How to Nest for Less™

Nature Scavenger Hunt for the Kids {FREE Printable}

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An exiting, outdoor nature scavenger hunt for kids! This little treasure hunt is lots of fun and a great way to explore the outdoors!

Nature Scavenger Hunt for Kids with printable and paper bag name tags.
Table Of Contents
  1. Benefits of Scavenger Hunts for Kids
  2. How to Plan a Scavenger Hunt for Kids
  3. Scavenger Hunt Ideas
  4. Free Printable: Nature Scavenger Hunt For Kids
  5. Free Printable: Nature Scavenger Hunt for Kids Bag Name Tags
  6. Free Printables: Print Ink-Friendly Versions
  7. More Fun Activities for Kids

Do your little ones like playing detective? It doesn’t matter what the “mystery” is, but mine love finding where one clue leads to the next.

All that to say, one of  my favorite kids activities to do with the little ones is a kids scavenger hunt! Have you ever tried one of these?

Little girl holding a nature scavenger hunt paper.

Benefits of Scavenger Hunts for Kids

Scavenger hunts are an entertaining and educational past time for young children.

They help children learn problem solving, decision making, and logic skills.

How to Plan a Scavenger Hunt for Kids

Here are some tips to get you started on your next family scavenger hunt.

Pick a Scavenger Hunt Theme

Think about what type of theme would interest your particular group or age range best and incorporate it into your scavenger hunt.

You could do something that ties in with an upcoming holiday or pick something like flowers and plants around the house or outdoors, shapes in nature, natural elements like rocks, seashells, leaves, etc., or even just pick random items from around the house you’d like the kids to find.

Create Clues

To create clues that lead children to each piece of the scavenger hunt, think of creative hints they will have fun trying to solve. Every correct answer can lead to another clue until they’ve completed their list of items or collected enough points to win.

If you decide on natural elements as part of your scavenger hunt theme then use rhymes, descriptions about the item’s characteristics or provide coordinates where they need to go in order to search for the item.

Encourage Teamwork

Getting out there and searching for different items makes teamwork an essential part when participating in a scavenger hunt for young kids.

Teamwork will help them support each other overall goal as well as share ideas together which brings out their strengths as one cohesive unit. This helps build trust among peers while developing relationships through effective communication tools by working towards their common goal(s).

Scavenger Hunt Ideas

Indoor Scavenger Hunt

Rainy or cold outside? Have an indoor scavenger hunt!

Use Rhymes

Use rhymes about the item’s characteristics.

Location

Provide the locations where they need to go in order to search for the items.

Birthday Party Scavenger Hunt

Work a scavenger hunt for kids into your next birthday party!

Clues

Integrate clues into your scavenger hunt like breadcrumbs or footprints!

Vacation

Have a scavenger hunt while on vacation!

Free Printable: Nature Scavenger Hunt For Kids

This game is great learning tool for the kids that helps them interact with their outdoor surroundings as they’re walking around nature looking around for things on their scavenger hunt list!

They’ll have a ball searching high and low for all the goodies on their list! Plus it’s fun for you as a parent to see them feel such a simple sense of accomplishment.

The little girl showing what she has to find in the scavenger hunt.

There’s 20 items total to find on the list, including special items of a certain color, shape and texture. These will work with any elementary age school kids or younger. You can make it a little harder or easier depending on your child!

In the case of you having older kids, maybe their nature scavenger hunt has a time limit on it. Or they can only find things in the front yard OR the backyard.

Find, touch, shapes and colors on the nature scavenger hunt paper for kids.
right click image to print

Free Printable: Nature Scavenger Hunt for Kids Bag Name Tags

I also included some name tags that you can adhere to brown paper bags. Below is a blank version that you can add your kids’ names onto with PicMonkey, Photoshop or even Paint. Another option is just add the names in marker or stickers!

Paper bags for the collection of goods found for kid scavenger hunt.

Trim out the name tags and attach to your paper bags. It’s a great way to hold all the goodies the kids are collecting in the outdoor scavenger hunt!

If you’re a paper-free or eco-friendly family, you can get a reusable bag and maybe just attach the name tag to the bag with a safety pin. They also make sticker paper that you could print on and so when you cut these stickers out, they’re adhesive and you can stick them to a bag of your choice as well.

Scavenger hunt printable.
right click image to save to your computer

Free Printables: Print Ink-Friendly Versions

After I made these nature scavenger hunt printables, I realized that these might use a ton of ink.

So I made an alternate versions for you that will use less ink.

nature scavenger hunt for kids nametags
nature scavenger hunt for kids nametags
right click image to save to your computer

This Nature Scavenger Hunt is great for any time of year, but definitely a fun activity for your stay-at-home Summer Campers or when you may be on a little staycation for one reason or another!

More Fun Activities for Kids

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The most fun outdoor nature scavenger hunt for kids!
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Comments

  3. marlah24 says

    Thanks so much my Grandkids will love this.

  5. Craig says

    I was amazed at the design and then I read your about me sidebar (of course you’re an art director) . Great design work. Great idea.

  6. Roeshel S (@DIYShowOff) says

    Erin! So much fun! I’m definitely using your printables for our family reunion (collecting ideas for kids and your timing is perfect). I’ll also be including a link back in this week’s highlights. Thanks so much for sharing and the awesome free printables!

  7. Stacey says

    Love the printable nature scavenger hunt, but when I go to print it, it is really big. Do you know how to make image fit on one page? Labels too.

    • howtonestforless says

      Stacy, make sure you’re saving it to your desktop first before printing. Then open the file from your desktop. If you’re still having trouble, try clicking “Fit to Page” option in your printer dialog box. Hope that helps!

  8. Denise says

    Thanks for sharing your talent, Erin! I found your website while looking for a nature scavenger hunt to use in our children’s ministry program. We’ll be using your scavenger hunt this Sunday. I have your website bookmarked and have passed your site address along to a friend who is a crafter and a school librarian.

    P.S. Stacy, thanks for your question. I was experiencing the same challenge when trying to print.

  9. Christine Waverla says

    Love your scavenger hunt! Every year my sister and I have a scavenger hunt with our kids and their friends–we will use this one this year. Thanks for sharing!
    Christine:)
    Math Central

  10. Lisa says

    Thank you so much! I was looking for scavenger hunt ideas and came across this one. It will work out perfectly for my daughters birthday party!

  11. HJ says

    What font did you use for the title and category titles? It’s perfect!

    • howtonestforless says

      I believe it’s called Destroyed. You can download it for free from dafont.com

  12. Rebecca says

    Hello! Printing out this awesome list right now 🙂 Just wanted to let you know too, in the design dazzle post it wasnt letting me click on the images to print. Had to come over here to do so. Wanted to let you know 🙂 Thanks!

  14. Chelsea says

    This is going o be great for the little girl I babysit for, thank you soooooooooooo much!!

  16. Heather ONeill says

    Hi, I love this but clicking on image to print isn’t working. Would you be able to post or send a link? Thank you!
    [email protected]

  17. Anna McDowell says

    THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing these for free! What a fabulous idea…so cute! I’m using them for my Girl Scout troop, as my Brownies are working on their Making Games badge. Having a scavenger hunt is one of the steps required to earn the badge.

    -Anna

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