Monday 2 June 2014

Nature's Treasure Hunt


In the years BC (Before Children) I worked with school children in their school grounds.  I used to do a large number of nature based games and activities and I would love to share these with you now.  Over the next few weeks I'll add some of my favourites onto the blog so you and your children can have the fun that the thousands of children I worked with over they years also had.  Today I am offering you:

Nature's Treasure Hunt

Child with a basket in a garden


Copy and print the list below, give your children a small box or bag and send them out on a Treasure Hunt with a difference.  Tell them that whilst they may be able to find some things easily (a feather for example) other things maybe somewhat harder.  After all there are not many dinosaurs to be had these days!  This is where their imagination comes into play.  They need to find something that makes them think about a dinosaur ... I think you may be quite surprised at their ingenuity and lateral thinking.  Ask your children to only collect only natural things that you can return safely and without damage. Let them be as imaginative as possible but set any ground rules you might want i.e. do not cut ALL the flowers in the garden!

For younger children you can make the list shorter or adapt some of the items and work with them to read the list and search for things.

Give your children enough time to find a good number from the list and at the end sit down and go through their finds with them.  You could then use them as the basis for a nature table or return them back to Nature.

Nature's Treasure Hunt - The List.

Green Leaf, Sycamore
A Sycamore leaf ... or is it a dinosaur's footprint?
Green grass, suntrap, natural
Is grass important in Nature?

1. A feather
2. One seed dispersed by the wind
3. Exactly 50 of something
4. A sycamore leaf
5. A thorn
6. Three different kinds of seed
7. A dinosaur
8. Something round
9. Something fuzzy
10. Something beginning with the letter M
11. A chewed leaf (not by you!)
12. Something beautiful
13. A rainbow
14. Something white
15. A badger
16. Something that makes a noise
17. Something important in nature
18. Something dead
19. Something very old
20. Something totally straight
21. A sun trap *
22. A fairy
23. Fire
24. A blue flower
25. A cloud
26. A big smile

* - this is a leaf that traps the energy from the sun to make food for the plant ;)  

Do let me know if you do this and whether your children came up with any very interesting or particularly imaginative finds.  Happy Searching!


18 comments :

  1. I love this, this is something Baba would love so going to print this off and do this with him, may actually adapt it to Bingo as well xx

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    1. Hi Kerry - adapting for Bingo is a great idea. Do let me know how Baba gets on as well.

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  2. That's a great idea. We have done many scavenger hunts, but never thought to include their imaginations in it.
    Thanks for linking #LetKidsBeKids

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    1. It always surprised me what things children came up with too - especially younger children.

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  3. What a good idea. I wonder what sort of things my children would come up with for the more tricky items? #letkidsbekids

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  4. Ive always wanted to do this but I havent had the list yet. Copied yours and next time we go out this will be our itinerary!

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  5. Love this idea! |Think we'll give it a try too :) #letkidsbekids

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  6. What a brilliant idea! I'm going to set my kids a nature treasure hunt on our next walk! #LetKidsBeKids

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  7. My older two would love this, we've done scavenger hunts but this is a little different. Love it :) #LetKidsBeKids

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    1. It was always a favourite with the school children who did it.

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  8. This is such a great idea! I have noted it ready for our June Blog post round up x
    #letkidsbekids

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  9. Such a great idea for younger kids. I totally see a dinosaur's footprint in the sycamore leaf. #goinggreeen

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  10. What a wonderful activity. Thank you for sharing it with us. #GoingGreen

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  11. I love this idea! I may do this with my little sister today. I was trying to find something for us to do. Thanks for sharing on the #WasteLessWednesday blog hop.

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  12. HI Rosie,
    This sounds like a lot of fun especially for kids at a picnic or outing. Thanks for sharing your great idea. Congratulations on being featured on #WasteLessWednesdays Pinned and tweeted. Have a healthy, happy & blessed day.

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