Ideas and competitions for a New Year”s quest

For kids and families, the New Year is a magical time that is full of fun and excitement. Setting up a New Year’s quest is a wonderful way to add even more special touches to the celebration. It’s a fun activity that unites people and promotes cooperation and creativity.

One can customize a New Year’s quest to suit their space and number of participants, regardless of whether they are hosting a small get-together at home or a larger event. Kids will love creating an unforgettable experience with a few easy ideas and friendly competitions.

There are lots of ways to maintain the excitement level, like treasure hunts and games that require solving puzzles. The quest is exciting and ensures that all ages can participate in the fun by including a variety of challenges and tasks.

A New Year’s quest offers an exciting blend of games, competitions, and challenges that both kids and adults can enjoy, making it a creative and enjoyable way to get the whole family together during the holiday season. These activities enhance the interaction and memorability of the celebration, ranging from team-based competitions and festive puzzles to scavenger hunts throughout the house. Families can make their New Year’s Eve an adventure full of laughs and special moments spent together by incorporating a little holiday magic into each task.

How to organize a home quest?

A quest is a game where the object is to find gifts. First and foremost, you must conceal the gift. We now consider the path: we create a series of locations that the player must traverse. The majority of the locations in a home quest will be found inside apartments. The ideal number is between six and ten of them. You have tasks to finish or clues to find in each location.

Types of quests

Depending on what the player finds at each "station," quests can change.

• Notes. This is the simplest version of the quest, which does not require long preparation. Each note indicates where the next one is hidden, and the last one leads the players to the gift. To make it more interesting, the next location can be indicated not directly, but encrypted it in one of the methods that are indicated below.
• Notes and tasks. In this case, you need to not only decipher the hint, but also complete some task in order to get this hint.
• Quest with the route. Players receive a card and pass locations in strict priority, at each point passing the test. Such a quest is good for several competing teams, for speed.

Where can you hide the tips

The concepts of location in the quest:

• Under the window
• Freezer
• Bucket
• Computer
• Armchair
• Under the carpet
• Vacuum cleaner
• In the closet
• Niche under the sofa or bed
• Balcony

• Oven
• Mailbox in the entrance
• Door (glue to adhesive tape)
• In the paws of a soft toy
• Interior items (vases, boxes, caskets, chests, paintings, etc.D.)
• Cereals with cereals in the kitchen
• Flower pots
• Christmas tree
• Suitcase
• Bathroom

The simplest tasks for the quest

We are now going to add some complexity to our search so that the child will need to play a little in addition to looking for the note.

• Riddles for the quest. Our selection includes riddles about rooms, furniture, household appliances and any places where you can hide a note at home.
• A balloon with a message inside: you need to burst it. Option: there are a lot of balloons, you need to find the one with the note.
• A message in a bottle floating in the bathtub: you need to fish it out in some unusual way.
• A hint on a flash drive.
• A plate with a treat: the note is hidden on the back of the plate, under a cake or inside a candy wrapper.
• A box with sand or semolina, in which clue objects are buried (constructor, small toys) or a sheet with a clue at the bottom.
• A hint is given by an assistant on the phone. The player deciphers the phone number or name of the person you need to call.
• A message or email indicating what to do further.
• Hint in the camera: a pre-made photo of the next item in the chain. The player needs to take a camera and look at the photos.
• A hint in the newspaper is the necessary word highlighted with a marker (or letters in different articles, from which the player needs to make a word).
• A printed QR code: when scanning it, you can see a picture or text with a hint. The code can be made in a special application.
• The player finds objects or pictures that play an important role in some work (fairy tale). The player must guess what kind of work it is and find a book with it. The book contains the next hint.
• Multi-volume collections of works (the player needs to guess the volume number and take the hint there).
• Riddles about paintings and souvenirs. The player receives the name of a country, city or place as a hint. He must guess that he is about to find a souvenir or magnet from this city, a photo or a painting. For example, the word "waterfall" can mean a faucet, a shower or a painting with a waterfall.
• The hint lies in a suitcase with a code lock, and the code can be found if you solve examples or a problem.
• Invisible ink: the clue is written on a white sheet of paper with white wax crayon or oil pastel. To read it, you need to color the sheet with watercolors (it’s more interesting if it’s a coloring book).
• Puzzles. You can assemble a map of the search for gifts from the pieces; a picture-hint; a picture with a riddle written on the back; a lock code or a phone number. If players or teams are competing, they can assemble simple puzzles for speed.
• Chemical experiment. Prepare three jars, number them. Put sugar in one, soda in another, and salt in the third. Put a glass of lemon juice nearby (apple cider vinegar is also possible, but under supervision). Write the names of the hiding places on the note: “1 — box, 2 — sofa, 3 — plate”… Explain to the player that the desired hiding place will be indicated by the glass in which the substance hisses when mixed with lemon juice.

Tasks and encryptions for the quest

You can use one of these suggestions if the child would rather solve puzzles than fiddle with extra objects and you are willing to dedicate some time to their creation.

• Instead of a riddle – a set of letters from which you need to make a word. The letters can be hidden one by one under similar objects, written on disposable cups that are on the holiday table, on fish with magnets in the bathtub or on balloons.
• Plastic letters can be buried in the sand, frozen in ice cube trays.
• Mirror text. The printed mirrored text will need to be read using a mirror.
• A New Year"s crossword puzzle in which the key word is an indication of the place where the gift is hidden.
• Rebuses – they can be created using an online generator.
• Charades and anagrams.
• A code using the first letters of different New Year"s objects. For example, X – firecracker, S – snowflake, M – tangerine, H – sock, D – Santa Claus, E – Christmas tree, and so on.
• Acrostic: a word is formed from the first letters in a poem.
• New Year"s test: each answer corresponds to a letter, the correct letters form a word-hint.
• Encryptions. The easiest way is to replace each letter with a symbol or number. Let the child receive an encrypted riddle or hint and the key to it.
• Riddles in emoticons. The child receives a message consisting of emoticons. You need to guess a New Year"s song, film or fairy tale from them. Emoticons can also indicate where the next hint is: for example, encrypt the name of the book in which the note is enclosed.
• Count. If the hint includes numbers (code or phone number), then you can ask the player to count something. For example, prepared coins, identical objects in the room, toys in a basket, light bulbs in a garland, steps in the entrance, books on a shelf, white and red beans, windows in the building opposite, etc..

A family New Year’s quest is a wonderful way to bond over the year, making treasured memories and building anticipation for the holidays. Fun doesn’t always require excessive complexity; straightforward games and activities can make people laugh and feel happy.

Whether planning a treasure hunt, games requiring puzzle solving, or friendly competitions, the most important thing is to maintain a fun and upbeat atmosphere. Everyone will feel included and involved if the activities are designed with their ages and interests in mind.

The event can be made even more memorable by incorporating creative challenges, tiny prizes, or a festive theme. The idea is to have fun, celebrate the holidays in an engaging way, and cherish the time spent together, fostering family ties.

Video on the topic

7 games at the table for the New Year

New Year at home: ideas, cool challenges and fun contests!

A very funny competition for a corporate party | New Year"s contests | interactive at a corporate party

Try these fun birthday contests for kids.

Hidden promo code! Pirate quest for kids. Instructions for holding.

Interesting tasks for quests. Recommendations from "Questix"