It’s important for children to get outdoors and enjoy their environment. With this in mind, I have for you a wonderful toddler nature scavenger hunt with a free illustrated printable. It’s illustrated so that little ones can complete the scavenger hunt independently and work on reading illustrations.

We love getting outdoors during any weather, Boo (2.5 years) particularly loves exploring and looking at nature up close. With so many wonderful things to look at and find, we used this fabulous printable checklist. Your toddler and preschooler will love it and they will have lots of fun checking off things they find.

FREE nature scavenger hunt printable

Recommended ages: 2 years +
(Strict and active supervision is required at all times)

Toddler nature scavenger hunt with a free illustrated printable

This printable is illustrated, which allows smaller children to complete the scavenger hunt with a higher degree of independence. They don’t have to read any words, just ‘read’ the illustrations and tick off or circle what they find.

Some of the objects they need to find include –

Grass
Path
Frog
Water
Stick
Leaves (green and brown)
Tree
Bush
Rocks
Clouds
Flower
Dirt

For this activity we decided to go and visit a park to see what we could find and tick off from our ‘Scavenger Nature Hunt’ printable. It was so exciting for Boo (aged 2.5 years) and she couldn’t wait to find her first piece of nature.

Matching and recording

Using the printable like this one is ideal for getting little ones to match objects (leaf on the ground and a leaf illustration on the printable) and record what they have found with a tick or by circling it. It gives them a huge sense of satisfaction.

Some harder than others

Boo discovered that some things listed where harder to find than others. The grass was easy to find as there was lots of it under out feet, however, the dirt required Boo to do some digging before she found it under the leaves and pine needles.

We struggled to find frogs, which was on the scavenger hunt printable, but this promoted lots of great discussion as to why there may or may not have been frogs. We talked about a frogs environment and what they would like to have or not have in a home.

Looking closer at nature and the environment

It was so lovely to see Boo look at nature so closely. The scavenger hunt really changed the way she interacted with her environment. I was sorry that we didn’t have our magnifying glass with us, but to see her carefully touch the textured surface of the leaves on the ground and compare it to the green leaves found on the bush was lovely.

Noticing what we didn’t notice before

Boo also became excited to see the flowers next to a playground, which we have visited many times, but just not noticed. She loved talking about the shape of the petals and the colours that she could see. We also talked a lot about the Spring season, which we are currently enjoying.

If you’re looking for a great outdoor activity for your toddler or preschooler, or any age for that matter, give this a go. This toddler nature scavenger hunt with a free illustrated printable is lots of fun and great way to get children to learn to read illustrations and get closer to nature at the same time!

Does your child love to get outdoors?

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