Not only are scavenger huntsfun, but they also challenge children to use their intuition and problem-solving skills along the way.
The thrill of going on a scavenger hunt is both engaging and rewarding, not to mention super fun.
As children work together to uncover clues, solve riddles, and progress their way through the scavenger hunt, teamwork naturally comes into play.
Download our dinosaur egg template and create your own scavenger hunt today!
We love scavenger hunts as a way to play and learn.
One of the most popular ways to hunt at the Children’s Museum of South Dakota is to find a collection of something, whether it is the leprechauns hiding for St. Patrick’s Day or colorful ghosts hiding at Halloween.
If you want to go beyond the download and create your own scavenger hunt, here are a few pieces of inspiration to get started:
Practice Educational Skills
Here’s a hunt that is super simple: Ask children something about their environment. For example, they could find something red or find three things that are the shape of a circle, and so on.
These types of hunts take no prior preparation!
Recognition of colors, numbers, and shapes, when connected to a child’s real-world environment, increases the memory of previously-taught concepts.
The chase of finding the next item keeps children moving as they work to complete the mission behind the hunt.
Scavenger hunts invite more movement the further away from each other each clue is hidden. Hide the clues inside, or hide the clues outside!
Rhymes and Riddles
Creative thinking and problem-solving are ignited with a good riddle. The key to a good riddle or rhyme is that it is short and precise as well as easy to read and understand. Here’s an example!
These will grab children’s attention while engaging their brains in a relaxing and playful way. Riddles tend to bring on laughter which is important to both happiness and health.
Connecting with Nature
On our spacious Outdoor Prairie, there is a multitude of colors, textures, and patterns to explore. Taking these characteristics and turning them into a scavenger hunt encourages children to stop and take a closer look.
Scavenger hunts are a great way to take an adventure. Here, Dora is using a special shape and color finding tool.
Try making a list of textures such as bumpy, smooth, soft, etc., and find items that match the description.
Another fun idea is taking zoomed-in pictures of patterns to see if children and discover where they came from. We have a few of this style of scavenger hunt at the Children’s Museum. Be sure to ask about them at our Welcome Desk when you visit!
The Sky is the Limit
We love exploring the area around us! There’s so much to see and notice if you take the time.
Whether you visit our outdoor prairie or create a hunt at home, just remember that your imagination is as big as our skies!
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