party · scavenger hunt · free printable
Free Printable Backyard Scavenger Hunt
A hunt through your own garden that needs nothing hidden and nothing set up.
Made by the PaperCarnival team · Updated
24 things to find · a fresh sheet for every child · US Letter & A4
- Something soft
- A stick shaped like a Y
- Something that smells nice
- A bird
- Something rough
- Something growing in a crack
- A blade of grass taller than your hand
- A shadow
- A leaf with holes in it
- A cloud shaped like an animal
- A spider web
- Something green
The best thing about a backyard hunt is that it needs no preparation at all. You do not hide anything, you do not buy anything, and you do not walk anywhere. The garden is already full of what is on the list: an ant, a feather, a leaf with holes chewed in it, a stick shaped like a Y.
This one gives each child twelve things to find, drawn from a full list of twenty four, so the sheet in their hand is not the sheet next to them. Print a stack and hand them out, each ending with a “Found by” line so they come back to the right child.
Set one rule before you open the door: find it, point at it, tick the box, leave it where it grew. That keeps the garden in one piece and turns the hunt into looking rather than collecting. If your own garden has something better, a particular tree or a bird that always turns up, open the hunt in the generator and write it in.
The things to find
Every item on the list, or edit the list in the generator
- Something green
- A smooth stone
- A feather
- An ant
- A yellow flower
- A stick shaped like a Y
- Something soft
- A leaf with holes in it
- A spider web
- Something that smells nice
- A worm
- A bird
- A round seed
- Something rough
- A dandelion
- A cloud shaped like an animal
- Something that makes a sound
- A blade of grass taller than your hand
- A butterfly or a moth
- Something growing in a crack
- A shadow
- Something that has been chewed
- A pinecone or a seed pod
- Something exactly the color of your shirt
Ways to run it
Point, do not pick
Set the rule first. Find it, point at it, tick the box, leave it where it is. It keeps the garden intact.
Party filler
Print a stack for a birthday party. It gets everyone outdoors and uses up the half hour before the cake.
Toddler pairs
Pair a reader with a younger child. The hunt turns into a running conversation about what they are looking at.
Questions
Does every child get a different sheet?
Yes. Each sheet draws a different twelve items from the full list of twenty four, so the hunt is a hunt rather than a copying exercise.
What if our garden is small?
Everything on the list turns up in almost any outdoor space, including a small yard or a shared courtyard. Nothing needs a wood or a field.
What age does it suit?
About four upward. Younger children do well in pairs, and every item can be found by pointing rather than reading.
Can I change the items?
Yes. Open it in the generator and write in things from your own garden.