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Treasure Task: A Fun Way to Teach Kids New Jobs

June 15, 2010 by notjustcute Filed Under: Learning through Play and Experience, Positive Guidance and Social Skills, Uncategorized Leave a Comment

When you’re teaching young children a new set of responsibilities, it can sometimes feel like you’ve suddenly become a task-master, constantly nagging them to hang their coats over here, or get their dishes to the sink, or put their toys away when they’re done.  If you’ve told them once, you’ve told them eleventy million times, right?

Well, here’s a fun game to reinforce some of those new responsibilities.  And this time, you get to be the good guy, not the task-master.  It’s called Treasure Task, and it combines a treasure hunt with practicing these new responsibilities.

Just as with any great treasure hunt, hide the prize and then work backwards with your clues.  Your clues should remind them of their responsibilities and give them an opportunity to practice.  Here are a few examples:

Where do toys go when you’re done playing?  Put away 2 toys.

Where does garbage go?  Find some garbage to throw away.

Where do your shoes go when you come home?  Straighten your shoes.

Where do your teeth get cleaned?  Brush and rinse.

As the children complete the task, they find the next clue because it is hidden in that toy cupboard or on the garbage can and so on.

This activity helps to really teach these new responsibilities, rather than simply assume the children already know how to complete them.  As you join in the hunt with your children, you’ll notice if they really don’t know where the garbage can is or if their toy shelf is actually too high for them to put toys away independently.

This activity can also be really great when you’re working with children in a new environment- whether that’s a new classroom, or a new home.  You can play a Treasure Task game to orient them to their new surroundings.

Enjoy turning your child’s work into play!

Photo by Kriss Szkurlatowski.

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Comments

  1. 1

    nikkibrewer24 says

    June 15, 2010 at 4:40 pm

    awesome game…especially for the start of a new year~

    Reply
  2. 2

    Catherine says

    June 15, 2010 at 5:33 pm

    What a fun teaching game – thank you for sharing it.

    Reply
  3. 3

    Amy says

    June 15, 2010 at 8:02 pm

    That is a great idea! I can’t wait to try it!

    Reply
  4. 4

    wendy says

    June 16, 2010 at 5:07 am

    BRILLIANT!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. The Preschool Pirate « Not Just Cute says:
    July 15, 2010 at 1:30 am

    […] a Treasure Hunt, or play this Treasure Task game!  Following those clues builds cognitive skills and really helps children get into the role of […]

    Reply

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I’m Amanda Morgan. Here’s what I’m about…

In early education, there is too much distance between what we know and what we do. I bridge the gaps that exist between academia, decision-makers, educators, and parents so that together, we can improve the quality of early education while also respecting and protecting the childhood experience.

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