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The girl got Kiwi Crates for a full year (and I actually just resubscribed after almost a year to get the super-cute time traveler series they’re doing right now) but I found we weren’t always using the stuff right away because we have so many other craft supplies and projects in the house.
In fact, there’s still a big stack of untouched projects in the playroom, but that’s great for when we just need something to do.
We cracked into a couple when the girl was on her summer break, and one of them offered a great idea that will be fun for you as the seasons change and beyond.
One of the boxes (the nature explorer box, in fact) had this really cute little nature treasure hunt box. The child can decorate the box and then put together the dividers that go inside the box to hold the different things you find.
The kit came with several different treasure hunt options, including looking for different shapes and colors and a blank page so you can just collect whatever you like.
The box is small, so some of the things she found wouldn’t fit, but it was still a great way to focus her observations when we were outside. I’d love to do this again once the leaves start changing and even in the winter to see what different things of those shapes and colors we can find in different seasons.
If you wanted to do this without the use of the crate, you could make your own collection box out of a shoebox or similar small, portable box. Add dividers made out of cereal boxes if desired.
Or just take along a sack and a printable list of things to look for and you’re sure to have a great time observing and collecting. You could also just have a list and a camera and collect pictures of the different shapes, colors and items, then print them out and make a collage or another sort of art project with them. (Of course you could also use the things you collect on a nature walk in art as well.)
Printable Nature Scavenger Hunt Lists
There are so many options for nature scavenger hunts. Here are a few great lists to get you started.
- This park scavenger hunt printable from Penny Carnival is also a coloring page. Take some crayons and color in the things you find.
- The island scavenger hunt from Counting Coconuts is perfect for a beach vacation. Or if you’re lucky enough to live near a beach. In which case I’m not sure we can be friends.
- Smashed Peas and Carrots has a great printable that’s just symbols and is great for when going on a walk (more things that aren’t nature like stop signs, cars and flags, but it’s still adorable and great for getting the kids to notice things).
- The Taylor House has an all text printable that you can laminate and use over and over.
- Another cute one (though a lot of these are not really for collecting) is from The Bird Feed NYC, which includes things like a log, two similar rocks and a cloud.
- Carla Schauer has a great post on camping with tweens that includes scavenger hunt lists for bigger kids and littles.
Make Your Own List
You can also make your own nature scavenger hunt/collection list based on what you’re likely to find in your area, what season it is and the age of your child/children.
Younger kids can find things that are a particular color or shape, for instance, while preschool age kids can be asked to collect a certain number of things. Older kids can be further challenged with things like “something that starts with the same letter as your first name” or ” a stick that looks like an L.” Or let the kids make the list and see what they can find!
Have you ever done a nature scavenger hunt with your kids? I’d love to hear about it and if you did anything crafty with the stuff you collected!
2 Comments
I just wrote about scavenger hunts this summer! I love creating our own lists. 🙂 here’s my post. (Shameless plug)
http://www.seelauriewrite.com/2014/06/15/staycation-scavenger-hunt/
Such a fun, easy thing to do!