Treasure Hunt Map Skills & Landforms Activity {FREE}

Let’s go on a treasure hunt! Recently, we have been exploring map skills with our kids, and came up with a super fun treasure hunt map skills activity that focuses on using maps while exploring landforms at the same time! Maps are such an important aspect of life because they help us understand and connect with the world around us. They introduce ideas like symbols and direction in a tangible way. This activity will allow your students to create their own treasure map using various landforms. Then, they will give clues to help anyone exploring their map find a hidden treasure chest. This was such a hit, that we knew we had to share it with you right away!

Preparing the Treasure Hunt Map Skills Activity

Before you get started, there are a couple things we recommend you do if you haven’t introduced map skills or landforms to your students yet. First, grab a copy of the book Follow That Map! by Scot Ritchie. You can check to see if your local library carries this book too. It is one of the absolute best when it comes to teaching map basics to young learners. This interactive picture book explains key mapping concepts while following a girl named Sally and her friends as they search for Max and Ollie, a mischievous dog and cat. Sally and friends take an imaginative trip through the neighborhood, city and country, around the world and beyond!

We also recommend you check out our Landforms & Map Skills resources. There are both print and digital versions that teach all about various landforms found around the world. We have bundled this unit with our map skills resource that is filled with fun activities that introduce concepts such as reading maps, compass rose, using map grids and so much more!

Let’s Get Started

You will need the following materials to complete this activity with your class:

Making the Treasure Hunt Map

Using the printables provided in our download below, students will choose 6 landforms to color, cut and paste onto their treasure map. Where they chose to place the landforms and in what order is up to them! They should only glue the gray shaded tabs to create flaps that lift up. Then, they cut and paste the little treasure chest and hide it under one of the landforms. The “try again” labels are glued under the other landforms.

Once their maps are complete, they will write 3 clues about where they hid their treasure. We have provided a “Hidden Treasure Clues” page for this part of the activity. Encourage your students to use the cardinal directions (North, East, South, West) and landforms features when writing their clues. The first clue can be more general or vague, while the last two are more specific. Finally, students can share their map with a partner, group or class. These also make for an awesome interactive bulletin board display!

Go on an Actual Treasure Hunt!

One of our favorite things to do to wrap up map skills is to go on a treasure hunt! Hide “treasure” such as small toys, stickers, or a yummy snack in a room or outside area. Another super easy and affordable idea is to spray paint rocks with gold paint. These end up looking like real gold nuggets! Mark the general area where the treasure can be found with an “X”. You can draw a map to hand out to your kids, or draw one up together as a class.

Give clues using cardinal directions, room or land features, riddles or whatever you feel is appropriate for the age and learning level of your little ones. If time permits, you can have students take turns hiding the treasure in different places. After the hunt is over, ask questions like “What features on the map were the most helpful? What would you change?”. This will help your students fine tune their map making skills for the future.

Are you ready to get started on this treasure hunt adventure? Grab your copy of our FREE Treasure Hunt activity by clicking on the “DOWNLOAD HERE” button below. Enjoy!

Looking for more interactive and engaging Landforms and Map Skills activities for your students?

*Go on a Google Earth™ Virtual Field Trip! Read all about it in this blog post.

*Explore one of our best selling resources by clicking on the image below. Available as individual units and money saving bundles!