On the day of the party, I recommend getting the hunt under way shortly after all of the guests have arrived and before the cake and ice cream are served - the hunt will be exciting enough without pumping everyone up with sugar. Before you deliver the first clue, take a moment to explain the rules of the hunt. No running across the street. If you're absolutely sure you have to cross, gather and wait for a parent and cross together slowly and safely. After reading it once all the way through, read it again in parts and solve it bit by bit.
Most children love to solve puzzles.
However, as the years go by and the kids get more and more proficient, you'll want to take two or three hours to build your hunts. You can even use elaborate clues that require compasses, measuring strings, math games, or scientific codes to figure them out. For example, one year, I wrote a clue that led the kids to an old bike in our garage and instructed them to roll the bike to a certain spot outdoors. When they did, someone noticed a piece of red tape on the front tire and solved the second part of the riddle, which indicated that the next clue was 100 revolutions away. The kids rolled the bike along the path and stopped when the red tape had touched the ground exactly 100 times.