A Teeny Tiny Nature Hunt

This hike requires kids to look for small items in nature and therefore forces them to walk more slowly. I find that one of the hardest challenges with taking kids into nature – convincing them that they can only really see things in nature if they move slow, giving them the opportunity to look around at their surroundings. If they are dawdling it’s either because they are deep in conversation or they are tired from charging along earlier.

For this nature hunt, give each child a penny. As they walk along, they try to look for things that fit, whole, on the penny. Rocks, seeds, nuts, evergreen needles, buds, grass heads, clover, moss, flowers, ants, millipedes, etc. can all fit on this small surface. If you feel a penny is too small for a child, you could use a yogurt lid, a poker chip, or any other flat surface (it doesn’t have to be round).

Children can do this activity in their backyard as well as any other location in nature. You can play this while walking along a trail or when you stop for a break and the kids want to wander around and explore the area where you’ve paused.

Because the items are so small, you can tell children that they can pluck a bud from a tree branch or a needle from a spruce tree; although, if you’d rather they not damage living plants you can ask kids to hold their penny up to an object in order to confirm the size.

Kids may want to play this game for five minutes or thirty minutes. If the children aren’t inclined to continue moving slowly after finding one or two tiny items, you can randomly call out, “Penny Hunt” while walking and give the children thirty seconds to find as many small objects as they can within that time.

However you play the game, it encourages everyone to notice things that they may have missed while walking along at top speed.