Punxsutawney Phil seems to have been right this year.  When he poked his head out of his groundhog hole on February 2nd, and saw his shadow, we were indeed in for another 6 weeks of winter.

Well Spring has finally sprung... in most parts of the country anyway.  Time to get your kids out of the house and playing outdoors.  One of my kids' favorite outdoor boredom busters is the backyard treasure hunt.  

Simply throw together a Ziploc bag of "treasures" for the kids to find.  These treasures can be anything.  Buttons, sequins, beads, rhinestones, small figures, bouncy balls, and marbles are but a few ideas.  Then sprinkle the treasures around your yard.

You don't need to cover a large area just some place where they will mix in with the natural outside surrounding.  For example mix them in a walkway of pea gravel, or one area of lawn.  Sometimes I just bury them in our sandbox for hours of treasure hunting fun.

Give each child a plastic or paper cup to collect their loot. When they are finished with the hunt, they can glue their treasures on a piece of construction paper.  Or better yet, have them decorate a shoe box where they can store items found on future treasure hunts.

Another variation is to buy plastic gold coins and hide then all over the yard.  I have the kids find all the coins and then turn them in for a trip to Jamba Juice or Baskin-Robbins.

Don't forget to refill your stash of treasures. This way you can give yourself a 1/2 hour break at a moment's notice.    Now that is the real treasure.

© momready,LLC/Elisa Taub