Nature Scavenger Hunt

A nature scavenger hunt is a great way to get your children and family outside to enjoy the outdoors! In this blog post, we are going to talk about different ways to complete a scavenger hunt outside. We have made a list of items you can find, but you could also make your own scavenger hunt and tailor it to be more specific to your home or location. Here are some nature scavenger hunt ideas:

- Try to find items that are all the same colors, for example, a red bird and red flower or a green leaf, green insect, etc.

- Challenge your child to find 5 different types of flowers or 5 different colors of leaves.

- I Spy: You could also search for objects and say “I spy with my little eye, something blue, something with 4 legs, something that rhymes with bee (tree), etc." I Spy is a great way to make the scavenger hunt fun.

- Leaf rub: First, take paper and a crayon. Next, put the leaf under the paper. Then color to get the outline of the leaf. You could gather various leaves during your hunt and take them home to complete the leaf rubbing!

- Find different rocks or leaves to take home and paint.

- Provide clues for your child to follow while on your scavenger hunt, each clue leading to the next clue. You could provide rewards for solving each clue or one big reward at the end.

- Take paper and pencil for your child to sketch what they see during the nature scavenger hunt, such as:

1. Flowers
2. Leaves
3. Trees
4. Sun
5. Birds
6. Plants
7. Animals
8. Insects

- Focus on all senses: hear, touch, smell, and see. Have your child listen for certain noises, feel different textures, smell flowers, etc. Ask questions like, "How many rocks can you find? How many squirrels can you spot? How many legs does the insect have?"

1. Listen to...
2. Leaves under your feet
3. Wind in the trees
4. Sound of a bee
5. Birds singing
6. Feel...
7. Tree bark
8. Prickly plant
9. Wet mud
10. Smell...
11. Pine tree
12. Flower
13. Mud
14. Watch...
15. Animals eating
16. Leaves falling to the ground
17. Spider web w/insect
18. Ant moving an object
19. Wind blowing the leaves
20. Fish jumping
21. Clouds going by

- Add in gross motor movements, such as “skip to the next tree,” or “pretend you are walking on a small rope and walk one foot in front of the other.”

- Take a clipboard and write the words of what you find on your hunt. Use the letters:

1. N
2. A
3. T
4. U
5. R
6. E

-Created by: Krystan Inman, COTA/L & Michelle Lowe, COTA/L