Nature Scavenger Hunt

Nature Scavenger Hunt

How long it’ll take:

20-30 minutes

What the goal is:

Campers should gain appreciation and a more detailed awareness of their outdoor environment.

What the objectives are:

Campers should have fun using their senses and creativity to find different objects in their environment.

What you’ll need:

Nothing!

What you’ll do:

1. Circle up your campers and ask them what the five senses of the body are (hear, touch, see, taste, smell.) Explain that they will be using their senses to go on a scavenger hunt and identify different objects.

2. Explain to the campers that they will have 60 seconds (or less if that seems like too long) per round to find an item that fits your description.

• Share with the campers that its totally okay if the items they find do not exactly fit the description you gave. encourage them to be creative and do their best!

• Tell campers to only grab items that are in easy reach and easy to carry. Also remind them to practice LNT! They can point to the object they found without disturbing it if need be.

3. Set boundaries for the activity by walking around an area or pointing out landmarks that indicate the barrier.

• If campers are allowed to go inside and it won't cause a distraction to the adults (use wisdom here), feel free to include items in the scavenger hunt that they can grab from indoors. Instruct campers to be extra considerate and to move carefully and quietly as they WALK through the house. Be Scavenger Hunt Ninjas!

4. Begin the Scavenger Hunt! give 30-60 seconds each round for campers to grab an item that fits your description. After each round, have campers share the item that they found and why they chose it.

• Example items: Something that starts with the letter C, Something red, Something fuzzy, Three different kinds of leaves, Three different colored leaves, Something hard, Something soft, Something that makes a noise, Something that smells, Something that can fit in your hand, Something bigger than your hand, Something circular, Something you could use to build an outdoor shelter, Something that smells, Something you can eat (but don't eat it!), etc.

• You can even have the campers come up with additional categories on their own for one another!

5. Play for 15 min or longer depending on camper interest. Adjust the difficulty of the scavenger hunt each round as needed.

*Consider playing this game while out on a hike with the group in addition to at home.

Variation (requires a piece of paper, pen/pencil, and coloring material for each camper):

• Instead of picking a new item every round, explain to the campers that they will have to find an animal (remind them of the LNT rule of thumb), a plant, a rock, and something in the sky. Then, they will draw what they found on their paper.

• Give campers 15 min (or more depending on their engagement) to find and draw their items. Challenge the campers to try to find something to fit all 4 categories that is different than the other campers in the group (you can give all unique items found/drawn 10 pts and if any campers draw an item that another camper has, then they only get 5 points. Scrap this idea if light competition doesn't seem like a good idea with the group).

• If an older/high functioning group, add more categories to the scavenger hunt. Ex: Something you could use to build an outdoor shelter, something that smells, something of a certain color, something you can eat (but don't eat it!), something soft, something hard, etc.

• After the scavenger hunt, circle back up and give each camper the chance to show their drawings and describe what they identified.