Once the time is right, Dave plunders the gifts and items that catch his eye.

This is usually, at least for Christmas, done after Santa has been there.

This gives Dave a wider selection of things to plunder and makes it easy, as they are all in one spot.

Dave leaves a treasure map or clue in place of the plundered items that shows the next segment in the route to the buried treasure.

This map segment may show the path to the location of a real life hidden pirate treasure (unlikely), another map, a clue, one of the gifts or items he plundered, or any combination of the above.

There may be dangers, obstacles, puzzles, or other challenges to overcome on the path to the location of the hidden treasure.

Alternatively, sometimes just getting a child to the end treasure location can be challenge enough.

Which is a joke, as children are notoriously unreasonable creatures.

Have coffee ready.

It can be easy to make this more complex than need be.

All Dave really needs is a start, a middle, and an end with a treasure, map, or treasure and a map.

That’s it.

It’s easy to forget this is all extra and the goal is to put forth a fun experience, not stress out over making it a perfect treasure hunt experience.

Don’t let Dave get in the way of Dave having a great time.