Hide a few boxes somewhere in the classroom or school grounds. Use shoe boxes wrapped in wrapping paper and fill with stickers, pieces of candy and other small rewards. Draw maps that will take students from the classroom or other starting point to the treasure boxes.
Divide students into small groups. Make sure to have the same number of groups as treasure boxes. Tell the groups to follow their maps to find the hidden treasure and bring it back to the starting point to collect their prize.
Reward students for finding their treasure by allowing them to share the contents of the box.
Discuss with students the map they used to find their treasure. What was included on the map? What does "drawn to scale" mean? Was their map drawn to scale? Was their map easy or difficult to follow?
Instruct each group to hide their treasure box somewhere else in the classroom or school and then make their own map that will lead another group from the starting point to their box.
Shuffle the maps and pass out one to each group, making sure no group receives its own map. Have students follow the map to find the treasure and return to the starting point.
Bring students back together to discuss how easy or difficult it was to make the map. What decisions had to be made while making their map? What were the most important things to include? What did they leave out? Could their map have been better?