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Dry Erase Treasure Map

My kids love to go on treasure hunts!  Usually our hunts consist of scrap pieces of paper with pictures or maps drawn on them.  I thought it would be fun to make something a little more permanent that still had an erasable line to follow.  It also needed to roll up like any good treasure map should.

I made the map using white vinyl fabric (found in the home decor section) and clear contact paper.  Mine is 16″ x 20″.  No, the dry erase markers do not erase perfectly off of the contact paper, and you will need to use a little bit of soapy water, but I actually kind of prefer that.  I don’t have to worry as much about the marker rubbing off onto the carpet or furniture when the kids are dragging it around the house.  **edit: A reader suggested using “wet erase” or overhead markers.  I might just try that!**  First thing you do is draw your map (floor plan) onto the shiny side of your vinyl fabric with permanent markers.  I only drew in the larger, permanent furniture.  The kid’s rooms are empty since those will probably be moved around soon.  And yes, I suck at drawing cars… and furniture… and pretty much everything on this map looks kinda scary.  Oh well, the kids don’t care.

I even added a little compass to help the kids learn about directions.

Once your map is drawn, cover it with the clear contact paper and smooth out all of the air bubbles.

To make sure that the contact paper doesn’t peel up, I sewed a 1/4″ seam around the edge.

Trim off any excess contact paper.

Now comes the fun part!  Draw a line or whatever you want all around the map.  I made sure to include lots of fun twists and turns and, of course, an X to mark the spot where the treasure is.

Roll it up and give it to the kids.

Surprisingly, Evan did a pretty good job reading the map and figuring out my horrible drawings.

You must follow the map exactly!

It’s always fun to make them go outside!

And the treasure at the end… fruit snacks of course!

So much fun!

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hurley thurston

Sunday 26th of May 2013

I love this. I can see my kids "cheating" so I think I will add numbered squares to sprinkle on the trail. When they finish, they will have to count /show me the numbers/letters before they get their prize. :-) Fun idea!! Thx

Jessica Anderson

Monday 27th of May 2013

Good idea!

Brooklyn at Cook and Craft Me Crazy

Tuesday 14th of May 2013

I AM LOVING THIS! How fun you can re-use it over and over and over again over the summer and over the years! SO GREAT!

Jessica Anderson

Wednesday 15th of May 2013

Thanks!

Stephanie Fermor

Monday 13th of May 2013

Thanks for linking up to my party! I wanted to let you know I picked your link to feature this week! See my post and grab my feature button here http://handmadecuddles.com/2013/05/create-inspire-picks-67.html

Emily Thompson

Saturday 11th of May 2013

Thanks for linking up to Tasteful Tuesdays at Nap-Time Creations. You are being featured at the weekends round up! Hope you can come over and check it out. I would LOVE for you to add a featured button to this post...

http://www.nap-timecreations.com/2013/05/ideas-for-kids.html

Mandy Beyeler

Saturday 11th of May 2013

Thanks for linking to Take-A-Look Tuesday over at Sugar Bee Crafts - you were featured on Wednesday!

--Mandy, www.SugarBeeCrafts.com

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