Category Archives: textclues

Easter Scavenger Hunt Game

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RabbitEaster is coming up this weekend, so it’s a perfect time to organize a unique Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt for someone special.  Using a text message to send out the scavenger hunt clues to any cell phone makes for an egg-citing interactive Easter egg hunt that you can set up ahead of time.

With this interactive text message tool, you can even set up several different scavenger hunts that will start at the time you decide, so if you have two or three other children they can each follow the same or different clues and have a great time doing their individual hunts.

 

It’s really simple to set up your scavenger hunt with Textclues with a little preparation ahead of time.

 

First, pick up some colourful plastic Easter Eggs to hide some treats in (you can even hide small prizes at each location so that your hunter can full up their Easter baskets with goodies along the way) and then at the last location of the hunt you can hide your BIG EASTER SURPRISE (e.g. a big chocolate egg, a cuddly stuffed animal or a basket full of goodies).

 

Next, think up some riddles and clues to hide at each location to lead them on to the next clue.  You should be able to come up with 10 – 20 clues without too much trouble, but here is an example to get you going –

 

Clue:  Are you ready to hunt for your Easter eggs?  Reply with Answer, “Yes” or “No”

Answer:  “Yes”

 

Clue:   Can you answer some riddles to find your treats?  Reply with Answer “Yes” or “No”

Answer:  “Yes”

 

Clue:  The answer to this riddle is where you’ll find your first surprise.  “After searching for eggs all over the lands, be sure to go here and wash your hands”   (Text me the answers when you find your treats to get the next clue)

(you hide a plastic egg filled with little chocolate eggs in the sink)

Answer:  Sink

 

Clue:  Well done!  You’ve got your first treat.  “At the end of the day, the lamb rests her head on a thing soft and fluffy found on a bed”

(you hide the next treat under the pillow on one of the beds)

Answer:  pillow

 

Clue:  That’s great, you’re a star.  “Bunnies have fur and ducks have feathers, you wear these to stay warm in bad weather”

(you hide a treat in the pocket of one of the coats in the closet)

Answer:  coat, coats

 

Clue:  Fantastic!  Now this one is harder.  “Do you think the Easter Bunny has one of these?  It would be on his back helping him carry all those goodies with ease”

Answer:  backpack

 

Clue:   For homework, the Easter bunny sits here to make all the eggs, it has drawers, a few shelves and four legs.

Answer:  desk

 

Winning message:  Excellent!  You’re almost there, go to the basement and search for the blue bag – hidden under the sofa

(you can hide your final big Easter surprise there ready to the found)

 

Have fun with your hunt, you can make it as easy or complicated as you like.  If you want to add some educational touches to it, go for it.  If your kids are older make the clues a bit more complex and more of a challenge to find.  Have fun personalizing it for your family.

Happy Easter everyone. Go try our free demo right now!

Valentine’s Day Text Message Scavenger Hunt

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Valentines Day is the perfect time to set up a scavenger hunt for the special person in your life. Creat your own clues for them to follow with the prize of a gift chosen especially for them, they’ll love it.

Here at TextClues you can easily create a text message scavenger hunt. Our system automatically sends and responds to text messages to your loved one’s cell phone, so you can actually watch and guide them through the hunt or sit back and just watch the fun. You can schedule the scavenger hunt to start at any time you like, or you could set up a few surprise texts throughout the day.

It’s not difficult to set up your own special scavenger hunt, here are some ideas below to start you off.

First, decide on your gifts for the hunt, you could buy a bunch of little gifts for her or him such as chocolates, movie tickets, candles, perfume, lip balm, nail polish, bubble bath, massage oil, gift certificate, etc.  You can individually wrap each gift in a box if you’re going to have lots of little gifts or just have lots of clues leading to one special gift or surprise at the end of the hunt.

Next, decide where you want to start and end the scavenger hunt, you can plan one for around your home or use the clues to lead your loved one somewhere for a special date or a special restaurant that you’ve booked. One thing you’ll want to do is make sure you can set everything up before your hunt starts.

Finally, create your text clues, get a pen and jot down some ideas and try to make them personal and your loved one will know you think they are very special to you.  You can use clues incorporating any hobbies they might have, special places you have visited together, it can be as complicated or as simple as you choose.

