Plant Scavenger Hunt

Take students outside for a plant scavenger hunt! Click here to download. Students tally how many vascular and nonvascular plants they find. Then they draw an example of each. Throughout their walk, they take photos of different plants that they believe represent 7 different types of seed dispersal. They check off different types of roots they come across based on their knowledge of plants. They draw an example of a stem they investigated. Then they draw 2 different leaves and describe the leaves' properties (color, size, texture).

Word Choice!

Help students expand their vocabulary and make their writing more descriptive by switching up their words! 

Introduction video: WORD CHOICE!

Next, pull out 2 identical postcards (pictured above). Read and project them onto the white board. Students compare and contrast the letters. Call students up to circle the words that are similar with different shades of meaning (synonyms). Ask students which letter was more successful, why? 

Then, play a whole group game: Hello My Name Is. Give each student a name tag with a word on it. They must go around the room and identify their match: a synonym for their word. Afterwards, have the students try to find an antonym for their word. 

Project: Younger students can create a Synonym City to display in the classroom! Click here for details. Older students can rewrite a song independently or in a group. Check out this activity here!

The Case of the Missing Sides!

Students transform into Perimeter Detectives as they try to solve The Case of the Missing Sides! After they figure out the unknown side lengths of 10 real world irregular polygons, they must infer what they are part of! - Click here to download!

Introduction (Fence for the Vegetable Garden)

Students compare and contrast regular and irregular polygons. They are introduced to the term perimeter by relating it to a garden fence. Then, they rap along with Heath: Rap video by Heath!

Perimeter Detective

Next, they investigate real world irregular polygon photographs. They must find the length of the missing side for 10 items! Then, they use their detective skills and infer what the objects are part of! Tell your students to think creatively! Note: Older students could convert side length measurements. - Conversion Chart included in the package! Exit Slip - For reinforcement, students apply their new skills independently by figuring out the missing side lengths of five irregular polygons. Then, they rate their understanding by drawing a checkmark in the box that fits their current knowledge of the content.

Check Out Our Experts!

First day of school activities: Visit We Are Teachers to check out my blog post!
(includes: I'm an Expert at, Paper Chain Gang, and a back to school science experiment!)

Syllable Hunt

Students are given a word and stick it to their shirt. They must go around the room and find peers that have a word with the same number of syllables as their word. Once they have found their group, they stay together. The teacher goes around the room checking the groups and assessing the children's knowledge of syllables.

Main Idea / Supporting Details

Over at The Schroeder Page, students had a main idea and supporting details scavenger hunt! 

Some students are given a main idea written on a paper headband. Other students have supporting details written on paper wristbands. Children have to go around the room and find the group they belong to. (4 in a group: 1 main idea and 3 supporting details). Check out the lesson here!

For more main idea activities check out Brain Pop Jr. 

Color Communicators

Animal Adaptations: Students color a chameleon and pin it up somewhere in the classroom. Can you find their camouflaged chameleons?! - inspired by the Children's Museum of Houston Butterfly Hunt.

Why chameleons change color, not for camouflage, but to communicate - NatGeo

Visit Education.com for a chameleon color changing experiment!

Literacy Connection: The Mixed Up Chameleon by Eric Carle

Writing: What is your chameleon trying to communicate? For example, if he changed to blend in with the map, does he want to travel?

You could also do this activity with octopi or cuttlefish templates.

chameleon template

Note: You could also trace the shape of the chameleon on wax paper. Have students place the template over things to make the chameleon change. Check out Pieces by Polly

Sentence Hunt (4 types)

Kids roll the sentence die and try to find the type of sentence it lands on! They can look through a book, magazine, newspaper - whatever they would like!

Biodiversity Scavenger Hunt

Kids hunt for abiotic and biotic factors in their backyard (or school yard). Then, based on their observations, they create a food chain or web to represent what they discovered in the ecosystem they explored! Click here for the printable

I SPY Time

Read the room activity from What the Teacher Wants! Kids hunt around the room for the correct time. Visit her site for a free recording sheet, clock templates, and many more time games!

Measuring ME!

Kid QR Codes

Free QR Code Generator: KAYWA is a fantastic tool for the classroom. It's super easy to use! Kids simply insert a url, text, phone number, or sms in a box to generate a QR code for free!  Students can embed their QR code or download it as an image, cut it out, and paste it wherever they want around the classroom! Kids have a blast scanning QR codes! 

Ways to use QR Codes with Kids:

1. Teachers can set up various learning stations around the classroom with different codes. Children can scan the code to take them to a variety of online activities. What's great about using codes is that students don't have to remember a website address. QR codes make access to online games and learning activities quick and easy. Students can use an ipad to scan the code and access the games. All you need is an app, such as i-nigma.  

