Scavenger Hunts Worksheets
Running a scavenger hunt in your classroom can be a rewarding experience for team building, but also very educational for students. We all remember the first time we took part in a scavenger hunt. We were given a list by whomever organized it and then we were off and running working in a small team to find all the items on the list. These can be highly effective when used in coordination with the introduction or review of a concept or topic. When you learn with your hands, you tend to hold on to that information much longer. They are even more effective when you journey outside your classroom and include situations that require them to use their personal skills to interact with other school personnel. My best piece of advice here is to make sure you do a trial run before you let your entire class loose on it. I often coordinate this with other teachers and ask a group of their diligent students to complete it first. This helps you identify any speed bumps your class may run into. This series of worksheets has a number of quick and easy to use scavenger hunts ready to go for your students.
Scavenger Hunt Worksheets to Print:
Find Out Who... -
Write the name on a classmate who matches each description on
the line. Try not to use the same person twice.
The Neighborhood -
When you see or think of a place that fits the description, write it on the line.
Who You Know Bingo -
Find a classmate who matches each description and write their
name in that square. Try not to use the same person twice. Try to be the first to
get five in a row in any direction (up, down, diagonally).
Purple Stuff -
Go around your house and see how many purple
things you can find from the list below. When you find one, check
the box and write the name of or describe the object.
Screen Time -
While you are watching T.V. this week, check
off all that you see.
Icky | Yucky | Gross -
How many of these yucky things do you see while
going about your day? When you find one, check the
box and then draw or describe the object.
Read the Label -
Looks for each ingredient in the packaged foods section of the
grocery store. Write down what food you find each ingredient in.
Food Origins -
Find three foods that grow on trees, above and underground.
Shape Find -
Look around your house and find one item in each of
the following shapes. Write the name of each item on the line.
Sunny Days -
Write your answer on the line. Can you find someone that is doing a normal activity for a sunny play day.
On the Road -
How many of the following items can you find
on your road trip?
Outdoors -
See how many of the items below you can
find outside. Check off all that you see.
Different Forms of Scavenger Hunts for Your Class
While most of us still consider a scavenger hunt running around and chasing down a list of items, technology has shifted this paradigm a bit. Who would have guessed that the little device found in all of our pockets would have that profound an effect? How we as teachers present this to our students can have a big impact on the educational value that students receive from this.
List Based
A good place to start because when we think of this topic, this one we just cannot get out of our mind. This is also the easiest to organize for teachers and get the kids off and running with. We simply create a list of items for students to acquire and bring back to be evaluated. Groups that have all the items first, win. Whenever I create these lists, I find it helpful to helpful to make certain there is an area available for students to check off each item as they find it. I also find it helpful to have a teacher check off area available on the opposite which makes it simple to assess students.
Picture Based
There are several different ways to include the use of a camera with this activity. You can replace the concept of grabbing tangible items, with simply taking photos of them. You can go a step further and have them print out the photos and place them in a template. You can also make a challenging hunt with photos that never needs to leave your room. This does require a bit of prep on your part. Find items around your room that you wish to include and then take super zoomed in images of them and either project those images for students to find or print them out for students. Want to add another element of difficulty? Make sure to only take photos in black and white, so the colors do not give it away.
Treasure Maps
This format requires that kids have a lot of different places to go. So, this is not something that is confined to your classroom. This is where you will normally use riddles that students must solve and follow in order to find the end treasure. I find it helpful to keep the groups going in different directions. If they are all headed to the same clue sets, it can real compromise your ability to pull it off without behaviors getting in the way.
Virtual Scavenger Hunts
This is something that really was taken to new heights by teachers recently. Mostly out of necessity. It is tough to stare at a screen for 8 hours a day. I have seen teachers use this in the basic list approach with great success when it is poised a question. A good example would be: What is the biggest threat the environment in our area? This quickly becomes a research activity, but students can come away with valuable skills. We have seen this technique constantly evolving.