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Autumn Scavenger Hunt

An explorer's chart of eleven autumn finds to spot on a walk, then a leaf colour sort, a pinecone weather test, museum labels, a field journal page, leaf rubbing art and a leaf critter to make.

Ages 2–7 · 9 pages · 10–15 min

Download free LetterA4 · PDF

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First page of Autumn Scavenger Hunt

Autumn hands children a pocketful of treasures: acorns, maple keys that spin like little propellers, pinecones, leaves in every colour. This pack starts outside with an explorer's chart of eleven things to look for, painted in the style of an old field guide, and a space for the find nobody expected.

Back home, the real finds do the work. Your child sorts leaves into colour columns and counts them, drops a pinecone in water to see what it does, cuts out museum labels for the best treasures and draws one find slowly, with a close-up of its tiniest part. To finish, leaves turn into crayon rubbings that appear like magic, and the best finds become a leaf critter, glued or drawn in a frame and given a name and a superpower.

The youngest children point, name, carry and drop leaves on the colour circles. Older ones tick, count, guess before they test, and fill in the labels themselves. Every page has an easier way in and a stretch, so siblings can share the same walk.

What’s inside

  1. 1Cover: what's inside and a field log for your hunt
  2. 2Before you head out: a one-page guide for grown-ups
  3. 3Autumn treasures to find: an explorer's chart
  4. 4Leaf colour sort: sort real leaves, then count them
  5. 5The pinecone weather test: guess, test and draw
  6. 6Museum labels: cut out, fill in and label your finds
  7. 7My field journal page: draw a find and look closer
  8. 8Leaf rubbing art: make a leaf appear with a crayon
  9. 9Make a leaf critter: build a tiny creature from your finds

Why this matters

Hunting, sorting and labelling real things is how little nature detectives learn: look closely, compare, make a guess, then check. Each step builds words, early maths and patience at the same time. Guessing what a pinecone will do before testing it is real science, and a wrong guess is as useful as a right one. Making a critter from the finds turns all that looking into play. Your child sets the pace.

Age bands

Every activity page has an easier and a stretchier way in, marked with these bands:

  • Sprout 2–3
  • Seedling 3–5
  • Sapling 5–7

Letter is the standard paper size in North America; A4 is used almost everywhere else.