It’s about a month late, but spring has finally sprung in New York, and we have taken to the park as though it were our backyard. It’s truly my one sadness of living in such an urban environment…that I have to travel to nature. But on the flip side, our local park is so grand and expansive that we really get to hike through trails, pathways, and across meadows.

And when we go to the park, we really GO to the park…I try to do all I can to prevent my kids from saying “Mommy, I wish we had brought _____!” We pack multiple snacks, blankets, games, extra clothes, sunscreens (we are in love with the new Babo Botanicals line), and sunglasses for all.

Since this was really our first campout day in the park, I decided to make it extra special. I’m always trying to find a way to get my kids to look up, down, and all around them, so I designed this nature scavenger hunt to encourage the 360 degree view. It’s designed for preschool-aged kids and older, both readers and pre-readers.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Printed template
• Empty egg carton
• Scissors
• Tape

How to assemble and play:

• Print out the template and cut the full rectangle.
• Tape the rectangle to the top of the egg carton.
• Give each kid or team of kids a carton for the scavenger hunt. Send the kids out to find objects that match the pictures on the carton, having them collect objects from nature that match the pictures, words, or descriptions on the carton top. Encourage the kids to pick things off the ground that have fallen or that are weeds. And if your little one finds a red gum wrapper for the red category, then great! It teaches a good less in litter clean-up.

Oliver was very studious about matching his loot to the photos, while Sommer just filled her carton with yellow dandelions.

After running around collecting sticks, dandelions, and leaves, we enjoyed our picnic, reapplied our sunscreen, and relaxed on this beautiful day.

This post was sponsored by Babo Botanicals, and ProjectKid.com received the products compliments of Babo Botanicals as part of the PreenMeVIP program.

May 1, 2016| Nature