Free printable, no sign-up Outdoor Scavenger Hunt

How to run a nature scavenger hunt

A nature scavenger hunt turns an ordinary walk into a search. Each team carries a sheet and a pencil and checks off each thing they spot. Most of the list is for finding and looking, not for collecting, so you can play it in a backyard, a park or on a trail and leave the place just as it was.

1. 1Pick a place with clear edges: a fenced yard, one part of a park or a short loop of trail.
2. 2Print a sheet for each team. A clipboard or a hardcover book makes a good desk outside.
3. 3Write the team names and the time limit at the top.
4. 4Walk the edges together and agree on a meeting spot, like a bench or a big tree.
5. 5Say go. Teams check off each thing when they see it. They only pick up things that are already on the ground, like a pine cone or a feather, and put them back before leaving.
6. 6Meet at the spot when time is up. Count the checked boxes and let each team tell the story of its best find.

What's on the outdoor scavenger hunt list

The sheet has 30 things you can find in most yards, parks and green spaces: a smooth rock, a pine cone, moss, an ant, a spider web, animal tracks. A few ask kids to use their other senses, like a bird singing or a plant that smells nice. A few are just for looking. The flower says "just look" and the mushroom says "look, don't touch", because some mushrooms aren't safe to handle.

Not every place or season has every find. In the fall, acorns and big leaves are easy, and in spring, worms and dandelions are everywhere. Agree before you start that teams can skip anything that isn't around, and count only the boxes they check.

The list prints in two columns with a box next to each find, under lines for the team name and the time limit. Add your own title and it prints at the top of every copy.

Teams, timing and staying together

Make teams of two to four, and give every team a grown-up, or keep every team within sight of one. In a fenced backyard, one adult can watch the whole game. In a park or on a trail, it's better to hunt as one or two groups that move together.

A backyard hunt takes 20 to 30 minutes. A park or a trail walk can run 45 minutes or more, and that's fine, because the walk is the point. Set a time limit that ends before anyone gets tired, and keep a few minutes at the end to look over the sheets. For a backyard round, the countdown timer on a phone keeps time for everyone.

Mix the order on every copy when teams share the same small space. Each team starts somewhere different on the list, so they spread out instead of crowding around the same tree.

Rules for an outdoor scavenger hunt

• Stay with your adult. Every team has a grown-up with them or in sight the whole time.
• Stay in bounds. If you can't see the meeting spot, you've gone too far.
• No running near roads, parking lots or water, and stay on the path in parks.
• Leave nature as you found it. Don't pick flowers or pull leaves off trees, and put rocks and sticks back where they were.
• Watch animals and bugs, but don't catch them or follow them.
• Look at mushrooms and berries without touching them, and never taste anything you find.
• Wash your hands when you get home.

Prizes and variations

Prizes can be simple: picking the snack, choosing the way home or being the leader on the next walk. Give a point for every checked box and a bonus for the best story about a find.

Ideas for different ages

Toddlers and preschoolers: Hunt together with one sheet and read each find out loud. Point things out, let them touch the rough bark and the soft moss, and stop after ten finds or whenever their legs say so.

Ages 5 to 8: This is the sweet spot for an outdoor scavenger hunt for kids. Teams of two with a grown-up nearby can manage the whole list in a backyard. Let them carry the pencil.

Ages 9 to 12: Add a rule that every find needs a detail, like the shape of the leaf or what the cloud looked like, written next to the box. Mix the order on every copy and set a firm time limit.

Teens and adults: Make it a photo hunt on a hike, or try our photo scavenger hunt for a party. On a rainy day, the indoor scavenger hunt works with things already in the house. More scavenger hunt ideas and party printables are on the printables page.

Questions