Curious Kea Scavenger Hunt

Tamariki take part in a group activity and connect with nature.

Being outside in the natural environment is wholly good for our wellbeing and adding a scavenger hunt is a great way to add to tamariki curiosity and increase the level of exercise. Learning new things and exercising are two of the winning ways to wellbeing, so tick and tick!

Tamariki will need:

• A scavenger hunt pouch or container (use a box from the recycling or maybe a reusable shopping bag)
• A scavenger hunt list (you could pop this up on Seesaw, or use DoC's much better option here).

Ask tamariki to head outside and find:

• 5 different types of green
• 5 oddly shaped sticks
• 5 little things that roll
• 5 nature triangles
• 5 different smells (eg cut crass, wet bark)

If you’re learning from home you might use Zoom or Google Meet time for tamariki to take their devices outside (close to the WIFI!) and hunt for each item you read out, bringing these back to share. Teams of five could bring one item back each. Or if using devices at home they could capture photos of each item and load them onto your sharing platform such as Seesaw.

This activity is part of the Conservation Week Bookmark collection.

Continue creating new scavenger hunt ideas, there's some great ones based around physical activity - a rock or tree stump to jump off or or a log to balance on. These make great action photo shots! Or find other things in nature – a leaf with spots, something orange...

Extend this so tamariki can write a poem about an item they discovered on their scavenger hunt, or draw/paint an item.

Head to the Department of Conservation website for other amazing outdoor classroom ideas.

We love the Department of Conservation and their movement to #teachoutsideNZ They have created some beautiful resources that support learning outside and tuning into our surroundings. We think that these Conservation Week activities are awesome and love that they've allowed us celebrate their ideas on Sparklers!