Make a Treasure Map

February 13, 2021 / By Anthony Hickling / Daily Dose

Have an adventure and make your own Treasure Map!
If you try as a family: Have one person create a treasure map. This can be in your neighborhood or in an outdoor open space. Encourage the map creator to use unique landmarks (large trees, rocks that have a particular shape, funny looking flower, etc). Draw out a map with starting and ending points and be sure to add lots of detail in between. Leave something fun at the end. Give your map to friends or family and have them try to follow your map until the end. Did they travel the path according to the map and arrive at the end spot? What were the most helpful tools from your map? Where do they get off of the path?

If you try this alone: walk along and create a map of an area you are not familiar with. Without words, how would you create a map with distinguishable landmarks so a stranger could follow your path? Try to orient your map with the directions and be sure to use landmarks that will not move.

More about the newsletter:
This summer we will continue offering inspirations for fun and safe ways to get outside. We will be sharing our “Daily Dip” on Mondays and our “Weekend Wilding” on Fridays. 

Daily Dips are a way to take your connection deeper with little time needed from you and your family. It is a small activity to do Monday – Friday to practice healthy habits and notice consistent patterns to build your relationship with the natural world. And don’t worry – even if you only get to it one day a week, it can still improve your mental and physical health.

The Weekend Wilding will be a bigger adventure of exploration and discovery, encouraging you to open your curiosities and bring a smile to your face.

Other resources:
If you’re still hungry for nature connection ideas, we plan to continue updating our resource portal with more crafts, games, stories, recipes and more. If you have ideas for ways to continue filling that portal with helpful resources, let us know!