Autumn is a wonderful time to enjoy the great outdoors. The atmosphere has become cool, crisp, and breezy. The seasons are in transition and the leaves outside have started morphing from their summery green pigment to beautiful, vibrant shades of red, orange, and yellow, and animals can be spotted out and about foraging for food in preparation for the upcoming colder months. This is a time of the year that should be taken advantage of, and what better way to do so than with a fun for the whole family Fall scavenger hunt!
Scavenger hunts are also a great learning tool. Be sure to point out the differences of the seasons and the changes that nature goes through annually. Incorporate colors, shapes, and counting in your hunt or use a hands on approach and put items like “rough bark” or a “smooth leaf” on your list, something tactile, so your child can feel the differences in the items.
The basics for an Autumn scavenger hunt can be found all around you in nature so the best places to do these hunts are at local parks, hiking trails, or if it’s large enough, your own backyard. Traditionally with a scavenger hunt you would complete the list by picking up each item and bringing them along with you while you continued to search for other items, but nowadays you can also opt to take pictures of the found items instead of picking them up.
Also, for children still too young to read on their own, you might want to use clipart images instead of words and lists to depict what they are going to be looking for on the scavenger hunt.
Happy hunting!
What You’ll Need:
- A bucket or bag to place the found items in
- A magnifying glass to see the items up close and personal
- Camera/Camera phone (If you’d rather take photos of the items, instead of pick them up)
Scavenger Hunt List
- Red Leaf
- Bird Feather
- Pine Needle
- Black Rock
- Yellow Leaf
- Acorn
- Orange Leaf
- Pinecone
- Pointy Leaf
- Large Stick
- Berries
- Leaf With 5 Points
- Twig
- Oval Shaped Rock
- Smooth Leaf
- Moss
- See Through Leaf
- Flower
- Winged Seed
- Rough Tree Bark
Photo by George Bosela via Free Images