Farm Scavenger Hunt Ideas
There is just something ever so thrilling about running scavenger hunts for children. Not only do they love them (and thus a great way to keep them busy), but it can actually help keep them fit with all the running around, and who knows, they may even learn something! On this page I want to discuss with you a farm scavenger hunt, which is of course perfect if you are heading down to that farm to kill some time at the weekend, or perhaps if you are taking a group of children there for a school project. Let’s take a little look shall we?
For now I am going to assume that you want your farm scavenger hunt to be an educational experience for a child. Whilst the farm is going to be fun in itself, you of course want your children to learn something whilst they are there! Whilst there are plenty of ways to go about running scavenger hunts for kids, this is my favourite way if you want to make it a bit more educational than the norm!
Firstly, you are going to need to know what can be found at the farm you are visiting. Thankfully almost every farm that is open to ‘visitors’ will have a website nowadays so it shouldn’t be too difficult to get an idea about the sort of animals and buildings that can be found there. Start to make a list of these animals and buildings. This is what you are going to get your children to be finding!
Once you have the animals and buildings that can be found here it is time to start work on your scavenger hunt list. This is basically going to be a list of everything that you want them to find. As I said, since this is an educational experience you may want to give a very brief overview of what that animal or building is for. Make sure you tailor it to the specific age group that you are working with though, that way they can understand it. For example if you want to give a bit of information to a 5 year old on chickens you may put something like ‘A chicken lays eggs’ or something similar. It doesn’t need to be too exciting just make sure it is educational to an extent. Of course if the child is slightly older then you may want to come up with ‘information sheets’ on the animals and buildings. You can hand your child one of these every time they find something on their list! I have seen very few children’s scavenger hunts conducted this way, but those that are often appear to be very exciting for the child and they can’t wait to get hold of their next information sheet to read!
Of course, in the age of digital cameras there are plenty of different ways in which we can make the trip to the farm a little bit more fun when it comes to the idea of a scavenger hunt. For example, instead of getting children to tick off boxes on a bit of paper (can be boring for some!) instead come up with a photo scavenger hunt. For example, taking a photograph of the buildings or the animals on the farm. Better yet, you could get them to do something whilst they are there, for example ‘take a photo of yourself stroking a goat’. Once the trip is over you can put these all onto a little photo book to help the child remember the trip! My experience is that those children who are slightly more shy tend to come out of their shell a little bit more on the photography scavenger hunt, so this may be something that is probably worth bearing in mind!
If your child is slightly older then you may want to give scavenger hunt clues instead of actually naming the animals. For example, instead of saying chicken you would say ‘this animal makes a clucking sound’ or ‘this animal lays eggs’. It doesn’t need to be too difficult, and I encourage you not to make it too difficult. You just want to get your child thinking! Again, this is going to provide a learning experience for all of them.
The great thing is, if you are planning a kids scavenger hunt you don’t actually need too many supplies, or even to put in too much effort. It should take a couple of hours of research at the most to draw up your list. In fact, there are plenty of ‘pre-made’ lists out there in the internet world so it may not even take you more than a couple of minutes. Then after that it is a case of printing off the list and giving the child either a pen or a camera. It really is going to be a fabulous (and effective way) to turn a brilliant trip into something amazing. Don’t forget, scavenger hunts can be held almost anywhere you go! It is a great way to keep your children’s minds active during those long and hot summer months. It will also provide a bit of enjoyment for even the grumpiest child! Just make sure you put a bit of effort into your planning and I am sure that everything will end up going off without a hitch!
Of course, this is just a brief idea on how I would run a kids scavenger hunt on a farm. There are just so many options that you have at your disposal I wouldn’t have possibly been able to cover them in such a short space of time. For example, I haven’t mentioned scavenger hunt riddles or the like. It may be a bit difficult to include a riddle into a trip to the farm, but if you put in enough effort you may end up being able to do it! Good Luck, and perhaps more importantly, HAVE FUN!
