Treasure Hunt for Parties

Reason for Resourcefulness:
As I prepared for the preschool's annual Fall Festival, I had to stick to a tight budget.  In our storage room I found a old sand table.  I knew the kids would love a treasure hunt but knew we didn't have the extra funds to buy sand, so here's what I did.

The Creation:

1 sand table or Kiddy Pool
Several 100 sheets of used paper (old newspapers, coloring sheets, bills, etc)
1 shredder
Prizes*

Directions
1. Shred enough paper to fill your container.
2. Layer prizes and shredded paper.
3. Continue to alternate prizes and paper until the container is 3/4 of the way full.
4. Allow your kids to dig through the paper to find the prizes.

*Note: If your church or organization is on a tight budget, a great way to get prizes for free is to contact a local fast food restaurant.  With proper identification (organization letter head), they will usually donate old kid's meal prizes. 
Extensions:

Earth Day Project: Because recycling is more than taking items to a recycling center, this is a great idea to teach older kids how to recycle. You could have older kids bring in old toys to put in the paper as prizes. 

Indoor Easter Egg Hunt: Make your paper green and use plastic eggs instead of prizes.