Scavenger Hunt

While we are all spending most of our time at home lately, that does not mean that daily outside walks are canceled! We put together this fun outdoor scavenger hunt activity to take with you on your next family walk (while practicing social distancing of course).

Spotted the fire hydrant!

Taking a marker along is a fun way to sneak in some fine motor practice as well. He rocked his check marks!

The great thing about scavenger hunts, is they really get kids to pay attention to the details of their environment. Searching for the items on the list is a great way to challenge visual scanning and boost their observational skills. Don’t forget to take a marker along so they can check off their finds as you go! This can also be a fun activity to incorporate with speech goals. As you walk work on pointing towards objects, identifying them, practice making their noises, or talk about colors. This activity is so great to tailor to your child’s current speech level. For an extra challenge celebrate each find with an exercise (try jumping jacks, frog jumps, or marching in place). Such a fun way to take advantage of movement time outdoors, while encouraging learning and talking in a relaxed and natural environment. To make searching even more exciting check out our post on how to make binoculars out of recycled toilet paper rolls, this will help kids get excited about searching!

If outdoor walks are not available to your family at the moment, we also created an indoor scavenger hunt option for you. You can still work on all these skills indoors or while looking out the window! Happy searching!! Click here for our scavenger hunt pages.

So proud of all of his finds today! The bunny might take a few walks to find, but we will be keeping our eyes out.

Binocular Craft

We love this fun binocular craft idea using recycled toilet paper rolls! Kids can work on their fine motor skills decorating and building the binoculars, and then can use them for visual scanning activities after they are done.

This craft is pretty simple, and has two different building/decorating options:

Option 1: Paint the rolls and glue them together (we suggest hot glue)

Option 2: Tape the rolls together using painters tape

Supplies needed for craft: 2 toilet paper rolls, bandana or string to use as neck strap, paint (if using option 1), glue (if using option 1), tape (if using option 2), and something to poke a hole in the side of the rolls (we used a hole punch, but a pen would work as well)

Start by choosing which option you have the materials for at home.

Option 1 Paint:

• Step 1: Paint the toilet paper rolls, and let dry. You can do basic colors like us, or add designs.

• Step 2: Glue rolls together and let dry

• Step 3: Punch holes in both sides.

• Step 4: Tie bandana or string through the holes to make neck strap.

• Step 5: Happy searching!!

Option 2 Tape:

• Step 1: Wrap tape around 2 rolls to hold them together. You can use colors to make stripes like we did, or do all one color. To add extra decor try using stickers.

• Step 2: Punch holes in both sides.

• Step 3: Tie bandana or string through the holes to make neck strap.

• Step 4: Happy searching!!

When attaching the neck strap make sure you thread it in first, and then tie the knot on the outside of the roll so that it does not obstruct the view through the binoculars.

Next, enjoy the final product! Check out our scavenger hunt post for a fun outdoor visual scanning activity to put these binoculars to work. You can also practice bird/people watching through the windows, or finding objects inside the house. Try finding different shapes and colors, or playing a game of “I spy with my little eye.”