2. Learning badges - If students do really well on a spelling test, they can scan a code and be awarded a spelling badge. Many people would say why bother, just give the students a sticker or a stamp! However, I think the process of scanning and earning a surprise badge is much more exciting than earning a sticker! 

3. Scavenger hunts - Students can work in teams, scan the codes (which would be set up at different stations or locations), and receive a clue that will lead them to the next destination. iLearn Technology demonstrates how to conduct a QR code scavenger hunt. If you've never visited this site you must! It has so many ways to implement technology into your classroom. It is always up to date on the newest web 2.0 tools as well. 

4. Inside the Classroom Outside the Box had the idea of putting QR codes on books in the classroom. Each student created a QR code for a book they read. The QR Code revealed their  recommendation for the book. They even made mini book trailers using iMovie! Check out the site for more QR code ideas!

5. Sample work -  you can also create codes for students who would like to see a good example of work. If they are questioning a project assignment or need a few ideas, they can scan the code to view examples of excellent work.

6. QR code generator makes the classroom greener. Teachers can post instructions to an assignment and notes, without wasting paper. 


Overall, QR codes make access to online links quick and efficient. Also, they make learning fun! Students are used to traditional teaching methods of earning a sticker or a happy face when they produce good work. They have also been exposed to scavenger hunts that lead them from clue to clue written on a strip of paper or a post-it note. QR codes make activities more interesting. Moreover, if you are working with pre-readers, QR codes are more universal for students who are struggling with reading. A QR code will take them right to their game destination without having to be able to read and type in a web address.

Build a Story: Collaboration Game

Get kids out of their seats and inspired to write with a fun socialization game! Scatter random nouns, verbs, and adjectives around the room. Kids have to hunt for one of each. If you are doing the activity with younger kids, you can color coordinate the parts of speech. For example, nouns on blue paper, adjectives on red, and verbs on yellow. For older kids, use a single color to make the scavenger hunt more of a challenge! Once they've found each part of speech, tell kids that they can trade with their peers if they'd like to. Then, have them find a partner and collaborate on a story using their parts of speech. Tell students if they have a noun that is a person, try to find a partner who has a noun that represents a place.

When everyone has a partner, kids start collaborating on a unique story that uses both of their nouns, verbs, and adjectives. They must have a main character, setting, plot, and create a structure for their story. What happened first, next, last? What is the main event? Optional: After they organize their story, have them publish it online (ex: Smories, Little Bird Tales, click here for a full list of free web 2.0 publishing tools).

Can You Help Me Find My Missing Piece?

After reading Shel Silverstein's "The Missing Piece," have kids go on a fraction scavenger hunt! Cut out a fraction of a bunch of circles (enough for half of the class) and add a googly eye or make a black dot to represent an eye. Write the fraction on each missing piece and add an eye. Give half of the class a circle that is "looking for its missing piece." Give the other half a missing piece. Kids have to work together to find their match and figure out the fraction of the circle that was missing! Can they do it?!


Note: For older kids, don't write the fraction on the missing piece. See if they can figure it out, using a ruler or by folding their circle!

Rock On: Geology Around Us

Red Rock Canyon NCA Environmental Education Program has an awesome rock scavenger hunt! I adapted their version to use in a school, park, or home setting. Kids find rocks for each of the categories listed below. When they find a rock that fits the category, they draw it. Carry a bucket with you on your geology scavenger hunt and collect the rocks you find. Bring them back to the classroom to study for further investigation! 

photos via cc: bricks / gravel by Titus Tscharntke

What's that made of?! Examine your school, architecture, roads, and sidewalks. What are these items made up of? Rocks and Minerals! Examples: (stone, brick, concrete, gravel, etc.) Distinguish between man-made and natural rock. Talk about weathering. Are there any cracks in the sidewalk or road? What happens to rock when it rains? Discuss sediments. What happens to rock particles (sediments) when they weather away from rock? Do man-made materials weather as easily as natural rock? Click here for this project and more rocks and minerals activities for grades K-12 from Michigan.gov. Visit BrainPOP for a short video and simple lessons for introducing rocks and minerals.

fossil via cgs

While learning about geology, make a fossil! Visit California Geological Survey for instructions!

Reading Private Eye

Improve your reading comprehension with a scavenger hunt! Kids sign on for a reading mission. Their goal is to find the key details of a piece of literature. 

