Hook the Treasure is a really easy game for your pirate or nautical themed VBS or youth camp. This would be perfect for younger children at your Vacation Bible School and it is pretty easy to put together. The only work involved is making the “hooks” for each child.

The instructions below are for a team game. You can also play this as an individual game where each child gets to keep the treasures they hook. This can be made to work with social distancing.

You can make your own hooks or purchase a set of hooks.

Hook the Treasure Game for Treasured VBS

To make the hooks:

Materials

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• Red solo cups (or you can use a different color
• Aluminum foil
• Scissors

Instructions

1. Punch a hole in the middle of the bottom of the cup with the scissors.
2. Take a piece of foil about 18 inches long and form it into a hook.
3. Push the hook through the hole. The bottom of the hook should be inside the cup enough for the child to hold onto.

If you are really ambitious you can cover the cup with foil before you push the hook through. That is up to you though. They will have fun with a red cup too though. (Sometimes I think we make things too complicated. Kids are not perfectionists. We do that to ourselves. 🙂 )

Hook the Treasure Game

Materials

• One hook for each child
• Treasure which will be easy to hook onto – necklaces, bracelets, etc. Or tie some ribbon onto some candy to make it possible to hook.
• A treasure chest for each team, such as a shoebox or plastic box

Instructions

1. Spread the treasures out. If you are outdoors, I suggest using a blanket.
2. Divide the group into teams. You can really have as many on each team as you like.
3. Put the treasure chests about ten feet away from the treasures.
4. Each child tries to hook treasures and carry them back to their treasure chest on the hook.
5. The team with the most treasures wins.