“Are we going on another boring walk again?” That was my four-year-old son’s reaction when I said that we were going to the park. Boy, did that take the steam out of my excitement for a family activity. The playgrounds are still closed, and for some reason, a nice uneventful walk is not my son’s idea of fun. My husband and I have been trying to find easy activities to keep the kids busy. The problem is that our go-to places are closed. We older parents have to recall the days of our youth where we had nothing to entertain us, except for sticks and dirt. I figured I had to do better and create free scavenger hunt printables for kids. If you already have access to my freebie library you can find them there. Otherwise, please subscribe
Why A Scavenger Hunt
There are already plenty of free scavenger hunt printables for kids out there, Nikki. Yes, there are so I have to put my resourceful spin on it. I am giving you a park, neighborhood, color, and party scavenger hunt along with blank spaces to add to each list and an additional blank page. That’s in case you need to create a list to match your world.
Additional Scavenger Hunt Ideas For the Blank Page
The Alphabet
For the little ones, I have created a color scavenger hunt. If you want to take it a step further, you can do an alphabet scavenger hunt. Find the letters of the alphabet around your house or outside. It can be the actual letter or an object that starts with each letter. For “C” let them check off a car.
Selfie Scavenger Hunt
You can do the same alphabet or color challenge but allow older children to use their phones to capture each item. They can then post it on their Tik Tok and make it a hashtag challenge. Do they have to find people wearing those clothing colors or alphabet letters, Nikki? Leave the directions open to interpretation, don’t box them in. I find it more of a fun challenge when you don’t set a lot of rules. Besides, it’s less work on your end, so send them off and relax on the couch. There should be fun for everybody!
Keep Your List Generic
I wrote each list with generic things you would see. When things are generic, you can allow for various interpretations. I have a bird on the list, and my son did not think to check off the duck we saw earlier. He takes things literally. My daughter immediately checked off the duck! It also allows all age ranges to participate. My daughter had as much fun on the park scavenger hunt as her brother. It was simple enough for my son to grasp but mature enough for my eleven-year-old to join in. The whole family could have participated. For example, what he considered a bird she interpreted as a goose.
Let Them Read It Ahead Of Time
So in the first test run of these free scavenger hunt printables for kids, I realized that my son needed time to process what he was looking for while my daughter was off and running immediately. He began to understand the hunt better as he studied the list, and he remembered seeing some of the items when we first started. By the halfway mark in our park scavenger hunt, he had grasped the concept.
I gave them both a marker to check off what they found. Aside from stopping and taking up the whole of the walking trail, it was pretty hilarious! They ran around the park, because all kids run when they are searching for things. So high five to me because they exercised their mind and their muscles!
My son, who does not like boring walks, told me that it was the best walk ever. Four-year-olds are messy, they’re loud, and they can’t sit still, but they will never lie to make you feel better. He even said he wanted to do it again. So does he want to look for the same things? I don’t think it would bother him if he did look for the same things. His age group finds comfort in repetition, but my daughter may need some variety.
I hope that you can use and reuse my free scavenger hunt for kids. I encourage you to make your own, keep it simple and have fun! Scavenger hunts are hilarious, except when you are looking for your car keys or the eyeglasses sitting right on your face!
Do you know a mom who could use a scavenger hunt to keep her children busy this summer? Please share this post! What are some other excellent scavenger hunt ideas? Share in the comments!