Learning at the Zoo and Aquarium

Bring your science journal! Kids transform into mini zoologists and marine biologists! Scavenger Hunt - Find, talk about, and record the items that are in bold below:

1. Practice map reading skills with your zoo / aquarium map.
2. Talk about biodiversity as you enter different sections of the zoo / aquarium, compare habitats. Describe the different habitats you encounter in your science journal. At the aquarium you'll see different species in the same tank, talk about ecosystems and how different species keep an ecosystem thriving. Example: clownfish and an anemone. List species that share the same enclosure. 
3. Are some of the animals hard to find (camouflage)? Write down animals you had trouble finding. Why do animals blend in with their habitats? Why are some creatures brightly colored? How does this protect them? Example - poison dart frog. Did you see any vibrant creatures with unique patterns? Write down the names of the creatures with the most unique colors and patterns that you see. Draw the pattern next to the name.
4. Distinguish birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and fish. Write down a couple of your favorite under each category. What animals are warm blooded? Which ones are cold blooded? How do you know? Create a page with two columns and list a few under each category. Talk about nocturnal animals. Were they in a special area at the zoo? Why? List a couple of nocturnal animals on a page.

5. Predators and prey: Which animals are herbivores, carnivores, or omnivores? Create three columns on a page and list animals underneath each category.
6. At the nursery, compare baby animals to their parents. Do they look the same? Are there any animals that don't look like their parents? Record your findings in your notebook.
7. Did you see any zoo keepers feeding the animals? What did they eat? Write down the time they ate.

At home:
1. When you get home, make a food chain. Use your notebook for a reference.

2. Create a mini zoo / aquarium out of blocks, pans of water, and figurines. Collect items from nature and create your own elements to add to your zoo / aquarium to create a suitable habitat for your animals. Try to remember what the animal enclosures at the zoo included.

3. Come up with a cuisine for your favorite animal, draw it!

4. Use a globe or world map to find the locations of the animals you saw.
5. Map out the actual size of the animals on your driveway with sidewalk chalk. Look up their dimensions online. 

6. Get creative - become a cartographer and make your own zoo / aquarium map! Kids choose what animals they want to include, design suitable habitat enclosures for their animals, draw recreational items for the animals (keep them entertained), and include restaurants, bathrooms, and food stands for the public. Click here for details!
7. Check out the book Life Size Zoo. Animal heads are life sized and photographs are amazing. Kids, as well as adults, will be in awe of staring at the animals face to face! In the back of the book there is a mini cartoon zoo map (shown in the image below). The map helps kids out in the design process for their zoo.
8. Design a zoo poster or signage.

Zoo Maps - Have kids think about what sorts of animals they want in their zoo, their habitat, pathways, food stations, etc. They will have lots of fun designing their zoo (the appearance, entrance gate, and play equipment for the animals). 

Hue Finder

Live Strong has a fun outdoor color match game for kids. Stop at your local hardware store and snatch a bunch of paint chip strips to use on a color scavenger hunt. Kids go around on a color hunt, matching paint chips to items all around them. Find colors inside and outside. Use you color tool spring, summer, fall, and winter. Put color cards on a book ring for easy handling. Kids can take turns using it in the classroom and outside on the playground. Optional - Have kids use a hole puncher and punch holes in the colors they find.

nature photos via alamy

Everyday Arrays

Take your class on an adventure of real world arrays! First, hunt for arrays in the classroom. For example, open a box of crayons and take a peek inside, an array! Check out the kids' desks and chairs. Are they arranged in an array? Don't forget lockers or cubbies. They're lined up in an array! Pull out a calculator, array! Walk through the hallways. Is there student work hanging in an array? Check out the parking lot. Are the parking spaces lined in an array? 

Over the weekend, have kids hunt for three arrays. They can draw their arrays or take a picture of them. Underneath their image, have them write down the multiplication equation, as well as their array in repeated addition. Remind them, they CAN'T make their array out of Cheerios!!! It has to be an array they just happen to come across. They could find their arrays around their house or at an outing (grocery, park, etc.). Examples: a lego, t.v. remote control, ice cube tray, eyeshadow compact, hershey bar, egg carton, muffin tin, etc.

Find that Angle!

Find that angle in your classroom! Have kids create their very own angle finders using popsicle sticks. Each child will need 6 sticks to craft three angles: right, acute, and obtuse. Next, go around the classroom hunting for angles. Look at analog clock hands, space in between your fingers, tables, corner of a book, tiles on the floor, edge of a room, even check out the letters of the alphabet! Can you find that angle? Also, try making an angle with your arms or lie down and create an angle with a friend! Then, have another buddy come up and check your angle with their angle finder.