Here’s an example:
Your first clue will start with them accepting the challenge:
Clue: Hi sweetheart, Happy Valentine’s Day.  Welcome to your scavenger hunt, reply with “begin” to start
Answer: begin

Clue: Where did we first meet?
Answer: Nick’s party

Clue: Great, go look in the right hand drawer of the dresser and tell me what you find hidden there
Answer: perfume

Clue: Perfect, take a look on the deck, right beside the BBQ, wrapped up in a bow is something special for you, what can it be?
Answer: chocolates

Clue: I know you love them, check out the trunk of the car, what do you find there?
Answer: flowers

Clue: Especially for you, what is your favorite restaurant?
Answer: The Keg

Clue: Right on, we’ll have dinner there at 7pm tonight, Happy V’s Day, I love you

Try our free demo right now!

Easter Scavenger Hunt

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So with Easter only a week away, why not take a few minutes to plan out a super fun interactive way for the kids to find their Easter treats this year.  Use a text message scavenger hunt to send your clues to any cell phone and the kids follow along finding hidden clues and treats.  It is just like any other scavenger hunt but with the clues sent directly to the participants cell phone (if they don’t have their own, they can use yours)  it makes the hunt more interactive. You can either give clues for hidden treats along the way or just have one big Easter treat at the end of the hunt, you decide.

Now the best thing about setting this up with Textclues.com is that with a little preparation ahead of time you will have the hunt all ready to go on the day.  With this tool, you can even set up several different scavenger hunts that will start at the time you decide.  If you have two or three children they can each follow the same or different clues and have a great time searching for their treats.

It’s so simple.  To set up your Easter hunt, first, you’ll need to decide on whether you’ll give the kids a few treats along the way or a big treat on completion.  Then think up some clues to lead them to a specific location to get their treat and the next clue.  You should be able to come up with 10 – 20 clues without too much trouble.

So, here is an example of a hunt to start you off:

Clue:  Ready to get some clues to find your Easter treats?  Reply with Answer, “Yes” or “No”

Answer:  “Yes”

Clue:  Your first clue is hidden in a place that’s not far, go to the cupboard where Mommy’s clothes are.

(clue hidden in the closet says figure out this riddle – “The next place to look is always cold, with nice things to eat, maybe this is where you’ll find your Easter treats” text me the answer when you find what’s there).

(hidden in the fridge is a chocolate egg)

Answer:  Cadbury egg, chocolate egg, egg

Clue: Well done!  You’ve got your first treat, your next clue is waiting where you normally sit to eat.

(clue hidden under the seat says, now to test your knowledge,  what is 10 x 7?)

Answer:  70

Clue:  That’s great, you’re really starting to think, this clue says respond with the answer found under the sink

(under the sink is a chocolate treat with a note saying “tasty chocolate”)

Answer:  tasty chocolate

Clue:  You’re doing well, check out on the deck, behind the chair, tell me what you find there.

Answer:  a book, book

Clue:  Correct,  now turn to page 20 and read the note.

(note in book says, go to your bedroom, look under your bed and tell me what you find there)

Answer:  Marshmallow bunny

Clue:  Wow, you’re doing so well, continue on this way, we’re having lots of fun, here’s a riddle for you – I’ll let you open me whenever there is sun, what am I?

Answer:  A window, window

Winning message:  Yes!  Go to the closet in the guest room.  (Chocolate basket or bunny is found in the guest room closet)

Have fun with your hunt, you can make it as easy or complicated as you like.  If you want to add some educational touches to it, go for it.  If your kids are older make the clues a bit more complex and more of a challenge to find.  Have fun personalizing it for your family.

Happy Easter everyone. Go try our free demo right now!

2012 London Olympics Quiz

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London OlympicsThe London Olympics were a tremendous success and awesome event. If you and your friends followed every twist and turn and you want to have some fun with an after the event quiz to test your friends recollection of the event using a cell phone based quiz then TextClues is for you. TextClues allows you to set up a series of questions and answers in advance, the options are almost limitless, you are simply limited by your creativity and the time and effort you want to devote to the quiz. The TextClues website provides user friendly guidance on how to set up a quiz or scavenger hunt, it is very simple to use. Below is a short sample of some very easy Olympics questions to illustrate how the quiz would work. Questions are sent by text to the participants’ cell phones and when answered correctly a new question is texted, this process continues until all questions are answered correctly. Nothing could be simpler. To provide an incentive for all participants a clue to find the winning prize could be set up as the final text. See the TextClues demo and FAQ for more information and to answer any questions you may have.

