Outdoor Science Scavenger Hunt for Kids

A scavenger hunt is an easy way to get a child looking closely at a place they walk through every day. The trick is to make the list about noticing, not just collecting. “Find something rough” asks for more attention than “find a pine cone”.

You can run this in a garden, a park, a school yard, a balcony or a quiet street. It works for one child, or a group of mixed ages. Everyone should wash their hands afterwards.

Before you go

Bring a bag, a pencil and a clipboard or a book to lean on.
Agree rules: look and touch gently, leave living things where they are, and take photos or draw rather than picking flowers.
Do not taste any plant, berry or mushroom. Do not touch anything you cannot identify with your bare hands if you are unsure, and avoid broken glass, sharp litter and animal droppings. Stay where an adult can see everyone.
Keep away from water edges and roads unless an adult is holding hands.

List 1: Senses hunt (ages 3 to 6)

Find something that is:

rough, smooth and bumpy
smaller than your thumbnail
bigger than your head
a colour you did not expect
making a sound (wind, birds, a leaf)
warm in the sun and cool in the shade
shaped like a circle

For each, they point, you say the word, and they might draw one. No collecting is needed.

List 2: Living and non-living (ages 5 to 8)

Find and sketch:

Something living
Something that was once living (a dead leaf, a twig)
Something that has never been alive
A place where an animal might live
A sign that an animal has been there (a nibbled leaf, a feather, tracks in mud)
Something that grows toward the light

Afterwards, sort the drawings into groups and ask how they decided. Some will be tricky, like a seed. That is a good conversation. The unit on what animals and plants need to live builds on this.

List 3: Measure and compare (ages 8 to 12)

Give older children tools and ask for numbers:

Find the longest leaf and measure it in centimetres.
Count the petals on three flowers of the same kind. Are they the same?
Compare the temperature of a sunny spot and a shady spot with a thermometer.
Pace out 10 metres (about 33 ft) and count your steps. Then compare with someone else.
Estimate the height of a tree using its shadow and a metre stick.
Count the types of creature you can find in one square metre of ground. Use a string or hoops to mark it. Look, do not dig.

Ways to make it a bigger project

Sort and classify. Back home, ask “How could we group these?” Colour, size and shape are all fine. There is no single right answer.

Do it again. Repeat the hunt in a different season, and compare. Our post on what to look for each season in your backyard helps.

Pick one question. “Why were there more insects under the bush than on the path?” Write it in a notebook. Come back and look for evidence.

For a group

Mix ages in teams so older children can read and measure while younger ones spot and point. Give each team the same list and set a time. Then gather and share what each team found. Do not score on “most items”, since that rewards grabbing. Award “most interesting observation” instead.

What if there is little nature nearby?

Even a city pavement has weeds in cracks, moss on walls, insects, birds, puddles and shadows. A hunt can include stone types in walls, patterns in clouds and changes in light. Whatever your place, it counts.

After the hunt

Ask:

What surprised you?
What did you see that you would never have seen from a car?
What do you want to look at more closely?

Where to go next

Our post on keeping a nature journal with your child gives a gentle way to record what you find, and the schoolyard bioblitz works well for groups. The lesson How can a seed travel without legs? is a good follow-up if you found seeds along the way.