Forest Scavenger Hunt (with free printable)

A few weeks ago we really enjoyed "Forest Week" in our Simple Summer Theme weeks. For the most part the boys truly just loved getting outside into the forest - which meant we could really keep things simple. (Which was in fact one of our July Monthly Goals.)

To kick off "Forest Week" on our first adventure into the woods the boys worked on this Forest Scavenger Hunt as we walked through the woods.

No only was this a great way to begin exploring the forest, it also gave us good opportunities to discuss textures and colors. 

Materials (one per each child): 
Brown paper lunch bags

Pencil 

Forest Scavenger Hunt Printable - Click here for your free copy 

Choose a location where it's okay for kids to get off the trails and to collect items. For us we're pretty blessed to have the woods behind our house. The idea is not necessarily to get them into the thick of the woods, but to get them exploring and thinking about what they can find in the forest. 

As they walk kiddos are looking for objects that match the words on their list: For example something shiny, something flat, something rough, etc. 

As they find things they put the objects into their bag and check them off their lists. 

The boys found that sometimes they were tempted to check off a few things with one object as it met in several categories. They also discovered some objects were a little harder to find, but if they thought a little creatively they could figure it out. 

We walked until both boys had found everything on their list, and then we returned home. We compared what people had found. This led to some great conversations; for example, can something be heavy and smooth at the same time? Or can something be a specific color and still be pointy? For the most part, Big Brother was able to quickly thing about all the options whereas Little Brother was a little more concrete with his findings. 

We loved finding ways to learn and play in the woods. While I did this project with my two boys, I could easily see doing it with a whole classroom of kids. 

Don't forget to grab a copy of the printable so you can try your own scavenger hunt today.