Are your kids bored? Starting to pester each other? Are YOU bored? Well friends, I have the answer … a SCAVENGER HUNT!
Scavenger hunts are so much fun for kids and a great way to turn any day around. I wanted to share scavenger hunt ideas for kids with you right here so you would have the perfect clues or ideas for whatever suited your fancy.
My busy boys love doing activities like this. We have done them at the cottage, at birthday parties, and really any rainy day at all. Sometimes we make them ridiculously simple. Other times we make them a bit of a challenge. On this list you will find ALL THE IDEAS. Some you can do right now with no prep, some have lists you can print off, and some take a little bit of planning.
I hope you love these Scavenger Hunt Ideas for Kids:
Indoor Scavenger Hunt Ideas
A Rainbow Scavenger Hunt, This is one of those nice and easy ideas that you can do right now with no set up. Simply have your little ones hunt around for all the different colours of the rainbow!
scavenger hunt to find colours, You can learn so much when you are on these adventures with your little ones. This idea is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers. Hunt around with sticky notes to find all sorts of colours.
A learn to write hunt, Speaking of learning, this easy idea is awesome for little ones learning to read and write. Best of all, if you have a reluctant writer, they will be having too much fun to realize they are writing.
A Rainbow Writing Scavenger Hunt, Did your child just LOVE the learn to write hunt above? Challenge them to a Rainbow Writing Scavenger Hunt! Use all the marker colours of the rainbow to locate and write objects of different colours!
Mapping Scavenger Hunt, This one is probably my most favourite of all. The LEARNING with this one friends! Whew! And you don’t need any special supplies either. It does take a little bit of time to set up, but I promise it is worth every moment.
Rhyming Riddles Scavenger Hunt, By Celebrate Everyday with Me – If you are new to scavenger hunt ideas for kids, this free printable is an easy primer. These hunts require children to read a riddle that directs them to the location of their next clue. All clues in this printable involve everyday household items or locations.
Indoor Low Prep or Printable Scavenger Hunt Ideas:
Riddles Scavenger Hunt – Birthday Theme, By Play. Party. Plan – Scavenger hunts with rhyming riddles are great for big groups. Here is one with a birthday theme.
Egg Surprise Scavenger Hunt, By Alice & Lois – Add little treats or notes for silly tasks to Easter eggs to nourish, energize and motivate their search. This is an especially good idea for preschoolers and younger children.
Balloon Pop Scavenger Hunt, By Burlap and Blue – Another great way to hide scavenger hunt items is inside balloons. Hide small prizes or letters to a secret message!
Math Scavenger Hunt, By Family Math Night – This game encourages your kids to see math all around them. It is a great cross between a scavenger hunt and bingo!
Dictionary Scavenger Hunt, By Moms and Munchkins – This scavenger hunt can be a rich learning experience for older children. Early-readers can use a visual dictionary to find images from a list you have created. Then, they can fill in the missing letters for the word or copy it entirely underneath.
Storybook Scavenger Hunt – Print a list of words or pictures for children to locate throughout their favorite storybook. Then, they can place mini sticky notes directly into the book to indicate they have found the items.
Atlas Scavenger Hunt – By Education Possible – This is a great activity for middle-schoolers and can encourage team work between siblings. Similarly to the storybook idea, pre-readers can use a preschool atlas and locate simple images with sticky notes.
Outdoor Scavenger Hunt Ideas
A Rock-ing Scavenger Hunt, Grab some rocks and add some letters to make this easy adventure for little learners.
Nature Scavenger Hunt for Toddlers, By Toddlers at Play – In one row of your egg carton, show your toddler or preschooler an example of what they should find. Then they get to go off and explore, finding the same items themselves. What an easy way to involve little ones in a scavenger hunt!
Alphabet Hunt and Nature Walk, By Table Life Blog – Go exploring outdoors and look for letter shapes in nature. Can you spot the letter Y in a flower or T in a tree? This scavenger hunt idea could be fun and challenging for young kids and even some preschoolers. You can easily use this idea indoors as well.
Backyard Scavenger Hunt, By So Easy Being Green – This a great way for the whole family, including pre-readers, to explore the great outdoors or their own backyards. If your kiddos can’t get enough, So Easy Being Green has provided an extended list of items to search for.
Wonderfully Creative Outdoor Scavenger Hunts!
Animal Prints Scavenger Hunt, By Exploration America – Aren’t these animal print cards AMAZING?! I get very giddy about these things. Add animal tracks that might be unique to your area with some quick research, then run to the hills!
