Scavenger Hunt Ideas For Kids

Use these easy Scavenger Hunt Ideas For Kids to get them excited about spending time outside! They can help make walks more interesting, teach them about nature and are great for practicing things like numbers and colors!

Hi friends!

If you follow me on Instagram, I’m sure you already know all about our 100 Mile Summer challenge, but just in case you don’t, lemme fill you in!

At the beginning of the summer, I made it my mission to get my kids outside for at least a little bit every day. We have a perfect one-mile loop around our neighborhood which is nice.

So together, we set a goal to walk/ride/scooter/stroll 100 miles over the course of the summer. 

This weekend we hit 75 miles! School starts August 15th so we have until then to knock out the last 25. It hasn’t always been easy to get them out the door. But honestly, it has pretty much become a daily habit at this point so they rarely put up too much of a fight. Sometimes they’re content to ride their bikes or scooters or just sit in the stroller. My 4.5-year-old isn’t allowed in the stroller. He has to be physically moving. But some days they need a little something to keep their interest. 

Enter scavenger hunts. We use them to help distract the kids, make the walks more exciting and engage their brains!

Here are some of the different types of scavenger hunts we’ve done so far and a few we haven’t tried yet.

Scavenger Hunt Ideas For Kids

• Make a nature scavenger hunt list with pictures if they can’t read, put it on a clipboard and give them a little bag to collect the things on their list.
• Give them your phone and let them take pictures of the things on their list.
• Search for colors, shapes or traffic things like stop signs or traffic cones.
• Search for different colors or types of cars.
• Search for all the letters of the alphabet on license plates, street signs etc.
• Make it a “sounds” scavenger hunt so they’re listening for things like birds tweeting, horns honking.
• Play “I spy” so you’re both looking for things.
• Draw a basic map of the walk and have them mark where they find each item.
• Take pictures on a walk one day and then have them look for the things in the pictures or the places in the pictures the next day on the same route.
• Turn what they collect into an art project when you get back.
• Have an indoor hunt if it’s rainy or too hot.
• Make BINGO boards with things you might see on your walk and see who can get bingo on their board first.
• Mark the halfway point on your walk. Collect a few things on the first half of your walk and see if you can find a “match” on the second half!

Have any ideas to add to our list? Leave them in the comments! Too hot to go outside? Check out these Indoor Activities For Toddlers and these 10 Cheap Toddler Activities!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–