Taskmaster Education’s Treasure Hunt for Children’s Mental Health Week kicks off on Monday 6 February.

Last year, Taskmaster Education and Place2Be announced that we are partnering for Children’s Mental Health Week 2023 in a bid to get children across the country puzzle- and problem-solving.

The partnership between Place2Be and Taskmaster Education is an exciting opportunity to play Taskmaster across the country with thousands of children at the same time.

Are you ready to take part next week? Ahead of the Week, the Taskmaster Education team have shared the answers to some frequently asked questions to help you be as prepared as you can.

What is the Taskmaster Education Treasure Hunt?

During Children’s Mental Health Week (6-12 February 2023), Alex Horne will set tasks each day for children to join in with at school or at home. There will also be a treasure hunt, with daily clues to solve: if these are solved correctly over the course of the week, schools, families or groups will make it onto the Wall of Fame! You'll also be in with a chance of winning £250 of vouchers to spend on books that support children's mental health and well-being at your local independent bookshop.

What age are the tasks and treasure hunt clues aimed at?

Children of all ages should be able to attempt the tasks. How they approach them and the outcomes will likely vary depending on age. The clues were devised with KS2 children in mind, but they are still a good challenge for older children (and adults). Younger children might need a bit more support in attempting to solve them.

What’s the difference between tasks and treasure hunt clues?

Tasks will be set each day by Alex Horne on our website for children to attempt at home or at school. Share your entries with us on social media using the hashtag #CMHWTasking. On Monday, you can download and print off an answer grid for the Treasure Hunt Clues. Solve the clues each day to reveal a number and add the number to the corresponding square on the grid. Look out for the bonus number hidden in Alex’s task video on Friday.

Once the numbers from each day’s clue (and the bonus number) have been entered, the additional spaces on the grid can be completed by figuring out the number that connects the grid. When the grid is fully completed, head to the Friday page, where you can use it to help answer some questions and submit your team name (class/school/group/family), which will then appear on our Wall of Fame.

Do all of the teachers in the school need to sign up?

No, but the more, the merrier! The tasks and clues will be freely available to everyone on taskmastereducation.com every day from Monday 6 February. Individual class teachers, group leaders or parents will want to enter their answers on Friday 10 February, to get their class, group or family name on the Wall of Fame.

Do I need to prepare resources for the tasks?

You don’t need to, but you might wish to. The exception is Friday’s task when you will need some recycling. Ideally, how the children choose to tackle each task should be up to them, and if you restrict them with particular resources, this will influence their problem-solving and creative thinking.

With the first task, for example, when they make a rainbow, they may turn it into an art or science activity or something completely different. You will have to consider your time and resource constraints and what you wish the intended learning outcome to be.

We fully appreciate that providing suggested resources could well help with the smooth running of the task in a classroom. However, if you give the children some planning time at the start of the day, they could then hand in a list of their requested resources which you can either agree to or not, ahead of the task attempt later in the day. 

How do I submit my answers for the treasure hunt?

On the Friday page of our website, you will be asked to answer three questions to show that your grid is correctly completed. If all of these are correct, you will be entered into our Wall of Fame – submit your class, school, group or family name. It would be helpful to keep your name short, but it may be a good idea to identify your class and school name. Otherwise, you might be unable to find your class amongst a list of Class 5Bs!

Do I have to do the tasks and clues on particular days?

Not necessarily. We know of at least one school saving them up to make a day of it on Friday. One task and clue will be released every day over the week, but you can complete them whenever you like. Make sure you get your treasure hunt answer in on Friday to be in with a chance of appearing on our Wall of Fame.

Are there any other tasks we could join in with?

Absolutely! Some former Taskmaster contestants have been competing against Place2Be Champions at their own tasks in the build-up to Children’s Mental Health Week. Search TMvP2B on social media to see the celebrity attempts. Check out some of the attempts here, #TMvP2B, and see if your children can do any better.

When will the tasks and clues be live on the website?

The tasks and clues will be live by 6pm the evening before the task day. Monday’s task and clue will be available from 6pm on Friday 3 February. Will the answers for the treasure hunt be available for teachers to check if the class are on the right track? They will. Here are the answers to the treasure hunt clues, but please only use these to steer the children in the right direction if everyone is a bit stuck: Mon: 1; Tues: 3; Wed: 10; Thurs: 6; Fri: 9.

If you have any more questions, please visit the Taskmaster Education website.

Happy Treasure Hunting!