Question: How many Gold Medals did Michael Phelps win in the 2012 Olympics?
Answer: 4

Question: Who won the Gold Medal in tennis in the 2012 Olympics?
Answer: Andy Murray

Question: How many medals did the USA Team win in the 2012 Olympics?
Answer: 104

Question: The USA Women’s Soccer Team beat what country to win the Gold Medal?
Answer: Japan

Obviously many more questions could be asked depending on the group’s area of interest and knowledge. The questions can be made as easy or difficult as you want although clearly you don’t want to make them so difficult that no one stands a reasonable chance of answering them all. On the other hand if the questions are too easy there would be no challenge. Use your judgement to determine the best questions to ask.
After all the 2012 Olympics Quiz questions have been answered correctly a text message could be sent to the winner advising him or her of the winning prize. Good luck and if you have any questions that the TextClues website doesn’t appear to address simply send an email message to the TextClues support team at support@textclues.com

Travel Trivia Quiz

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When you travel to other countries it’s always interesting to read up on the people and history of the country you are visiting before your trip.  If you’re going with friends or family why not set up a travel trivia quiz before you go so that everyone learns something about the place they will be visiting in a fun way.

With a tool like TextClues you can create a fun quiz using text messages on any mobile phone.  You can research all your questions and answers beforehand and everyone will be sent the first question of the quiz at the same time.

 

For example, if you plan to take a trip to England with your family, set up a quiz for them to participate in a week or so before you leave.  Let everyone know about the quiz so they Aire De Jeux Gonflable Pas Cher can do some research, give them some guidance on subjects your quiz will be covering.  Some of your questions could be as follows:

 

Question:  Who is the Prime Minister

Answer: David Cameron

 

Question:  What is the surname of Queen Elizabeth II

Answer:  Windsor

 

Question:  Where does the Queen live

Answer:  Buckingham Palace

 

Question:  Where are the Crown jewels kept

Answer:  The Tower of London

 

Question:  Who will succeed the Queen when she dies

Answer:  Prince Charles

 

Question:  What is the name of the bell in the clock tower in London

Answer:  Big Ben

 

Question:  What is the name of the river that flows through London

Answer:  Thames

 

You can include questions about the local food, weather, and history and make it as easy or difficult as you like.  Pick up a travel themed prize for the winner and you’re ready to go.  Try making your own travel quiz with our free demo.

Text Message Math Quiz

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You can use TextClues to send your son or daughter a text message math quiz to test the skills they’ve learned in the classroom. Here’s an example with some geometry questions:

Question: Welcome to the cell phone math quiz! No calculators are allowed. First question, how many sides does a pentagon have? Reply with the answer.

Answer: 5

Question: What’s the sum of angles inside a triangle?

Answer: 180, 180 degrees

Question: What’s the square root of 36?

Answer: 6

Question: What’s the remainder when dividing 22 by 10

Answer: 2

Question: What’s 3 x 4 + 7 – 8 x 2?

Answer: 3

Question: What’s pi to two decimal places?

Answer: 3.14

Question: What’s the area of a square with side lengths of 7?

Answer: 49

Question:  What’s the perimeter of a square with side lengths of 8?

Answer: 32

Question: Give a circle has a radius of 5. What’s the circle’s diameter?

Answer: 10

Question: For a rectangle with side lengths 4 and 3, what’s the length of the diagonal from one corner to the other? (Hint: use the Pythagorean theorem)

Answer: 5

Winning Message: Congratulations! You’re a math whiz! Come to the kitchen to get your prize

To create your own fun text message math game try our demo.

American Sports Quiz

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TextClues is a great way to conduct an American Sports quiz for your friends or family using text messaging. The sports questions can be easy or hard. As each question is answered correctly each participant is texted another question until all the text questions have all been answered correctly. At the end you can text them where to find their prize. The prize provides some buzz and excitement to the quiz as well as motivation to get the right answer ! !


