HARRY POTTER TREASURE HUNT

Wizard Treasure Hunt

Get ready for the ultimate Harry Potter adventure! All you need to set off on this exciting escape room treasure hunt is a few simple materials. Just download my printable clues, grab your printer and paper (cardstock recommended!), some pens, and prepare a magical surprise at the end of it all! The fun starts here – let’s go exploring in search of wizarding wonder.

Obviously any time of year is the perfect time to throw a magical celebration! Wizards, witches, and their muggle friends always appreciate a good time. I love any excuse to throw a wizard party, as I’m a huge Harry Potter fan. I made a Harry Potter treasure hunt for my daughter’s birthday, complete with owl props to decorate helium-filled balloons. 

Hands up if you are a fan of all things Wizard and Witchy. In case you couldn’t tell, I’m a huge Harry Potter fan, I love the series of books and adore the films. My love for Harry Potter has rubbed off on my daughter; she didn’t really stand a chance! A few years ago, I created a Harry Potter escape game for her birthday. It was a huge hit, and I wanted to bring back some of that magic this year. Time to make something new. So I put together a Harry Potter treasure hunt and escape room hybrid. It isn’t as cryptic as the escape room I created but is still full of ciphers and codes players need to solve clues leading them around the treasure hunt.

What’s Included in the Wizard game?

I wanted to create a game that I could sell in my shop, so I needed to make a few tweaks. It is very close to the original Harry Potter treasure hunt I created for my daughter, but I have removed names and characters, etc. It’s still full of Wizarding World fun.

• Puzzle 1: Wand Permit – Behind a closet door
• Puzzle 2: Flying Keys – Coat
• Puzzle 3: Potions Class – Towel
• Puzzle 4: Jelly Bean Decoder – Television
• Puzzle 5: Chocolate Frog Maze – Spoon
• Puzzle 6: Wizard Chess – Remote Control
• Puzzle 7: Potions Class – Window
• Puzzle 8: Crystal Ball – Fridge
• Puzzle 9: Magic Symbols – Table
• Puzzle 10: Feather Hunt – Clock
• Puzzle 11: Secret Map – Kitchen

There are 11 puzzle-style clues. These clues are not your traditional rhyming clues. Players must solve secret messages, ciphers, and puzzles to discover the location of the next clue. Each one is different, and you can make them more difficult by hiding the puzzle elements. This is definitely a fantastic option for older players, adults, and teens.

Set up one of your rooms as a potions class. Decorate the room with bottles filled with coloured liquids, any bottle will do, old pop bottles decorated with vintage-looking labels would look fab. Add glitter to the bottles and those waterproof tealights to create a bit of atmosphere. If you have any Halloween props in your garage grab these and set the scene.

In my treasure hunts and kid’s escape rooms, I love to make players work for their clues! When I set this game up for my daughter and her friends, I laminated the pieces of the map so they were waterproof. In a large cauldron, I filled it with Jellibaff, (its a slime material), and added some plastic spiders, snakes and ping pong balls to look like eyes and the three pieces of the map. When I had a volunteer I blindfolded them, and they had to sift through the slime to retrieve the pieces of the map. This resulted in a lot of squeals but, ultimately, a lot of fun.

One of the puzzles will have players earning their wand permit. I loved how the printable wand permit turned out, and it doubles up as an excellent party memento. If you are hosting this game as part of a Harry Potter party, you can print one for each player to use as a party favour. Fill in each player’s details, roll into a scroll tie with ribbon, and attach a fun wand pencil. If you really want to add the wow factor, you can add a wax seal.  

You will find a jellybean decoder wheel where you decipher the jellybean message. For this, I used a split pin to secure the two wheels together so they can rotate freely, the puzzle will work fine without it but much more fun with it included. I use these a lot, I’m always making a decoding wheel for some game or puzzle.

Print out the jelly bean decoder wheel onto a heavy-weight card, just to make it a little sturdier than regular copy paper. If you really want, you could laminate the wheel.

Treasure Hunt Rhyming Clues

I have also included a sheet of rhyming clues. What I love about the kit is that it is so adaptable. You can use as many or as few of the clues as you like. EVEN better is that I have included ways in which you can turn your Harry Potter treasure hunt into a Harry Potter escape room! Rhyming clues are included for the following locations and items. Above all, you can customize the game to suit you and your home!

• Book
• Cauldron
• Broom
• Wand
• Door
• Shampoo
• Pillow
• Coffee

What ages can play this game?

This Harry Potter treasure hunt escape game is for all ages, from kids to adults; this has something for everyone. If you plan to use this game for children seven years old and younger, they will probably need some help as the puzzles require reading skills or problem-solving skills. There is something for everyone to do, puzzle pieces need to be found, and there are simple jigsaws that younger players can put together, leaving the decoding to the older players. You can ramp up the difficulty by locking away puzzle pieces and adding your own codes for players to find. So you can basically make this a Harry Potter escape room! 

How to set up the treasure hunt?

Planning is key; you will need to set aside some time to prep. Plan for it to take about half an hour to cut out the puzzles and clues. Set aside some extra time to read through the guide and plan your treasure hunt route and in which order you would like the puzzles to be played. You do not need to use all of the clues if you don’t want to, you have a lot of freedom in setting up the game. Everything except the end treasure is provided for you in the kit, and you can either make it as simple or elaborate as you like.

Wizard Treasure Hunt Prize Options

At any treasure hunt I host, there is always a prize or gift at the end of the game. I would make sure you have a little something set aside for the end of the game. I have a certificate in the kit, which can be printed out and given to each player. Throw in some jelly beans or a chocolate frog or two, and you have the perfect wizard treasure hunt treat.

If you are looking for some game prizes, any of these would make fab additions for the end of the game. They can also double up as fun party favors or gifts. Actually, anything wizard-related is going to be a great option.

• Harry Potter chocolate frog replica
• Wizard Snowy Owl Plush Stuffed Animal
• Harry Potter Pencil Toppers
• Uno Harry Potter
• Wand Pencils

DOWNLOAD THE wizard game

Putting together the escape room treasure hunt couldn’t be easier. Print out the game material and plan the route you wish. Ultimately, you can create a game to suit your home, use all the clues, or just choose the ones you like. You can even add your own rhyming clues if you want to send players to a specific location not included in the kit (a blank clue card template is included, though).

Don’t forget to grab the owl printable. Along with some white balloons, it would be a fab addition to a Harry Potter treasure hunt party. Sign up below, and it will be whizzing its way into your inbox in no time!

Owl Balloon Puzzle Idea and Freebie

One of my suggestions for the game is to place the feather clue inside white latex balloons. Now as soon as players discover the balloons, they will pop them to find the clue hidden inside. What you can do is use helium to fill white balloons and decorate them as owls, they would certainly look fab floating around. Grab my free owl printable it will work perfectly with this clue and looks fab as a decoration, grab the link at the bottom of this blogpost.

As a matter of fact, these foil owl balloons available to purchase on Amazon look amazing and would be a great addition if you didn’t want to make your own.  Latex balloons usually only stay inflated for 12-24 hours. Therefore, keep this in mind when setting up. Consider making this one of the last things to prep, the last thing you want is deflated helium owls. If you are using good old-fashioned wind power you can prep these well in advance of your wizard game.