Summer is a great time to get out into the great outdoors and enjoy nature and camping vacations with friends and family. For a less expensive and fun adventure for all, create a scavenger hunt for kids for added cheap thrills.
A, B, Camping
One of the simpler scavenger hunt games to play while camping is to provide everyone with an alphabet list. Each player can go around the camp grounds and collect or spot an item that begins with each and every letter of the alphabet. Though it can be a challenge, it’s a simple challenge to try to complete. Fun from acorns to zippers on sleeping bags.
Outdoor Theater
If you have brought along a portable DVD player to give the kids their “required” screen time while they’re out in nature, you can plan ahead a scavenger hunt movie night. Play a camping classic, like The Parent Trap, and set up a campground scavenger hunt with clues taken directly from the movie.
Where’s Joe?
If you are on a campground and would like to meet your fellow campers, merge the neighborly introductions with a scavenger hunt outside with the help of Riddle me. Using two common names, like Joe and Sarah, set out to see if you can find any campers with those names. Make sure to introduce yourself to as many people as you can for the greatest success with these introduction scavenger hunt games. Get extra points for finding a person with the same initials as yourself.
Campfire Movie Trivia Truth or Dare
A mix of scavenger hunt movie trivia and the classic game of truth or dare, instead of singing folk songs around the fire, play a little truth or dare with a twist. If the player selects truth, they must successfully answer a piece of movie trivia. If they select dare, they will be given a riddle that they must first solve and then go out and collect an object that represents the solution to their riddle.
Wet ‘n Wild
If there is a lake or river near to your camping spot this summer, you can use it for a scavenger hunt outside that merges riddles and clues with getting a little wet ‘n wild. Divide your group into two teams that will have to solve clues that they find hidden in the water. Attaching clues to anchored rafts, buoys, docks or even on nearby islands, give the teams the places they must swim or boat to so that they can find the clues. Solving each clue successfully will lead them to their next. Eventually, they’ll reach their final treasure.
Back to Basics
Another good scavenger hunt for kids is the most basic of all. Create a list of pictures or words of items the kids can find and collect directly from nature. Arm the kids with a basket or bucket and then head out into the woods for some simple fun with Mother Nature.
While getting back in touch with the natural world on this summer’s camping trip or hike into the woods, add a fun scavenger hunt into your activities that put nature front and center.