Night Scavenger Hunt

Most of the natural world is nocturnal and most children never meet it. This costs nothing and is the single biggest change of perspective available in your own garden.

The hunt

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

1. A sound you never hear in the daytime

2. Something moving

3. An insect at a light

4. The brightest thing in the sky

5. A smell that is stronger at night

6. Something that has closed up since this afternoon

7. A place that feels different in the dark

8. Something you can only find by touch

How to run it

Twenty minutes, one torch between two, red cellophane over it if you have any. Let eyes adjust for five minutes before starting, which is the step everyone skips and the one that matters.

Item six is the surprise. Many flowers and leaves close at night, and a child who saw them open that afternoon finds this genuinely strange.

For younger children

Ten minutes, in a garden, with an adult holding the torch. Sounds and the moon are enough.

For older children

Run the same transect at noon and at night and compare species lists. Two lists from the same path is a real piece of fieldwork.

What to do afterwards

Do it again in a week. The second time is calmer and they notice far more.

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.