Fall Scavenger Hunt

and how you can tailor your hunt

This is a game that can literally take hours with groups of children, or even if they search on their own. It is suggested that you use your own backyard or your own home for the search, but you can create a neighborhood search, too, if you take precautions and keep safety in mind at all times. If doing the neighborhood search, it is recommended that neighbors be aware of the children, boundaries are set ahead of time, you have assistant game watchers on duty for the safety of the children, and children should always be in groups of three or more for better protection, too. Always create a list of rules before you attempt this hunt, so that each child is aware of safety issues, what is allowed and what isn't, and potential hazards.

In order to win this game the rules must be followed, and each item on the list must be found before any other child or group finds the list of same items. To help those who are not knowledgeable of a particular item, or to see if the list we have is right for your child(ren), you might want to find the items on the list and show the proof that this game can be accomplished. Most importantly, have fun and enjoy this traditional game with your child(ren) as often as you can.

Several examples of rules that can be used are as follows, please keep in mind that this list is not all inclusive, either:

No wandering into the neighbor's yard. No breaking anything to gain an item. No entering mom and dad's room. No using any tools to gain an item. No digging allowed.

A list for an outdoor FALL Scavenger Hunt is as follows, please remember that this list might not work for every home/school/group:

3 Red Leaves, A Quartz Rock, 5 different Brown Leaves, A Round Rock, 1 Green Leaf, 1 four leaf clover, A stick shaped like a Y, 1 yellow flower, 20 blades of grass, A handful of sand or a handful of dirt, 1 nail, 2 different shoes, 1 Weed, A dead bug, one that is already dead (please do not allow killing of creatures for a game) A live bug, (be careful that they don't bring back something that bites or can harm the child)

**Other hints: For those that do not have any of this available readily, you can always take store bought materials (such as crayons, fake flowers, etc.), make paper cutouts (attach them to the trees, tables, chairs, for easier finding) or coins and scatter them in the yard for finding (if you keep track of what you scatter, it will be easier to collect the amount). This will make a great way to learn about money, and counting is always encouraged. If you have a child have to find more than one of a particular item, they will keep counting until the game is done. Don't over do, either, some children can get bored very quickly if it seems the task is too much for them. Keep the numbers low.