Free Printable Scavenger Hunts for Kids

An easy way to get kids active and learning outside is to go on a scavenger hunt. My daughter loves doing nature walks and observing things (here’s one we did in the fall that includes seeing, hearing and collecting items as you go). They’re sutiable fo all seasons and can be adapted for wherever you live, depending on what you’re likely to see when you go out.

Buggy and Buddy has a great list of more than 30 printable scavenger hunts, so you’re sure to find something that will suit your needs. There’s a wide range of ideas here, including:

color hunt
sound hunt
hiking scavenger hunt
night scavenger hunt
bug scavenger hunt
airplane scavenger hunt
beach scavenger hunt
zoo scavenger hunt
Christmas scavenger hunt

It’s pretty easy to make your own scavenge hunt checklist, too; I made mine in Word with a little clip art and some squares to make checkboxes. And you can always do a nature walk without a printable and just write down or draw pictures of things you observe. Count trees and squirrels in the city or collect a great rock, and kids will have fun walking wherever you are.

Do you like to do scavenger hunts? I’d love to hear about what you go looking for!

[Photo via Buggy and Buddy.]

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Camping Printable Games for Your Outdoor Adventures

We don’t really have any travel to speak of planned this summer, and my daughter is old enough that any lengthy time in the car is usually spent with an audiobook or watching videos. But I remember the struggle of keeping little kids entertained on long trips, especially if you don’t want them on a screen the whole time.

I recently saw this post from Creating Really Awesome Fun Things, which is a roundup of 26 road trip games, ideas and activities that kids can do. From stringing beads onto pipe cleaners to felt busy boards, travel journals and using a pizza box to contain colors, trains (or cars) and more, there are lots of fun and easy ideas here.

I’m a big fan of printable road trip activities, and even have a whole post all about printables for road trips. I used to always do some kind of license plate game, a map, mazes and I-spy style scavenger hunts, which are fun for everyone in the car to play along with. (You can also find some patriotic road trip mazes here.) If your road trip includes a camping trip, check out these camping themed printable games and activities.

Productive Pete has a super cute map of the United States (pictured above) that kids can use in lots of different ways while on the road. They can color the states you travel through, or all the states they’ve ever visited, or use it to give the license plate game an extra challenge as they try to find each state on the map. You can quiz older kids on the state capitols, which you might need to brush up on yourself (guilty!).

Do you have particular games or activities that you always have on hand when you are doing a road trip with kids? I would love to hear about them!

[Photo: Productive Pete.]

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