A great way to encourage your children to continue their schoolwork over summer vacation is by planning a scavenger hunt. The thrill of searching for particular items and working in teams will make this learning activity as fun as it is educational.
Many parents continue with schoolwork through the use of workbooks. While this is a fine way to maintain what they have learned in school, teaching children by using their environment will help to hold information in the brain longer.
“Research has shown that people remember things better when they learn them by doing,” states Susan Jindrich in her 1998 article, “How Do Children Develop?”
After deciding what subject to teach the participants, plan the hunt according to their ages and skill level.
Scavenger Hunt Planning
To plan your scavenger hunt, write down a list of items for which your hunters should search.
For older children, make a list of shapes grouped by number that they need to find. For example, write down that they need to find one octagon shaped item, two triangles, three circles, four square items, five rectangles, and so on. Have them write down and draw a picture of these items as they find them.
Make a separate list of items grouped by color and letters. For instance, request that they find one green item that begins with the letter A, a blue item beginning with the letter B, and so on.
For younger children, plan it according to their knowledge and skill level. Supply them with a visual list of letters, numbers, colors and shapes, and then have participants find items that match these. For example, to find the letter A, they may note a book title that has the letter A in it. If younger players do not yet know how to write, have someone on hand to assist them.
Rewarding Your Players
Have rewards ready for each of your players to add extra excitement to the learning process. As each player completes the hunt, double check results and then hand out a number to hold onto until all players have completed the hunt. After everyone has finished finding the required items, let the players pick a prize in number order.
“When play is allowed to be child driven, children practice decision-making skills, move at their own pace, discover their own areas of interest, and ultimately engage fully in the passions they wish to pursue,” states Kenneth R. Ginsburg, MD in his article "The Importance of Play in Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds."
Planning a learning scavenger hunt will teach not only the alphabet, numbers, shapes, and colors, but also a wide number of other skills, such as social and cognitive skills.
Linda Hatton - Linda Hatton has a BFA in Acting from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Her work has appeared in Rainy Days, The Writing on the Wall, on ...
Join the Conversation