The Treasure Hunt for children is also back in the PAVIA COMPILATION! calendar.
My colleague and friend Manuela and I were confident that the guided tour structured as a Treasure Hunt for children would work, for one very simple reason: if we had fun preparing it, just imagine how much fun the children would have doing it! And that’s exactly what happened. On Saturday, September 19, 2020 at 3:30 pm, we reached our third Treasure Hunt in three months, following the success and satisfaction of the previous two, carried out despite the heat and lockdown, without this having in any way reduced the effectiveness of this format.
Choosing the Castello Visconteo as the heart of the Treasure Hunt was a natural decision, as it allows participants to move from the inner courtyard to the beautiful public gardens outside, always in a safe and relaxed environment. By choice, we did not create a Treasure Hunt that has children running around searching for clues; instead, we preferred to design 4 challenges to complete, fun but also closely connected to the explanations we provided along the way.
Food in the time of the dukes, fashion between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the castle’s characters, games, and dances of the period have all become starting points for creating the challenges that so far have entertained children across a fairly wide age range. Yes, because we initially had the 7–11 age group in mind, but during this summer’s experiences the group also included a very young 4-year-old—helped a little by her mom, but especially by the older kids—and a couple of “big kids” aged 12, who adapted perfectly to the group’s diversity and helped out the younger ones.
Watching them play together reminded me of my childhood in a small town, when “groups” included a very wide age range and everything worked perfectly: the older kids instinctively responsible toward the younger ones, and the younger ones… especially sharp and proud to be with the big kids!
The cost of the Treasure Hunt is €10 per child, and of course parents are welcome to stay. Booking required.
Of course, I don’t want to give away too many details here, nor reveal what the treasure will be, because our Treasure Hunt is above all meant to be experienced. For now, it is focused around the Castle, but we already have other versions ready, also suitable for schools, involving other locations in Pavia as well as in Vigevano.
And speaking of “grown-ups”… it was actually the parents who took part in the children’s Treasure Hunt who came up with the idea of organizing one for adults as well. Said and done: just give us an interesting idea and we’ll happily create it! That’s how the Adult Treasure Hunt on September 26, 2020 was born, featuring a stop in collaboration with our friends and colleagues at IL MONDO DI TELS. But I’ll tell you more about that in the next post on my blog.
For information and bookings, please visit this page.
