Autumn is the perfect time to get outside and have a scavenger hunt.
Young children LOVE collecting and gathering small natural items they find outside. Provide them with a list of local objects to find.
Take your child to the park or your neighborhood to scour the area for the list you provide. As your child explores, take part in the process and engage in dialogue. Connecting like this makes it an exciting process for all of you.
Choose your hunt from the hunt list suggestions below. Or, make your own list.
Discuss the focus of the hunt with your child. You can even draw pictures on a hunt list if your child can't yet read well. When they find objects they are to bring them to you and placed into a bag or special location you have designated. Make the rules clear at beginning of the scavenger hunt. If you don't want your children to pick any plants or flowers, be sure to tell them that before the hunt.
Scavenger List One - Textures
Find objects that are:
- Soft
- Hard
- Bumpy
- Rough
- Smooth
- Ridged and grooved
- Uneven
- Colorful
Scavenger List Two - Lengths
Find objects that are:
- One hand across
- One foot (yours) long
- Able to fit in your hand
- Waist high
- Smaller that a finger nail
- Tiniest
- Biggest
- Oldest
Scavenger List Three - Shapes
- Circle
- Heart shaped
- Triangle
- Rectangular
- Square
- Star shape
- Spherical
- Cylindrical
Scavenger List Four - Find These Items
- Vine
- Bad smell
- Good smell
- Flower
- Root
- Something beautiful
- Something you've never seen before
- Something that will hold things
- Something over very old
- Something brand new
How to Preserve this Memory
Some of the items will be fun to save on a collage. Simply glue objects on heavy card stock, label the items and write the date. This will be a fun memento of the special time you had together outside discovering nature!
