With this bingo game, kids predict what they’ll find outdoors before they head outside. Formatted like a bingo card, you take the game card outdoors while you look for specific features in nature.
Bring this game along when you take your family for a walk, add this scavenger hunt to the games played at a nature-themed birthday party, or include it as part of a classroom’s exploration of the school’s nature trail.
Make the Nature Bingo Game Board
Each child needs a grid printed onto paper. For younger children, create a 3 x 3 grid. Use a 4 x 4 or a 5 x 5 grid for older children. You don’t need to go beyond 25 squares.
If you don’t want to draw a grid onto paper with ruler and pen, you can use word processing software to create a blank table with the number of rows and columns that you want and then hit the “enter” key a few times to add to the depth of the boxes.
Bring out a collection of nature-themed stickers: leaves, grass, birds, insects, frogs and snakes, local mammals, sun, clouds, flowers, etc. Tell the children that they are going on a nature hunt and that they should select stickers representing things they think they will find outdoors. Specify whether they will be looking for these things in the backyard or along a wooded trail. The children should place one sticker in each box.
If there is an object they want to include, but can’t find on a sticker, then they can draw a simple picture in one of the spaces.
Head Outdoors to Play Nature Bingo
When everyone is done, give each child a washable marker. Markers make a bright line without extra support behind the paper. If you use pencils, pens, or crayons, then you will need to give each child a clipboard or piece of sturdy cardboard to support the paper when they mark their bingo card.
Before you head outdoors, tell the children your safety expectations, such as they must walk in a straight line along a nature trail or that they must remain within a certain area of the yard.
Depending on the age group you are with, you can tell the children that they should look for something that most resembles the sticker (although, difficult to suggest if the sticker snakes are green and purple with polka dots).
When the children find something on their game board, they circle the image. After finding everything in a column, row, or on the diagonal, the child calls out “nature bingo.”
If you are concerned with the sort of enthusiastic competition that leads to kids circling things they haven’t seen, explain to the children beforehand that they may have to tell you specifically where they saw something.
Learning about Nature with This Scavenger Hunt
If the children are frustrated that they couldn’t find everything on their bingo board, ask them to examine the stickers they used. Did they find many things on their board, just not in a line? Did they pick stickers that look nice or did they select images of things that live around them?
Scavenger hunts are a great way to improve observation skills. Children become more aware of the changes of the seasons and the characteristics of the local environment. By allowing the children to personalize their bingo board with stickers or drawings, they can use their knowledge of nature.
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