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!