Daycare fun activity scavenger hunt

A really fun adventure we did in daycare was this scavenger hunt. The set up took a little time but was so worth it. My preschoolers had a great time. We did this activity during our pirate themed week, but can be done any day when you need to get outside.
So here's what I did. First I created this map of my neighborhood. We walk around the block this same way quite often. I printed some pictures of google pictures of things we could find on our walk. I started us out at our mailbox which happens to look like a school bus. To the left of our house we always have to past the boat in my neighbors driveway, so that was the next picture I printed out. At the corner right before we turn is my neighbor that has a cool play structure. My kids always talk about this so I knew we had to include it. Next we have to walk by some junipers bushes, so as you can guess that was the next picture I printed out. I included some other recognizable items in our neighborhood and printed out pictures that matched. I added these pictures to my 🗺 map.
Next I called my neighbor and asked if I could hide some treasure in their front yard. They gladly agreed😊 I then made a simple big red felt X and put it on their tree in there front yard. I put a treasure box full of treats in front of the tree.
When all my children were ready to go our our walk for the day I pulled out my treasure map and asked if they wanted to help me find some treasure. I guided them how a map worked and said things like" look it starts at a bus mailbox, don't we have one of those? And look if we follow these lines it brings us to this boat. Do you guys see a boat anywhere?" Of course they did. They caught on quick and were able to take us from one landmark to the next all on their own. They had so much fun going on the same walk we took all the time. And when they found the treasure they were so excited!
I would recommend everyone trying this with your daycare children. Please leave me comment below if you do I would love to hear about how your treasure hunt turned out! 😀

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