This is an old idea, but as the saying goes, ‘The old ones are the best!’ A nature hunt is guaranteed to make any child, big or small, want to get outside. It takes a bit of planning but if you know your local area well, you should know which plants / trees etc are around at which time of year.
The idea is very simple. Give each child a sheet of paper with a list of things that they need to find or spot in the surrounding countryside. This could be a certain flower e.g bluebellls, types of seeds, different leaves, butterflies, insects etc. You can also add other things e.g. people walking, birds singing.The activity can easily be varied for different ages. For little children, draw pictures of each object they need to spot so that they can match them up – great for teaching them about different leaf shapes and flower types. For older children, just write the word or even give them a clue.
Stress that they do not need to pick the item, just find it and look at it. Then they can mark it off on their sheet. You can easily make it into a race for older children and see who can find all the objects the quickest – perhaps give them a little camera each to photograph their findings to avoid any possibility of cheating!!
Younger children can just colour or tick their items as they find them.
To make the nature hunt more attractive, put something really enticing on the sheet e.g. treasure!, and tell them they can find that in the garden when they get home. An ice lolly will always go down well, or perhaps a hot chocolate in winter!
This is a great activity as it can be adapted for all ages and numbers of children and is a brilliant way of getting children looking closely at the world around them. It also works well at different times of the year and allows you to teach children about the way nature changes with the seasons.
Have fun!
Categories: children, get kids outdoors competition
Hi Suzanne Great idea! I used to LOVE nature hunts and its startling just how many people have never done them. We have some great gardens and parks around here. My mother runs a local Brownies and I think this would be a wonderful idea for them so I’ll certainly mention it!
I love this idea. When my daughter was younger, she had a sticker book and had to attach the sticker next to the insect/creature/plant detailed and state the date she’d found it. She loved this. I had a similar book when I was little. Mine was for wild flowers and I adored it!
Thank you both for your comments, I’m really glad you like the idea. Maddy, I think the first time I did a nature hunt was when I was a brownie myself many years ago! We used to go out into the woods around our brownie hut and it was great fun. I’ve seen many versions of it over the years since then – it’s good to know that children still enjoy these sorts of activities.
lovely idea! we have just been on a nature hunt with a school trip, and 24 5 yr olds had a ball. they had a sheet with different bugs on it, and had to tally up how many they saw, and what the difference was between the ones found out in the open, under rocks, and in trees. It was fun, and they were learning and getting filthy. The most exciting thing we found was a newt, they loved it!
Great idea Suzanne, I love the versatility of this for different ages and sized groups, and I know my children would enjoy taking part.
Congratulations, Suzanne – a worthy winner! Re-reading your piece brings back fond memories from when I was little, and that’s a treat in itself! Enjoy your spending spree!
Thanks Gem, that’s really kind of you. Glad my post brought back memories for you. I’ve been re-reading the other entries too and there are lots of lovely outdoor ideas on here – now all we need is lots of nice weather to go with them!