The following is a ‘guest post’ by Elizabeth Kreider, my daughter and the other half of Wandering Leaves Studio. Although we don’t often hear her voice on the blog, she is behind the scenes doing the work that makes it all come together!

Your typical nature scavenger hunt simply doesn’t work! If you’ve ever tried one with your kids, you know that there’s lots of running, yelling, and competition. I believe there is a better way to do a scavenger hunt.

Nature Scavenger Hunt vs. Competitive Race

Do a quick search on Pinterest and you’ll find dozens of printable nature scavenger hunt pages for kids. Trust me, I’ve looked at most of them. I’ve also made a few of my own. The typical pages are comprised of images to find and cross off. I tried this with my children and found that the lovely nature walk turned into a hyper-focused hunt/competition to check those items off as quickly as possible. This was not my goal. What I really wanted was to help them to see beyond what they normally would on a nature walk.

I propose a different kind of nature scavenger hunt; one that will take more than one adventurous day to complete. Most of the things on this list can be done as a group — making it a cooperation rather than a competition.

This list (with adult participation) is suitable for children ages 3-10.

A Word on Teachable Moments

Children are naturally inquisitive. Any parent learns this early on in their child’s development. (You know,.. because your ears are bleeding from the 10,000 questions a day!) So basically, a “Teachable Moment” happens when you let go of your parental expectations and allow space for that natural inquisitiveness.

For example, say you are helping your little one with the first task on the scavenger hunt, finding rocks and building a rock tower; but your little one is more interested in throwing rocks in the creek than building a tower. Sound Familiar?

Instead of getting frustrated and forcing the original project (resulting in no fun for either of you) what if you decide to participate, throw rocks with them, and ask questions like:

• What happens to the water when you throw a rock into it?
• How many rings can you count?
• Does the sound it makes change when you throw the rock higher?
• Do big rocks and little rocks make a different sound?
  • Why do you think that is?

Okay parents, see the difference? Now I’m not suggesting that you let your child run around like a little untamed mini-Tarzan doing whatever he/she wants. However, taking advantage of a situation like the example above, can change the way a child views nature in a beautiful way. Eventually, they start asking those kinds of questions themselves; and for me, when my kids do, I usually learn something I didn’t know. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat in the car after a walk and looked up the answers to their questions I couldn’t answer.

Now, go have a magical adventure with your child! There’s so much to discover (even in your own backyard!)