museums I research the museums' collections via the web in advance. Then I create BINGO cards for each kid listing artists' names in the spaces. The first to get a bingo picks out a treat/prize (something minor). This worked well at the zoo recently too. Though eventually they were so into the animals they lost interest in the game.

A similar idea to Mommar's. Buy some postcards in the museum gift shop (let your son select some or all of them). He can look for the art work on the postcards during your time at the museum.

The postcards in the museums is a great idea - BUT! We let our kids pick out postcards during a recent trip, and my son was in tears after finding that the Japanese lithograph postcard that he'd picked out was not on display at the museum. So make sure the postcards they pick out are actually out for viewing!

Other treasure hunt sorts of things: how many forms of transportation can you take? (Lots, in a city like NYC.)

Have him note different kinds of food than you get back home, especially at ethnic restaurants if you don't have them in your hometown.

Here's a few ideas for your "Treasure Hunt":

•Greenwich Village Mews (between Fifth Ave. & University, between Eighth Street and Washington Square Park North)
•Washington Square Arch (they also sell lots of t-shirts with the arch on it on Bleeker Street between 5th & 6th -- I'm not clear if your "Treasure Hunt" involves buying actual "treasures" or finding places).
•Boat Pond in Central Park (featured in "Stuart Little" -- at least in the book, I didn't see the movie)
[There are also lots of interesting statues in Central Park one could "find" -- check your guide books]
•Ghandi statue (in Union Square park)
•Waldorf Astoria Hotel (great lobby walk-through)
•Grand Central Station ceiling
•Brooklyn Bridge (and then you can walk across at least some of it)
•Woolworth Building (unbelievable lobby) - Broadway just South of City Hall
•ESPN-Zone at Times Square
•Star Magic Space Age Gifts (Broadway and Eighth Street & 85th St. & Lexingon Ave.) - the name says it all
•Forbidden Planet (great science fiction bookstore, if he's into that sort of thing) - Broadway & 12th Street
•Irish Potatoe Famine memorial in Battery Park City - kind of a cool design which might intrigue an 11-year old, if he's into exploring odd things

Anyway, that's all I can think of off the top of my head. A bit difficult not knowing what your particular 11 year old finds interesting. It's a great idea -- good luck with it.

Based on this thread, I put together the following treasure hunt for our 6yo. It was good to have something for him to look out for as we walked around. There were prizes after 10 and 20 items. In the end I think we found 23 out of the 24 things during our 4 day visit.

Yellow cab, Subway entrance, Street musicians/performers, Animal statue: lion, dog, other?, Rooftop garden, Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Horses, either carriage horses or riders in the park, Signs in Spanish, French, Russian, Chinese (or Japanese or Korean), Greek (any 3 of these), Eat a bagel, or a hot dog with a papaya drink (Gray's Papaya - must eat standing up!), Walk/ Don�t Walk crossing signs, Statue of Liberty, Multi-dog dog walkers, Jogger with baby in buggy, Sweet smell of a Honey Nuts cart, The Empire State Building when lit up at night, Bike messenger, Window cleaner, Chrysler Building, Ship or boat on the river, Policeman on horse or bicycle, Doubledecker sightseeing bus, US flag,
Neon advertisments in Times Square, In Central Park, find the statues of Alice in Wonderland, Hans Christian Andersen or Balto the dog.

Many thanks for the suggestions!

Don't leave us hanging Ruth - - what was the item you didn't find? I'm guessing chestnuts roasting on an open fire.

You're right!! I guess we were too late in the year.

ttt

This is such a fun thread!

It gives me some great ideas for my own son. At 2 years old, he's a little young right now, but in a couple of years I bet he'll get into the idea of a scavenger hunt with great gusto.

An I Love NY t-shirt

Topping for Soled

Thanks Eva, lots of really great stuf here!