Co18Tulalearning through play: a guide to educational quests

An independent guide to educational quests and games. It is not a school, an educational institution or an event organizer, and it has no connection to the former website on this domain.

Guides

Hands-on guides

The first article in this section explains how to design an educational quest with stations from scratch. The format works for almost any occasion: a birthday, a family weekend, a club meeting or a rainy day at camp. We'll go all the way from choosing a theme to the final task and point out where first-time hosts most often stumble.

A quest doesn't have to be complicated to be good. What matters far more is that every team reaches the finish feeling they did it themselves.

— Editor's view

What to prepare in advance

  • A sense of who's playing: their ages, how many are coming and what they're into.
  • A place to play, such as your home, a yard, a backyard or a club room, and permission from the adults in charge of it.
  • Paper, pencils, envelopes and simple props from whatever you have at home.
  • Time to walk the route yourself and test the tasks before the game begins.
  • Helpers to staff the stations or go along with the younger players.
  • A small shared prize or treat for the finale.

  1. Choose a theme and a goal

    The theme sets the mood for the whole game: a voyage across the seas, a forest expedition, the search for a lost map. Decide right away what you want from the quest: to have fun, to revisit familiar things or to discover something new.

    Example: the players love dinosaurs, so the quest becomes a paleontology expedition, and every station reveals a new find.

  2. Come up with a short story

    The setup should fit into a few sentences: who you are, what happened and what needs to be found. It's handy to hand out the rest of the story in parts, in envelopes at the stations.

    Example: the captain has lost the ship's log, its pages have scattered all over the ship, and only the crew can gather them before the ship sets sail.

  3. Map out the route

    Decide on the stations and the order teams visit them in. If there are several teams, give them different starting points so no line forms at the door. Keep the route compact so the younger players don't get worn out walking between stations.

    Example: the kitchen, hallway, balcony and kids' room become the deck, the hold, the mast and the captain's cabin.

  4. Write tasks of varying difficulty

    Mix up the types: a riddle, a cipher, an attention puzzle, a general-knowledge question, a logic chain. The main task at each station should be doable for the youngest players, and for those who finish quickly, have an optional bonus task ready.

    Example: in the “hold,” players have to find objects whose names start with the letter S, and anyone who wants to can also make up a short sentence using those words.

  5. Prepare hints

    Every task needs a ladder of hints: first a leading question, then a narrower search area, and finally part of the answer. Decide in advance how a team asks for a hint, and never penalize them for asking.

    Example: “Look where we keep the things that keep us warm” — “It's in the hallway” — “Check the pocket of a winter coat.”

  6. Assign host roles

    The lead host explains the rules, keeps track of time and greets the teams at the finish. Station helpers hand out tasks, check answers and support anyone who gets stuck. Assign roles based on people's interests and skills, not on habitual ideas about who is “supposed” to do what.

    Example: the most patient adult takes the station with the tricky cipher, and the most energetic one goes along with the youngest team.

  7. Check the route and safety

    The day before the game, walk the whole route yourself. Remove anything that could cause harm: stairs without railings, electrical outlets, sharp objects, spots near water or a road. Make sure every station can be completed by any player, including someone who finds it hard to run or read for a long time.

    Example: an envelope hidden on a high shelf should be moved lower so nobody has to stand on a chair.

  8. Plan the finale and wrap-up

    Make the final task a shared one: the pieces collected at the stations add up to an answer that opens a treasure chest or reveals a secret. Say something kind about each team's contribution, and make the prize a shared one, so the game ends in joy rather than hurt feelings.

    Example: the letters collected at the stations spell the word TREASURE, and beneath it the teams find treats for everyone.

Common mistakes

  • Testing the tasks only on yourself instead of on players of the right age, and ending up with tasks that are too hard.
  • Writing a long backstory that nobody listens to all the way through.
  • Sending every team to the same starting station, where a line forms right away.
  • Skipping the hints in the hope that everything will work itself out.
  • Turning it into a race against the clock when the younger players clearly can't keep up.
  • Announcing losers and singling out the players who supposedly “slowed the team down.”
  • Hiding tasks in places that are dangerous to reach or off-limits.

Other options

  • If space is tight, run the quest at the table: envelopes opened one by one take the place of stations.
  • If there are only a few players, skip the teams: everyone solves the tasks together while the host hands out new envelopes.
  • If you're short on prep time, start with a round-robin quiz: you can put one together in an evening and later expand it into a full quest.
  • If the players are older, invite each of them to design a station for the others: the preparation becomes part of the game.

Test yourself

  • The theme and goal of the game suit the players' ages.
  • The story setup fits into a few sentences.
  • The route has been walked in advance, and hazardous spots have been ruled out.
  • Every station has a task, a tested answer and hints.
  • Optional bonus tasks are ready for fast teams.
  • The hosts know their roles, and the fair-play rules are announced before the start.
  • A meeting point has been set, and every player knows where it is.
  • The finale is shared, and the reward doesn't split players into winners and losers.

Article catalog for English-speaking readers

This is where standalone articles about learning games will appear: scavenger hunt storylines and routes, different kinds of puzzles, tips for hosts and staying safe at the venue. We write them specifically for the English version of the guide, and we aim to make every idea something you can try as soon as this weekend.

What we're working on

  • Backyard scavenger hunt clues that young readers can figure out on their own.
  • Trivia night without memorization: questions the whole family can reason through out loud.
  • A treasure hunt for a mixed team of little kids, teens and grown-ups.
  • Clue stations for every player: no running, no long reading and no need to shout.
  • Ending a game night so that nobody goes home feeling left out.

Editorial policy

  • Articles in this catalogue are written separately for each language version and are not translations.
  • Some articles link to third-party websites, including gaming services; we do not control their content, prices or terms.
  • We do not publish advertising for agencies, escape rooms or shops, rankings, prices or reviews.
  • Questions

    Short answers about preparing a quest, what to do during the game, and kids, age and safety.

  • Collections

    Reading paths: a rainy-day quest at home, an outdoor journey game, a quiz for a big family.

  • Reference

    The host's glossary: station, route sheet, hint, cipher, rebus, anagram, briefing, meeting point.

  • Sections

    A map of the guide: story and route, tasks, hosts and rules, safety and inclusion.

Sources

  • General experience of people who host family and children's games
  • The safety rules of your venue or organization

The advice in this guide draws on the shared experience of people who host family and children's games and is written in general terms. If your venue, camp or club has its own safety rules, they take priority over our suggestions: whenever the two differ, follow those rules and the decisions of the adults responsible for the players.