New Year's quest for children: let the winter holiday be remembered for a long time

Specifics of the New Year's quest in the apartment, indoors and outdoors

A quest (from the English “quest” - search, adventure) is an intellectual game entertainment during which participants must overcome a series of task stages to achieve a key goal. A chain of riddles, tasks, and puzzles is located in a certain area, and it can be either one room, apartment or house, or a courtyard or park. If the quest takes place in a kindergarten or school, then the location becomes, respectively, a group room, classroom, assembly hall, corridors, etc.

Quests can be held both indoors and outdoors

The quest can even be carried out on the scale of an entire city. In this case, it is better for participants to travel by car or bicycle, which, of course, is more suitable for adult games.

In terms of its entertainment purpose, the New Year's quest is close to a matinee or party (if everything happens at home). However, its main difference from these events is the presence of a specific goal: for example, to find hidden treasures (in this case, gifts from Santa Claus), return the dial to the New Year's clock that Baba Yaga or another villain hid, etc.

The participants’ task is to collect all the numbers for the dial by completing tasks sequentially

Quest is a team game, and the highlight of its organization is that the participants, having completed one task, find in it the key, an indication to the next. Due to the unusual format of the event, every participating child can be active.

The tasks in the New Year's quest can be not only intellectual in nature, but also creative, musical, and develop motor skills. Naturally, they will all have an appropriate theme related to the main winter holiday.

Of course, all tasks in the New Year's test are related to the theme of the holiday, for example, decorating gingerbread cookies for the Snow Maiden with sugar icing

An important requirement of the quest is that participants do not use gadgets (phones, tablets). They must solve riddles and answer tricky questions themselves, relying on their horizons and ingenuity.

Parents can develop a home New Year's quest for their own child, but it is more interesting when a group of children (several people) participates in it. If we are talking about a kindergarten or school, then the whole team is involved in the game. In this case, it is advisable to divide it into 2–4 teams.

If the quest is held in a kindergarten or school, the entire children's team (group or class) participates in it.

Children of all ages can participate in the quest. Conventionally, games are distinguished for older preschoolers (in principle, children under 6 years old can play, but then the tasks need to be selected very simple), younger schoolchildren and teenagers. Meanwhile, a home quest can bring together children of different ages.

As for the duration of such a New Year's event, it also largely depends on age. Thus, quests for preschoolers usually last 40–45 minutes.
Schoolchildren can play for an hour or more, especially if the tasks are placed in a large area (entrance, yard, etc.).

New Year's quest at school

Basic Rules:

1. Divide the class into two or three teams, so everyone can solve the tasks and there won’t be much noise.
2. For each team, come up with their own tasks and their own chain of hiding places so that they do not intersect anywhere.

1. Involve parents in preparation.
2. Be sure to include 1-2 moving tasks. Let the children actively dance or run a relay race, otherwise the accomplice will not give the next clue.
3. Include dressing up: prepare a basket with New Year's hats, glasses, tinsel and rain in advance. Organize a competition for the funniest Santa.
4. It will be more interesting to figure out who hid the gifts and why, it will be more interesting to search with a plot. For example, in the ready-made quest scenario for grades 5-9, “Doctor Spiralius’s Antivirus,” children find themselves in a future where all people are infected with a dangerous virus, and schoolchildren must find rescue kits for themselves so as not to get infected (these are New Year’s sweet gifts) and help the doctor with the right antivirus formula! The quest is divided into six stages, each led by an adult in the guise of the quest hero, and three teams complete them all in their own order.
5. Use the maximum of available spaces (wardrobe, hallways, classroom, gym).
6. Imagine: you can hide not only gifts, but also a small Christmas tree, a cake for a tea party or... a teacher!

What fairy tales or stories can become the plot of a quest about the New Year?

In general, the tasks of any quest (not just New Year's) are based on a certain plot: it can be a treasure hunt, an investigation into an incident, help to some hero, an adventure based on a work of fiction.

