Market Scavenger Hunt

A market is the richest place you can take a child and the hardest to structure. This gives it a shape without turning it into a worksheet.

The hunt

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

1. Something you have never seen before

2. Something grown within an hour of here

3. Something that travelled a long way to get here

4. The most expensive thing on one stall

5. The cheapest thing on the same stall

6. Something being made in front of you

7. A job you did not know existed

8. A colour you did not expect to see in food

How to run it

One hour. Give a small amount of money and let them buy one thing, chosen by them, paid for by them.

Item seven is the one adults miss. Markets are full of jobs that are invisible until named. The person who only carries. The person who only sharpens. The person who only cleans fish.

For younger children

Four items, and hold their hand. Colour, smell, something being made, something to buy.

For older children

Add price comparison. Same item, three stalls, recorded. Then work out the spread as a percentage. Real data with a real reason to collect it.

What to do afterwards

One drawing and one price, written down the same day. That step is what turns an outing into a lesson, and it is the one everybody skips.

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.