Name-that-Tree Scavenger Hunt, By Edventures with Kids – You can start a great science lesson with your children by challenging them to this scavenger hunt. Collect leaves, seeds or sticks from trees in your area and place them in a jar. Have your kiddos try to match the correct jar to the correct tree, then explore and discuss!
Outdoor Compass Treasure Hunt, By The Crafting Chicks – Teach and apply new skills by adding a compass to a scavenger hunt!
Tag Scavenger Hunt, By Get Your Holiday On – The key idea is that the items (or images, words, or clues) that you are looking for are on the backs of one or more of the hunt participants. You can take this idea in many different directions!
Anywhere and Everywhere Scavenger Hunt Ideas
Colour Hunt, By i heart crafty things – This scavenger hunt is easy to set-up and great for toddlers to young kids. If you don’t have white paper bags, staple your color legend to any bag that you have on hand.
Colour Hunt 2.0, By Miss Humblebees Academy – Here is a great way to add some numeracy skills to your color scavenger hunt. Have your children “graph” their items by taping them in rows or bars. At the end, you can ask them to count the items in each row or compare amounts.
First Letter Sound ABC Scavenger Hunt By Or So She Says – Trying to find items that start with each letter of the alphabet is a fun and easy scavenger hunt to whip out any time, anywhere. Alternatively, younger children still learning to spell can draw a picture. The link above provides additional hunt printables.
Photo Scavenger Hunt, By Craftaholics Anonymous – Photo scavenger hunts are great for including the whole family and make for fabulous, often hilarious, memories captured in real time. You can use whatever camera technology you have at home to capture the fun tasks Craftaholics Anonymous provides here. Frame your photos or use them in a scrapbook!
Scavenger Hunt Cards, By Mas and Pas – I love how Mas and Pas has made it just THAT much easier to have a scavenger hunt always ready to go. These printable and customizable cards are great for indoors and out and can easily be tucked into a bag.
Grocery Store Scavenger Hunt, By The Produce Moms – This is a fun way to learn fun facts about your children and keep them engaged while shopping! (Who knew Billy liked the smell of blue cheese… it explains so much… ) This link provides a cornucopia (ha!) of additional grocery shopping games you can play.
Collaboration Friendly Scavenger Hunts:
Message Reveal, By Spot of Tea Designs – Have your child search for Easter Eggs (or other small containers) and hide letters or words inside. Once they have found all the containers, your children can arrange the words or letters to spell a special message! This family found out they were going to Disney!
Puzzle Treasure Hunt, By My Kids Adventures – You can create this scavenger hunt with an already-made puzzle or create one yourself with familiar photos. Hide the pieces then come together to make the puzzle. Fun for the whole family!
Secret Codes, By Pickle Bums – Why have your kids simply read a clue when you can get them to DECODE a clue! Middle school children and some younger ones will love adding this element of mystery to their hunt! Pickle Bums shares a great list of secret code ideas you can use.
NOT for Your Eyes Only…
Five Senses Nature Scavenger Hunt, By Childhood 101 – Outdoor scavenger hunts are a great way to explore nature with all your senses. Add suggestions from this great list to any of your scavenger hunt ideas for kids!
Listening Scavenger Hunt, By Growing Hands on Kids – Here are some additional ideas for a five senses scavenger hunt. This activity provides a unique way to explore your backyard, a park or a forest.
Trip Experiences Scavenger Hunt, By The Crazy Outdoor Mama – This experiences scavenger hunt is a wonderful way to encourage your children to get the most out of a family trip. Children can add drawings or photos of each experience to a journal or directly to the printable provided.
Kindness Scavenger Hunt, By Kiddie Matters – Scavenger hunt ideas for kids don’t have to be limited to looking for “things.” This activity encourages children to “look for” opportunities to be kind to others, think outside of themselves and experience the joys of kindness. There are printable options for home and school and for younger and older children.
Service Scavenger Hunt, By A Girl and her Glue Gun – Here is another unique scavenger hunt for acts of service. This could be a fun activity to work on within a family, church group or class over multiple days. More than one printable idea is provided.
Gratitude Scavenger Hunt, By Natural Beach Living – This beautiful idea can inspire your children to begin making a habit of seeing what there is to be grateful for in their everyday. Encourage participants to share their answers as it is a great way to get to know others. This is a perfect lead up activity to Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Well there you have them friends. More scavenger hunt ideas for kids than you could ever possibly need. I hope you have found one or two that are absolutely perfect for you and yours.
Activities like this are not only chalk full of learning, but the most beautiful memory makers too.
Thank you so much for reading,
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