Starter Kit. Idea 75 of 500. Cluster 4
Archaeology-themed treasure hunts for children
The mechanism, from the book
An app that tells people what is happening tonight converts a day visit into a 2-night stay.
The first step
Design a one-hour treasure hunt at one heritage site using only what children can see: carvings, stones, symbols. Print the clue sheets, run it for two families you know, and time it. Then offer it to guesthouses as an add-on for families at a fixed price. The first paid family is the proof.
- Who pays first
- Parents visiting heritage sites with restless children, who will gladly pay for an hour of engaged, curious children.
- What leaves today
- Families cut site visits short when children lose interest; a hunt keeps them longer and their spending local.
Ask first
- Central Cultural Fund. Ask whether a treasure hunt for children can be run inside their sites.
- Department of Archaeology. Ask what rules protect the ruins from children's games.
Check before you spend
That the game never damages or touches anything protected, that children are supervised, and what the site's managers allow.
Find out these three numbers
- What will families pay for a treasure hunt at the site?
- How long can children stay interested in one hunt?
- How many families visit on a typical weekend?
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.