As a plot basis for a New Year's game, you can take some kind of winter fairy tale and play out the tasks according to its content. Examples could be the following:

1. “Christmas tree” by V. Suteev.
2. "The Snow Queen" G.-H. Andersen
3. “12 months” by S. Marshak.
4. "Morozko" (Russian folk tale).

The plot outline for the New Year's quest can be a fairy tale known to children, for example, “The Snow Queen”

You can also use motifs from the popular cartoon “Masha and the Bear (series about Father Frost) or come up with your own New Year’s story (for example, Father Frost’s bag or chest with gifts was stolen, the Snow Maiden got lost in the forest, she was bewitched by Kikimora, etc.). In this case, the goal of the quest participants will be to find the loss or rescue their favorite New Year's character from trouble.

The beginning of a New Year's quest is often a letter from Santa Claus, in which he asks for help or gives instructions to the children.

The beginning of the quest is often a letter from Santa Claus

If teenagers play, the plot can be built based on films about spies. A secret agent who was on a secret mission was kidnapped and his mission was left unfulfilled.
However, feeling that he might be kidnapped, the hero left encrypted messages. The agent's goal was to save the New Year, which, according to intelligence, was supposed to be stolen by villains.

Quest Year of the Tiger: tasks

The quest at home is limited in space, so it is necessary to include several active games and tasks, after participation in which you will be given hints to help you find the prize. To do this, you can choose several fun competitions. To begin with, you should choose two “Tigers”; most often these are the strongest men. Play some fun music. Men, in the role of tigers, must actively move and kick. This is a kind of imitation of the Texas rodeo. Those participants who can stay on the tigers will be the first to receive clues.

Quest Year of the Tiger, tasks

• Another great option to celebrate the Year of the Tiger by conducting a quest is a competition with tigers. You need to inflate several balloons. Participants are selected to get on all fours and trample the balls with their hands or feet. Guests must count how many balloons each participant bursts. The player who pops the most balloons will receive a hint.
• Collection of snowflakes. You need to hang paper snowflakes with a hole inside each one on the Christmas tree. The participant must put on horns like a cow and, at the command of the leader, collect snowflakes. The holes should be of a normal size so that the antlers can easily pierce them. You cannot use your hands in this competition. The person who collects the most snowflakes in 2 minutes receives another hint.
• Along with active competitions, there should be those that will allow you to relax. These could be puzzles or simple competitions. If the New Year is spent in the company of friends, with a lot of alcohol, it is best not to choose competitions for the quest that require attention, concentration, and logical thinking. After all, it is impossible to solve complex problems while intoxicated.

Table: fragments of a home New Year's quest for children 5–8 years old (author Elena Borodina)

Set design

“Traces” and “ Signs ” (A4 format). It is better to use traces at the initial stage, for example, to find a postcard with the first clue. The organizer cuts them out in the required quantity and paves the way. Signs can be used as a hint for players to find the right one among identical objects (for example, the right bush).

Traces Signs

A special postcard for starting a quest game , it is stable and takes only a few minutes to prepare (details included), in the middle there is the first clue; Postcard format - A4. When finished it looks like this:

completing assignments

Thanks to a special decoder, hints and a prize for completing the quest can be hidden in any convenient place. The kit includes 2 types of decoder to choose from - in the form of a simple list and in the form of tangled threads. They differ only in complexity, you can use any of them at your discretion, and also edit the template so that the places fit your location.

Examples of interesting quest scenarios

It is advisable to divide examples of specific quests into age groups, although many options can be used for children of different ages by slightly adapting the tasks.

Quests for kindergarten (senior preschool age)

1. "New Year's adventures based on fairy tales." Children are looking for a magical object of Santa Claus, the name of which is hidden in fairy tales (the quest takes place sequentially through four fairy tales: “The Christmas Tree” by V. Suteev, “The Snow Queen” by H. H. Andersen, “12 Months” by S. Marshak and “Morozko”) .
2. "Looking for New Year's toys." A fairly short quest that can be carried out directly in a group: tasks-stages from five Christmas trees that Santa Claus sent to the children.
3. "Santa Claus's chest." The premise of the game is that Baba Yaga hid the key to Santa Claus’s magic chest, which contains gifts. It is necessary to complete 8 tasks, during each task a letter is revealed to the children. As a result, all the letters form a word indicating the location of the key.
4. "New Year's Miracles" The children receive a letter from the Snowman, who walked towards them through the forest with a map, but it was carried away by a magpie. Now he is lost and waiting for help. Preschoolers look for the Snowman while completing assignments.

