Scavenger Hunt for Children is Great Fun

We have the very final post in our 31 days of activities today; and this is from Rice Cakes and Raisins, and offers our kids a way of exploring through a nature scavenger hunt.

A Nature hunt is a wonderful way of encouraging your children to explore the natural world. Incorporating a nature walk into your family walk or into garden time is both fun and educational too! Children will delight in finding the creature or object they are searching for and it’s a great opportunity for parents to discuss nature and the outdoor world with them too.

Nature hunts encourage children to get up close and personal with nature and to study their surroundings in detail, becoming mini detectives on the way! A Nature hunt is a great way of encouraging them to have a dose of fresh air, will keep them entertained and occupied and will also help them discover new and interesting things about the world around them.

There are many different types of nature hunt for your children to enjoy. Children may even like to make their own. Here are a few different types of nature activities you may like to try with your children.

Seasonal nature scavenger hunt

Different seasons throughout the year offer new and interesting things for us all to discover and so your nature hunt can be tailored to include these. In spring, children can look for new shoots, snowdrops, daffodils and tiny buds on the trees for example. In Autumn, they will love to find conkers, acorns and different coloured leaves! We have a few seasonal scavenger hunts on the site, including a Summer and a Winter one. We have even got a Christmas indoors and outdoors scavenger hunt if it’s that time of year! If there is a elf involved, we have some elf scavenger hunt clue sheets you can print out too.

Imaginative play nature hunts

If your child has a particular interest, this can be incorporated into your nature hunt. If they love dinosaurs, they could pretend they are searching for dinosaurs. They could search for the plants or bugs the dinosaurs might like eating, where they might live and where they might be hiding! Shhh, make sure they don’t see you!

Colourful nature hunts

Children will love finding different coloured objects in nature. Simply providing them with a little bucket or paper bag and selecting a colour for them to find within nature will provide lots of fun.

Bug nature hunt

This is a great nature hunt for curious little ones! They will love searching through grass and lifting up rocks to see which little creatures are scuttling about. It’s also interesting to see if you can identify what they all are. Alternatively, you could give your child a particular insect to find and see how long it takes them to locate one!

Texture nature scavenger hunts

There are lots of different textures to explore in nature for example, spongy ferns, rough bark, jagged rocks and smooth pebbles. How many different textures can they find and which is their favourite?

Book themed nature hunts

Bring your child’s favourite story to life by letting it be the inspiration for your nature hunt. If your child loves The Gruffalo for example, you could try and find the Gruffalo’s home, the tree where the owl lives or the fox’s underground house!

Make your own nature hunt #31daysofactivities

Children will also love to make their own nature hunt. They can decide what they would like to search for and will enjoy creating a chart where they draw and colour the pictures. What fun!

Happy hunting!

<< To download the nature hunt – just click on the circular image under this and it is yours to have a go at. >>

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