Search, Smell, Touch, Listen, Question … DIY Free Fun Autumn Scavenger Hunt
Here’s a free DIY STEM activity that is easy to do and tons of fun. At 21 / 25 points, take an hour this weekend and find a park for a DIY Scavenger Hunt. Dress appropriately … parents! My kids were fine but I stepped in the creek and had wet socks for an hour 🙂
What: DIY Free Fun Autumn Scavenger Hunt
Rating (out of 25): At 21 Points, the rating is Do IT! (Fun = 5 + Confidence & Curiosity = 4 + STEM Aligned = 4, + Time Value = 3, + Cost = 5
Cost: Free
Age: 3+ (you can add items to find and STEM questions to increase the challenge level).
Supplies:
Search for and print a Autumn Scavenger Hunt. We used this one from @CBCKids and @Twig and Toadstool and it was great for Marcus (3 years old) and Adrianna (6 years old): https://www.cbc.ca/parents/content/pdf/autumnscavengerhunt_pdf_tmurphy.pdf
Markers or pencils to keep track of progress.
Bag to collect items you find.
Instructions:
Go to a park and explore.
Check off items from the list. Kids love checking things off lists.
Be curious … Ask questions. Why do leaves change colour, fall and decompose? Ask your kids to use there sense … what do they see, hear, smell and feel?
Have fun and be safe.
STEM Lesson: Autumn is a great time of the year and a wonderful opportunity to be curious, explore nature and learn about the changing seasons with your kids. Here are a couple science lessons:
Nature Canada is a great resource to help explain colour changes: “As the season changes from summer to fall, leaves on deciduous trees and shrubs change colour as the changes in the amount of daylight compared to night, temperature and soil moisture influence the process of photosynthesis. Deciduous shrubs and trees, such as maple or oak trees, have leaves that are thin, usually broad and have no extra coating on them to protect them from seasonal changes while coniferous trees, like pine trees, have needles all year round.”
The primary decomposers of most dead plant material are fungi, bacteria and bugs. Dead leaves fall from trees and herbaceous plants collapse to the ground after they have produced seeds, forming a layer of litter on the soil surface that decompose in the soil as they are eaten by microbes. Over time, decaying leaves release carbon back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.