Five Senses Scavenger Hunt

Most versions of this skip taste for safety reasons and lose the best part. This includes it, with a rule that makes it safe.

The hunt

Print it, write it on a scrap of paper, or just read it out. It works either way.

1. Something worth looking at closely

2. Something worth listening to

3. Something worth smelling

4. Something worth touching

5. Something worth tasting, that an adult has said yes to today

6. Something that uses two senses at once

How to run it

Thirty minutes. The taste rule is absolute and worth saying aloud twice: nothing goes in a mouth outdoors unless an adult has said this one, today. Set up two or three safe options in advance, herbs are ideal.

Item six is the extension that makes this work for older children. Rain has a smell and a sound. A fire has heat and light.

For younger children

Four senses and skip touch if the group is grabby. Let them lead you to each find rather than reporting it.

For older children

Rank the finds. Which sense told you the most about this place. That is a genuinely arguable question and the answers reveal a lot about how a child perceives.

What to do afterwards

One sentence each on the sense they trusted most. It makes a good display and a better conversation.

More like this

Every hunt on this site is free and needs no preparation. See the Start Here pages if you want them ordered by age.