This no-prep green scavenger hunt is a perfect St. Patrick’s Day activity for kids. Super simple, full of learning, and fun to play!
It’s almost St. Patrick’s Day, which is kind of a random holiday, but I’m game for celebrating just about anything by this point in winter. I’m just aching for spring, and thinking about all things GREEN gives me hope!
This green scavenger hunt is the perfect no-prep activity to do with your toddler or preschooler. If you have older kids, it’s an equally great way to connect after school!
We’ve done variations of this hunt several times over the years. It was one of the first activities I pulled out of my “magic mommy hat” when the world first shut down due to COVID in the weekend before St. Patrick’s Day in 2020. All three of my kids got in on the fun and had a great time running around the house finding as many green things as they could.
To challenge my older boys, I asked them to arrange the items from the lightest shades of green to the darkest, which led to a great discussion of shades of colors, and how you make colors lighter and darker. Do you like how I snuck in a little critical thinking and compare/contrast practice there?
My youngest(4) is really into doing “school” with mommy right now, so I pulled this activity out of the archives of my brain this week, and we had a great time doing it together while the big boys were away at school.
For him, we focused more on counting and developing vocabulary by talking about all the objects he found. We also talked about the relative sizes of the objects (which is the biggest? which is the smallest?).
It’s one of those activities that takes no effort to prepare, and it can be adapted a million different ways to fit your kids’ ages and situation.
Ready to play? Read on for the full instructions!
Green Scavenger Hunt
What we’re learning:
- color identification
- classification
- counting
- gross motor skills
Materials needed:
- green items (to be found by your child)
- a bucket/basket for collecting items
How to play:
- Give your child a container (we used a green bucket we had on hand), and invite them to fill it with as many green items as he or she can find. You may want to make a rule that the item has to be mostly green to count.
- Once your child has found a good number of items (or filled the container), dump them all out on the floor and talk about what you found! See below for ideas.
More ways to keep the learning going:
Finding green items is only the beginning of this activity! Try some of the ideas below to keep learning and playing together:
- Count the items. How many did your child find?
- Name the items. This helps develop vocabulary in toddlers and preschoolers.
- Compare sizes. What was the biggest green thing they found? What was the smallest?
- Talk about shades of color. Help your child arrange the items from lightest to darkest. Describe the different colors of green. Is it sea foam? Forest? Jungle? Army? Olive? You can make up new color names, too!
There you have it! A super simple activity that will get your kids moving, thinking, and playing.
Happy hunting, friends!
Want more simple learning games? Try these!
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