What is a scavenger hunt car activity?
A scavenger hunt car activity is a game that your child can play on a car journey. You give your child a list of things to look for and tick off during a road trip.
Why is a scavenger hunt a good car activity for kids?
A scavenger hunt on the road is a great way for your child to have fun and learn at the same time. This car activity encourages your child to:
- practise literacy skills and numeracy skills
- match a word or image with something they can see outside the car
- concentrate on looking for and finding something.
A scavenger hunt is a fun and satisfying experience for your child. They’ll feel good when they find the things on the list – especially if you give them plenty of praise!
What you need for a scavenger hunt activity in the car
You’ll need:
- a sheet of paper for drawing, writing or pasting on
- pictures from magazines or the internet (optional)
- pens or markers.
You might like to have a small prize for finishing. It could be:
- a healthy snack
- a book for your child to look at
- a movie for your child to watch
- an audiobook for your child to listen to.
How to set up a scavenger hunt for your road trip
1. Think about your child’s ability
- Can they recognise simple pictures and match them to something real?
- Can they read a few words?
- Can they hold a pen or marker?
2. Think about things you’re likely to see on your drive
It can be good to include:
- things you know you’ll pass on the journey
- landmarks like bridges, tall buildings, mountains and lakes
- things that your child will see towards the end of the journey or when you’re nearly at a rest stop.
3. Prepare the list of items for your child to find on the road
You can use words, hand-drawn pictures, printed pictures or a combination. Here are ideas:
- a truck carrying another car
- a car with 2 children in it
- a plane
- the ocean
- animals – real, on signs, or in other cars and trucks
- a ‘big’ thing – there are plenty of these around Australia!
4. Explain the game
- Tell your child that you won’t be able to turn around while you’re driving.
- Look at the list together to make sure your child can recognise the pictures or read the words.
- Either give the list to your child or attach it to the seat in front of them.
- Give your child a pen or marker to tick off items on the list.
- While you’re driving, remind your child of what they’re looking for.
How to adapt a scavenger hunt car activity for children of different ages
A road trip scavenger hunt can be a great activity if you have children of different ages.
Younger children
You could call out things for your child to look for.
Older children
For your older child, you could add numbers to encourage them to practise counting and remembering where they’re up to in a sequence. For example:
- 7 red cars
- 3 petrol stations
- 5 different animals.
Children of different ages in the car together
You could make a list that shows both words and pictures, and an older sibling might like to help their younger brother or sister. Some kids get a lot of satisfaction from being able to share skills like this.
It’s OK if one of your children is very focused on finding more items than their siblings. In this situation, it can be good to prepare separate scavenger hunts for each child. For example, you might make:
- a short list with only a few pictures for your younger child
- a long list of written words for your older child.
How to adapt a scavenger hunt car activity for children with diverse abilities
If your child has a lot of energy, try getting them to do some physical activities before they get in the car. This might help them focus on the scavenger hunt activity.
If your child has difficulty with fine motor skills, they might find it easier to use a big stamp to mark the items they’ve found.
If your child finds it hard to remember things, you might need to repeat the instructions every now and then to remind them of what they’re looking for.
If your child has low vision or blindness, you could ask them to search for different sounds.
You can get more ideas for adapting this activity from our articles on play and autistic children and play and children with disability. You might also like to explore our other activity guides. They can all be adapted to suit children with diverse strengths and abilities.