Scavenger hunts are more than just a fun activity—they’re a fantastic way to engage children in learning while exploring new and familiar places. Whether you’re at a local park, a museum, or even just wandering around your neighborhood, scavenger hunts can turn an ordinary outing into an exciting adventure filled with engaging learning opportunities.
Here’s a free park themed scavenger hunt you can download & print:
Park-themed Scavenger Hunt
How do you use scavenger hunts to help develop communication?
Start with creating the scavenger hunt list yourself!
Consider creating the list together with your child! I use this strategy during my speech therapy sessions and I find that children usually love making the list themselves. It’s a chance for them to use their creativity and observational skills while also honing important cognitive abilities like planning and organization.
Imagine sitting down with your child before a trip and brainstorming together: what might they expect to find? What could be interesting or unusual to spot? This exercise encourages them to think ahead, predict outcomes, and plan their activities—a valuable exercise in developing executive function skills.
For parents or SLPs looking to incorporate specific speech or language goals, scavenger hunts offer endless possibilities. Suppose your child is practicing a particular speech sound, such as the ‘s’ sound. In that case, you can guide them to modify the scavenger hunt items to include more words with that sound. For example, “4 tall trees” could become “6 small trees,” providing extra practice while still keeping the hunt engaging and enjoyable.
How can you make scavenger hunts more challenging for older children?
If you have older children who are interested in scavenger hunts, you can make the clues into riddles they have to solve to find a certain item, kind of like a crossword puzzle! Or even make a word search out of your scavenger hunt clues.
Quick tip! There are lots of free sites that will generate these puzzles and word searches for you, just be careful what you click on and download. I recommend taking a screen shot of the displayed word search and pasting it into a word or google doc, rather than downloading files from an unknown website!
Scavenger hunts foster collaboration and teamwork between children and adults. Working together to check off items from the list encourages communication and cooperation, building stronger bonds and shared memories along the way.
What are some ways scavenger hunts build communication skills?
While you’re out exploring, checking items off your list, children learn about their surroundings in a hands-on way, noticing details they (and even you!) might have otherwise overlooked. You never know what you might find. It’s a perfect blend of adventure and education, making every outing not just a trip, but an enriching experience.
When your child is having fun while learning, they will often learn new concepts faster!
Here are some ideas for places to use scavenger hunts:
I like to encourage families to think about places you already go to that may even be a part of a daily routine. Ideas for places/activities that you might already be planning to do together:
- Grocery store
- Getting a haircut
- Parks/playgrounds
- Walking to school
- In the car
- Visiting a friend’s house
- Doctor’s office
- Swimming/water activities
- Cooking/kitchen
- While watching their favorite show/movie
- Taking the train
Above all – have fun!
Copyright 2024 – New Trails Speech Therapy LLC
New Trails Speech Therapy LLC 
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