Math Post-it Note Scavenger Hunt

My son asked me for another scavenger hunt last week. I wanted to do something different, though (see our other hunts here and here). Blissful and Domestic provided some much-needed inspiration: a post-it note hunt!

To practice some subtraction, I grabbed 20 post-its, a Sharpie marker, and a pencil. I wrote down ten subtraction problems and their answers on a separate piece of paper.

I wrote the first problem on the front of a post-it note to give to my son at the start of our hunt.

Now I wrote the answer with a Sharpie on the front of the next note. On the back of it, I wrote the next math problem in pencil (so it wasn’t see-through). I continued to do this until all the answers and problems were written on the post-its. On the post-it note with the last answer, though, there was no problem. Instead, I wrote, “Good job! There is a prize for you in my bathroom.” (I had to hide it somewhere he doesn't usually go.)

I wrote random numbers on 10 other post-its; these had no problems on the back. If my son picked one of them mistakenly, he’d know he answered wrong since the back was blank.

Now I ran around sticking post-its everywhere!

My son barely dropped his backpack at the front door when he saw the post-it notes I’d scattered in our living room, kitchen, and entryway. His curiosity was piqued and he was chomping at the bit to get going.

I gave him the first post-it, the one with the problem written on the front and off he went, answering problems and dashing around to find the post-its with the answers. When he grabbed the last answer and read the note, his legs carried him at lightning speed to the puzzle.

This took 5 minutes to prepare and barely any materials. And the result was one happy boy who is now the proud owner of an inexpensive (and awesome) Star Wars puzzle.