Junior schoolchildren

1. "Tricks of a Pirate." This is a pirate quest party dedicated to the New Year. The premise is that an evil pirate stole a bag of gifts from Santa Claus. He will give it to the children after they pass the tests.
2. "Travel to Lukomorye." The quest is held at home, the children are also looking for the missing bag of gifts. It is noteworthy that it all begins not with a letter, but with a video message from Santa Claus to the children. The snowman helps the game participants get to Lukomorye. Interestingly, one of the tasks is performed at the entrance: you need to count the number of steps and multiply them by 12 (months).
3. "New Year's adventures at school." The quest game with children was prepared and conducted by sixth graders. Participating teams receive route sheets, each must go through the stations (Snegovichnaya, Muzykalnaya, Sports, Mysterious, Secret, Snezhnaya, Khudozhestvennaya, Sugrobnaya, Skazochnaya, Candy).
4. “The snowy winter has come and brought a joyful holiday!” Schoolchildren are divided into teams (“Snowflake”, “Frost”, “Snowdrift”, “Icicle”, “Hoarfrost”). Each also receives a route sheet and is sent to stations, where teachers in the form of Winter, Snowman, Baba Yaga, Rooster, and Carlson act as presenters. For each completed task, the team is given a hint letter.

For teenagers (middle and high school)

1. “New Year's pun” (for 11–14 years old). The purpose of the quest is to introduce children to the history of the New Year holiday. The game is again based on completing stations, and many of them are well placed in the fresh air (“New Year’s”, “Frosty”, “Visiting Leshy”).
2. “Trace 2019” (for 6th grade). Children are offered 12 tasks, and for correct completion of each they receive a letter. As a result, a phrase is made up of letters. Along with the last letter, the guys receive a box of gifts.

Detailed description of the quest

With this quest you can easily and cheerfully recreate the presentation of New Year's gifts in the courtyard of a private house, country house, cottage, village.

♦ Age category: from 10 to 14 years. ♦ Target audience: the quest is universal - suitable for both boys and girls. ♦ Completion time: the total time to complete 10 tasks is up to 40 minutes. ♦ Purpose of the quest: searching for a gift - after completing all the tasks, the participant will find the main cache in which the treasured gift (surprise) will be hidden. The quest is intended for giving a gift on New Year, Christmas or St. Nicholas Day. ♦ Venue: outdoor quest - in the courtyard of a private house, dacha, cottage, village. ♦ Number of participants: from 1 or more people. The quest does not provide for division into teams. Participants solve quest tasks together. ♦ Tasks: All tasks are completely ready for the quest. You just have to choose the most suitable places - hiding places for the yard of your private house and print out cards with tasks. The quest consists of 10 task cards and 20 hiding places. Each quest card has two cache options. Hiding places in the quest: ◊ Stone, brick ◊ Lantern, bucket ◊ Bush, gate ◊ Car, bicycle ◊ Mailbox, garland ◊ Tree, swing ◊ Bench, ladder ◊ Boots, shoes ◊ In a fence, in a bottle ◊ Bag, box ⇒ All quests for the NEW YEAR (click) ♦ Necessary props: pencil or pen for filling out answers. ♦ Genre: active New Year's quest with a search for gift(s). ♦ The finished quest kit includes 3 PDF files: 1 . The file “Instructions for the quest” contains a list of necessary actions to prepare the quest for implementation. 2 . The “Quest” file contains all the tasks that participants will need to solve. 3. The “Quest with answers” ​​file contains the entire list of tasks with detailed answers. You will need to print these files on a black and white or color printer. ♦ Other quests on the site: