Nature Scavenger Hunts

 

Have you ever been on a nature scavenger hunt? I think it would be a fun thing to do with the kids. What you do is make a list or print a free list (with or without pictures) from the internet and go to a park, lake, beach, woods (as long as your in nature) and find the items from the list. The first child to get all the things wins. You can work in groups or alone but the key is to have fun, learn, and explore. 

You can make themes for the lists. You can organize the hunts by categories. You can say hunt for everything that is a certain color, shape, size, only plants, only animals, only insects, a certain activities, etc. The options are endless. 

Here is a list of some of the ideas I have.

• small bird
• large bird
• prickly leaf
• smooth leaf
• leaf that's not green
• smooth bark
• rough bark
• pinecone
• ladybug
• dragonfly
• ant
• fern
• acorn
• dandelion 
• lizard
• snake
• fish
• spider
• caterpillar
• snail

Well you get the idea. This is a great thing to do with the kids because it gets you outdoors, gets some exercise in,, it gets the brain going by sparking creativity. Best of all it doesn't cost anything.