For example I recently used TextClues with my 2 youngest sons to create some excitement for the 2 Yankees tickets I had just bought for them. By asking a few simple text questions I was able to generate some excitement for the tickets, see below. This way rather Structure Gonflable than simply giving them the tickets they felt they had earned them, a win-win and they also hopefully learned some interesting facts about the Yankees in the process which they may not have known – maybe they cheated by getting some of the answers from Google – but still it was a lot of fun. Check it out ! !
Question: What was the full name of the team that won the World Series last year?
Answer: St Louis Cardinals
Question: What year did the Yankees last win the World Series?
Answer: 2009
Question: How many World Series have the Yankees won?
Answer: 27
Question: Who was the MVP the last time the New York Yankees won the World Series?
Answer: Hideki Matsui
Question: Who is the Manager of the New York Yankees?
Answer: Joe Girardi
Question: Where do the Yankees currently stand in the Eastern Division of the American League, answer using a number
Answer: 3
Question: What team is currently in top spot in the Eastern Division, answer using the name of the city
Answer: Baltimore
After answering all the questions correctly the following text message was sent: Congratulations, you’ve won a ticket to Saturday’s Yankee game, collect from Dad ! !

With TextClues, you can be creating a great sports quiz with text messaging like the above within minutes! Try it out today.

Create Your Own Text Message Quiz!

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What if I told you that TextClues can act as a tool to learn languages, facts or any subject that interests you? Well people are constantly coming up with new and interesting ways of using the service to their benefit, not always focusing on scavenger hunts.

One of the most interesting is to take personal quizzes. This is great when your a studying a subject or learning something new. You can write out a list of questions, along with the answers, that you should know on the subject you’re studying. Then you can schedule a mobile “quiz” sometime next week or in a few days. This way the test may be somewhat unexpected and you likely won’t have your materials with you.

Later you will be able to go back into your TextClues account and see how you did. If you needed a few guesses for some of the questions maybe those are the areas that you should be focusing on. It’s a great way to assess how much you’ve learned and it’s easy to do anywhere. You can quickly answer a few questions on the bus or while you’re riding the elevator.

If you want to know more about the TextClues service check out some info here or try our free demo.

And don’t forget to share with us how you use TextClues!

Scavenger Hunt Ideas Part Two

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As promised, I’m continuing my discussion on some brief ideas for making use of a scavenger hunt :)

On-Campus Hunts:
Text message scavenger hunts can be used in so many different ways on-campus (or really, at any university, college, school or general club/organisation :)
Student councils are always trying to think of fun and different ways of engaging students in activities.  Why not use a scavenger hunt to:
– Put together a pub crawl: use the hunt to lead students from one pub to the next, using different clues to help point students in the right direction
– Campus tour: Why not make a campus tour a bit more exciting? They don’t always have to be long and boring ;) Have the students follow along the hunt – this way, they will learn more about the campus and remember their surroundings better for the future

Teenage or Adult Parties:
I went to a birthday party once where it was setup like a city race.  We had to log all of our answers into a website (that was built specifically for this hunt) and the next clue would then show up once the correct answer was inputted.  Clues were setup to bring the teams to different locations across the city using public transportation.  Why not just use an easy-to-use and already-made tool like textclues.com to bring your party to life?

Educational purposes:
Do you want to try to make learning fun for your kids? Try making some practice homework assignments, such as the multiplication table, a bit more fun (and surprising) for your kids!  Make it into a game by creating a text scavenger hunt that can occur at any time of day.  This way – the kids will have fun at the same time as doing something educational.

I know, this was all somewhat brief however the next few posts will provide specific examples on how to make use of a scavenger hunt for any of these ideas.  We’ll start off with kid’s birthday parties and how you can make it fun and enjoyable for all participating kids.  Stay tuned ;)

Welcome to the Text Clues Blog!

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Creating an original scavenger hunt is a really fun process but it’s easy to get stuck along the way. The Text Clues blog is here to give you some tips and hints to get your creative juices flowing. Whether or not you’re using our text based scavenger hunt service we want you to make great scavenger hunts for everyone involved. Enjoy!